COVID-19: How to best ensure financial sustainability in the short and long terms
In the last weeks, we have heard from so many of you from around the globe who are part of the larger Social Gastronomy family about ways you are affected by the coronavirus pandemic. We want your voices to be heard, to share your experiences in your project, in your city, and tell us what you are doing to adjust to a new way of doing business.
With my colleague Evan Caplan, a food writer, we will be regularly updating this page with stories, interviews, useful information, and actions related to best ensuring financial stability for our projects and partners in the short and long terms. This includes ideas for solving immediate financial needs like paying the bills and payroll, as well as ways to prepare and plan for your financial future after the coronavirus pandemic peak. We welcome your comments and your contributions.
ARTICLES AND RESOURCES
Bon Appetit is curating a running diary of ways various food businesses - particularly restaurants - in the United States are coping and adapting to their new coronavirus reality.
GrubHub (an online/app-based food delivery service) is suspending commission fees in certain U.S. cities for independent restaurants, saving many local small businesses up to 30% of their delivery commissions.
Here is a great resource for NGOs about how to mobilize volunteers to maximize your fundraising during the COVID-19 crisis.
Eater has a list of several funds you can donate to in order to help restaurants, bars, and food service workers, as does Cherry Bombe (organized by U.S. state).
Spill the Dish has a searchable database that you can use to find ways and places to donate based on who you want to help, where they are located, and what kind of organization or initiative you want to make a donation to.
STORIES AND INTERVIEWS
Paola Pollmeier from Platos Sin Fronteras told us their funding streams have dried up as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. In order to continue providing education and innovation programs to marginalized populations in Medellin, Colombia - to relieve those in need of having to choose between their health and their livelihood - they are seeking donations. Contact her directly for more information.
Chris Moore from The Clink in the UK told us he is also crowdfunding for his organization’s beneficiaries, who are former prisoners being trained as chefs so they can get good jobs after release.
ACTIONS YOU CAN TAKE
Donate to one of the many crowdfunding opportunities in your community using the links above to keep small businesses going.
Buy a “bond” from SupportRestaurants.org that you can redeem down the road when your favorite local spot re-opens.
Similarly, you can buy a gift certificate (if your favorite spot is not listed on the site above) that you can use when social distancing and quarantining restrictions on social activity are lifted.
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funding opportunities
These opportunities have been compiled by the SGM Fundraising team for your convenience. They are organized first by geographic eligibility (Global, National, or Regional) and then by alphabetical order.
Global: The Curt Bergfors Food Planet Prize is open to all, and aims to identify, showcase, and reward important initiatives designed to re-invent the food chain and help establish a sustainable food system within the planet’s boundaries. Deadline is June 30.
Global: The Open Road Alliance has decided to use its resources to serve the impact sector during this time of uncertainty due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Charitable grants will be offered to eligible organizations responding directly to COVID-19. No deadline specified.
Global: Proposals are invited for short-term projects addressing and mitigating the health, social, economic, cultural, and environmental impacts of the COVID-19 outbreak in Low and Middle Income Countries. This call is funded through the Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF) and the Newton Fund. These Funds address global challenges through disciplinary and interdisciplinary research and strengthen capability for research and innovation within both the UK and developing countries, providing an agile response to emergencies where there is an urgent research need. Both UK and overseas applicants may apply. No deadline specified.
National (South Africa): Hlanganisa Institute for Development in Southern Africa (HIDSA) invites eligible organizations to apply for funding to bolster South Africa’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The grants are available to organzizations that are providing essential community-led solutions to support local resilience and community well-being during this crisis period. No deadline specified.
National (UK): Woodroffe Benton Foundation is seeking applications for its Grants Program. The Foundation provides grants to officially recognized charitable organizations within the United Kingdom working in the following areas: Relief of persons in need, as a consequence of social or economic circumstance, care for the sick and elderly, promotion of education, environmental conservation, and human physical well-being. Deadline is July 13.
National (UK): The UK government department DEFRA’s COVID-19 food charities grant is open for registrations now. If you run a front-line food aid charity, you can apply for a grant of up to £100,000 to help you continue to provide food to the vulnerable. You are eligible to apply if you are unable to meet an increased demand for food from vulnerable individuals or supporting charities and have the capacity to distribute all of the food purchased under this grant by 9 August 2020. This grant is not to provide food for the extremely clinically vulnerable, who are already being supported by government. Deadline is July 6.
National (USA): The Paycheck Protection Program is now offering funds for nonprofits and small businesses in the U.S. that are struggling with the coronavirus epidemic. The loans may be used to pay staff and operating costs for up to 2.5 months. Businesses and 501(c)(3)s with fewer than 500 employees can apply. Deadline is June 30 (first come-first served.
National (USA): Mosaic launched an open RFP to make $1 million of rapid response grants to individual U.S.-based nonprofit grassroots organizations, and networks of them, focused primarily on environmental protection and/or environmental justice to fund tools and technology, training, and related resources needed as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. Applications will be considered over three deadlines between May and July 2020: May 22, June 12, and July 2.
Regional (Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, Moldova, Ukraine): In response to the coronavirus outbreak, the Black Sea Trust for Regional Cooperation (BST) is launching a new call for proposals. The purpose of the call is to mobilize civic initiatives in the wider Black Sea region meant to help limit the coronavirus crisis and counter its negative impact on society, good governance, democracy, rule of law, and access to free media. Projects should be initiated by civil society organizations. No deadline specified.
Regional (California, USA): To help meet the demand for social services, such as food pantries, medical clinics, and others providing public care in neighborhoods across Southern California, NBC4 and Telemundo 52 have teamed up with Ralphs and Food 4 Less to raise funds through the Emergency COVID-19 Response Fund. Nonprofit organizations providing direct services to support those impacted by COVID-19 may apply for a grant. No deadline specified.
Regional (Colorado, USA): NextFifty Initiative has created a dedicated fund and will distribute grants to support organizations which have seen their operations greatly impacted by COVID-19. No deadline specified.
Regional (Minnesota, USA): The Minnesota Disaster Recovery Fund (MDRF) will provide grants to community intermediaries in the U.S., such as local community foundations, Minnesota Initiative Foundations, tribal nations, community development financial institutions, coalitions, networks, associations, and other intermediaries who have the knowledge to address specific needs in their communities, as well as the ability to be responsive in times of emerging needs. These organizations must have an existing grant-making or fund distribution process in place to get funds to individuals and families, nonprofit organizations, and/or small businesses. No fixed deadline.
Regional (Cumbria County, UK): The Cumbria Community Foundation has set up a fund to support charitable projects providing activities that help vulnerable people self-isolating, provide funding to coordinate community response and support volunteers, and increase capacity for organizations providing emergency support, such as food banks or benefits advice. No deadline specified.
Regional (Wales, UK): The Welsh Government is seeking applications for the Economic Resilience Fund to provide financial assistance for eligible businesses and organizations that are facing operational and financial challenges as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak. The Fund aims to support businesses and organizations with immediate cash flow support to help them through the economic consequences of the COVID-19 outbreak. No deadline specified.
If you know of any additional funding opportunities (global or regional) to add to this list, please email captacao@gastromotiva.org with the subject line "SGM Funding Opportunity.”