Each year we apply for numerous grants and conduct several fundraisers to cover our operating budget. We are currently in the 2nd year of funding from the Volunteer Generation Fund, which covers a large portion of our budget. We are also
grateful to have received funding from the City of Fairfield in the form of LOST funds (Local Sales Option Tax), the Greater Jefferson County Foundation, Alliant Energy’s Community Betterment Grants, and many of you! We continue to seek out other opportunities to compete for grants and/or to partner with others throughout Fairfield for the betterment of our entire community. With much appreciation…
Posts Tagged ‘funding’
Free Classes for Grant Seekers
Free Workshops for Grant Seekers
The Fairfield Public Library will host two free workshops for those who seek funding for nonprofit organizations: Saturday, May 12, 1:30-3:30pm. Sessions will be led by Kief Schladweiler, Coordinator of Cooperating Collections from the Foundation Center in New York (http://foundationcenter.org). Mr. Schladweiler will visit Fairfield to highlight electronic and print resources that are freely available at the library.
Introduction to Finding Funders
The 1:30pm workshop will introduce the Foundation Center’s comprehensive online database, Foundation Directory Online Professional, which is freely available via public computers and personal laptops inside the library. Learn how to create customized searches, and develop targeted lists of foundations to match your nonprofit’s funding needs. Use Power Search to conduct research in nine databases at once: Grantmakers, grants, companies, 990s, news, jobs, RFPs, nonprofit literature, and PubHub reports.
Proposal Writing Basics
During the second workshop, learn the key components of submitting a proposal to a foundation. For those new to proposal writing, the class will cover:
- How your proposal fits into an overall grantseeking process
- What to include in a standard proposal to a foundation
- Tips for making each section of your proposal stronger
- What funders expect to see in your proposal and attachments
- Tips for communicating with funders during the grant process
- Additional resources on proposal writing, including sample proposals
About the Instructor
Kief Schladweiler has been the Foundation Center’s Coordinator of Cooperating Collections since 2005. In prior years, he served as the Center’s online librarian. He joined the Foundation Center in 1999 after working as a reference librarian for The New York Public Library. He received his M.A. in Library and Information Science from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Register in Advance
Space is limited. To reserve a spot please stop by the front desk of the library, or call 472-6551 and indicate whether you wish to attend one or both workshops. Your admission ticket is your current Fairfield Public Library card. To avoid a line, please have your account updated in advance.
Fairfield RSVP Projects Include “Senior Companion Friendly Visits Program” and “Home Weatherization Project”
The Fairfield Retired Senior Volunteer Program (RSVP) projects include two components: the “Senior Companion Friendly Visits Program” and the “Home Weatherization Project”
Senior Companion Friendly Visits Program
Seeking 60 recipients and 45 Senior Volunteers (55+) to spend a minimum of 1 hour per week assisting one or more socially isolated elderly and/or handicapped person(s).
This service will provide social engagement and minor non-medical assistance such as filling out forms, running errands, playing a game, accompanying to a local doctor appointment, or simply talking together.
RSVP Gets Involved – RSVP Changing Lives…Changing Fairfield!
Home Weatherization Project
Seeking 45 eligible recipient homes and 45 (55+) Senior Volunteers to provide basic weatherization to qualifying homes in Fairfield.
RSVP and the Iowa State University Extension along with Scott Timm have partnered to begin serving the Fairfield community by launching its first Home Weatherization Project on June 11, 2011!
The Fairfield RSVP is funded by a grant awarded from the Corporation for National and Community Service (CNCS) to the Fairfield Volunteer Center. The mission of the CNCS is to improve lives, strengthen communities, and foster civic engagement through service and volunteering.
The RSVP Home Weatherization Project offers eligible residents in need who are elderly and/or low income, and/or handicapped and residents of Fairfield who own their own home, basic low-cost home weatherization by installing weather-stripping on doors and window caulking.
RSVP is changes that make a difference for people today – right now!
For more information call The Fairfield Volunteer Center at 641-209-9045 or email JoBeth Lewer at director.RSVP@gmail.com
Rummage Sale Successful Thanks to You!
Thanks to everyone for making the March 5th 2011 Rummage Sale a huge success!
People donated many wonderful items. Many volunteers donated their valuable time organizing, moving, pricing, selling, cleaning up, and delivering left-over items to Goodwill and the Bargain Box. Thank you everyone!
We raised $1,500 for the Fairfield Volunteer Center to offset our grant obligations.
Fairfield Volunteer Center History

Fairfield Volunteer Center - For a Caring Community
The Fairfield Volunteer Center (FVC) began as a Fairfield City Commission in 2006 aimed at helping to fulfill the goals of a city-wide strategic plan (Fairfield 2012 Community-Wide Strategic Plan). One of the goals of this plan was to strengthen Fairfield as a caring community, with the aims of strengthening and supporting our health, wellness, safety, and social services; meeting the needs of and expanding opportunities for our senior population; and providing opportunities to strengthen community connectedness.
The FVC has matured over the last several years and is now a 501.C.3 nonprofit corporation with a board of directors, executive committee, volunteerism committee, fundraising committee, and newly updated bylaws. The budget has grown from $3,000 when FVC was a city commission to $25.000 for the current calendar year. The FVC received an $18.000 SRI capacity-building grant this year, which allowed us to receive training in Volunteer Fundraising, etc., and provided funds for improved use of technology, better marketing, and computer equipment and software.