Rural-to-rural partnerships can help secure federal funding

The downtown of rural Mitchell, Oregon, population 148.
(Photo by Dan Meyers on Unsplash)

Through the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, the federal government has made millions of dollars of development funding available. Still, the rub for rural communities is finding ways to apply and win awards, Kathleen Flanagan and Jerry Neal Kenney report for The Daily Yonder . "Across the country, communities are competing to access the unprecedented funding. . . . Metro areas across the U.S. are engaged in all-hands-on-deck efforts. . . . to pull down every possible dollar their cities may qualify for . . . . As has been documented repeatedly, though, the nonprofits and other civic agencies that comprise the much leaner and overburdened civic infrastructure of rural places are at a disadvantage when navigating complex bureaucracies and applying for federal funds. . . . According to the report 'Pathways to Securing Rural Federal Funding,' the greatest challenges facing rural-serving entities are limitations in the following: Staffing capacity, expertise, including the technical knowledge and tools to identify opportunities, confirm eligibility, capture appropriate data and write compelling applications, and external resources to satisfy common grant cost share and match requirements."

With those challenges in mind, rural communities may feel like gaining grant dollars is a classic case of you can't win with a losing hand, but "Two of the largest rural-focused private foundations in the U.S., the Ford Family Foundation and the T.L.L. Temple Foundation, are using rural-to-rural collaboration to generate scalable solutions that create a more level playing field for rural communities seeking new development pathways," the Yonder reports. In one example, "Concerned that its rural Oregon service area would continue to miss out on federal investment opportunities, the Ford Family Foundation stepped forward to find solutions. The foundation hosted a discussion with federal grant writers. . . . retained Sequoia Consulting to conduct in-depth research. . . . Via the Ford Family Foundation's partnership with the Oregon Economic Development Districts, a toolbox was created so that all rural Oregon communities can better navigate, compete for for and secure federal funding opportunities."

"Seeking a space to concentrate on rural philanthropy coming out of the Covid-19 pandemic, the staff of the Ford Family Foundation and the T.L.L. Temple Foundation began participating in regular virtual meetings in 2021 to share philanthropic strategies and ideas focused on their respective rural service areas in Oregon and East Texas," the Yonder reports. "During one of the collaborative sessions, Kathleen Flanagan, at the Ford Family Foundation presented the rural toolkit developed by Sequoia Consulting. Jerry Kenney, program officer with the T.L.L. Temple Foundation, recognized that the barriers to securing funding that Kathleen described for Oregon were the same barriers holding back rural East Texas. . . . Kathleen connected Jerry to Sequoia Consulting. . . . . After months of collaboration and bringing new partners together, a grant prospecting list and a grant writer roster have been launched for rural communities across Texas hosted by Texas Rural Funders."

The tools and relationships serve as a launch pad for other rural areas. "The Ford Family Foundation and the T.L.L. Temple Foundation continue to push new ideas to strengthen the capacity of rural residents and institutions," the Yonder notes. "More models are emerging, such as targeted rapid-response teams of experienced professionals and consultants to augment rural development efforts, and investments in intermediary organizations that can help pull in and aggregate diverse public, private and philanthropic funds."