Making a donation that makes a difference isn`t always easy, particularly when that contribution is not a whopping six-figure one.
And the task becomes even more difficult when the donation is supposed to be used for social change.
Yet Susan Lloyd and Tom Rehwaldt, a Lakeview couple, think they have found a way: the Crossroads Fund, a modest nontraditional philanthropists`
dream come true.
The Chicago foundation, in its sixth year, is dedicated to helping promote a broad range of social issues, from economic justice to gay rights, and it provides funding for progressive grass-roots organizations.
”It`s really important to me that with Crossroads there is actual outreach to smaller donors,” said Lloyd, director of research development for Travelers Aid Immigrant Service. ”I appreciate the fact that, in concert with other people, we can make a difference.”
Lloyd and Rehwaldt say they are committed to supporting advocacy groups. But before they learned of Crossroads, they were not always aware of such groups, nor did they have the time to do the rigorous study needed to make a worthwhile donation.
”We give to a variety of groups, but sometimes we overlook people, and that`s the benefit of Crossroads,” said Rehwaldt, operations director for the Reader newspaper.
He said his wife supports a wider range of groups, ”while I`m more interested in a free-market approach to fundraising. I may not subscribe to or agree with the advocacy, but I agree that they have a right to advocate.”
The couple could serve as a prototype for a growing number of small donors who are giving their trust and tax-deductible contributions to the fund, said Jean Hardisty, Crossroads` board president.
”A lot of people don`t want to spend the time, or they cannot find the progressive organizations that are affecting social change to give their money to,” Hardisty said.
So they seek out Crossroads to help them satisfy their philanthropic urges.
Hardisty, a cofounder of Crossroads, was herself searching for the right cause when she learned that an East Coast philanthropist was in town to help would-be donors organize an alternative foundation.
”I had the ability to make donations, but I knew I had to find an intelligent way to do that,” she said.
Hardisty got together with a half-dozen other people with a similar social philosophy and they donated the original money. They then began to solicit other donors.
Today, there are 14 members on the board and about 100 individual donors annually.
Board member Lucy Ascoli said Crossroads is similar to the East Coast foundations, but there is a difference.
In the East, she said, some donors ”are youngsters who have inherited a lot of money, and they are rebelling against their parents` values.” But in Chicago, ”we have all ages–people devoted to causes they hope will improve the community.”
In 1986, Crossroads awarded $90,000 in grants to 18 groups, including the Chicago Gray Panthers, Illinois Justice Foundation, a project to disseminate AIDS information to the black community and Vietnam Veterans Against the War. Grants never exceed $5,000, and the majority are in the $1,000 to $3,000 range. Crossroads often provides the seed money needed to get an organization off the ground.
The foundation`s broad funding categories include women`s rights, peace issues, media and culture, gay and lesbian rights, public interest, community organizing, economic justice and worker rights.
The fund makes grants for general operating support and for special projects.
Tax-exempt groups that wish to submit funding proposals can get grant applications from the Crossroads office, 343 S. Dearborn St., suite 604.
”Priority is given to organizations based in minority or impoverished communities and to groups that may have difficulty receiving funding from more traditional sources,” said Judy Hatcher, Crossroads` associate director.
When funding is not enough, Crossroads can provide assistance on such matters as how to build a better board of directors.
Unlike larger foundations, which tend to fund only groups with established records, Crossroads seeks out fledgling organizations, Hatcher said.
That`s not to say it won`t fund older groups, as long as their annual budgets do not exceed $100,000 and they meet funding priority guidelines.
In fact, two organizations–Woodlawn East Community Neighbors Inc., which received its first grant from Crossroads in 1983, and Boulevard Art Center, on West Garfield Boulevard–are considered Crossroad ”successes” because they have grown too big to qualify for funding.
”We`ve had very few failures because our board represents the knowledge of the community,” Ascoli said when asked about the high risk involved in funding new groups.
Faith Smith, Crossroads board member and president of the Native Amerian Educational Services, knew little about the foundation before she applied for a grant for a native American economic development project.
”There are a lot of commonalities that small groups have,” Smith said.
”The struggle may be based on individual histories, but the social, political and economic arena is the same.
”They all end up dealing with the same public agencies, and the same societal attitudes that are not always positive. That`s where Crossroads comes in.”