Page 26 - October 2023

GRANT PROGRAM COMMITTEE MINUTES (DRAFT) (2)
6. 7.
Letters of Inquiry
A list of Letters of Inquiry and responses had been circulated and these were discussed.
Budget Items
a. 2023 Grant Distribution Plan
The 2023 Grant Distribution Plan and 5-year projections had been circulated. Two sets of documents were prepared that contain different cushion amounts in the distribution targets. This cushion protects JSF from underfunding its IRS mandated distribution requirement in the event of an unforeseen issue. Traditionally JSF has maintained a $50,000 cushion, but since the annual grant distribution has grown substantially in recent years, Tommy recommends a target cushion of $100,000.
Tommy explained that because of a change in the valuation of JSF’s assets between March and September, the Estimated Distribution Requirement decreased by approximately $360,000 to $10,522,875. With the increased cushion to $100,000 from $50,000, the EDR comes to $10,572,875. Any overpayment in one year can be carried forward to reduce the requirement for the following year.
A question was raised about the Core amounts. Rather than rounding them upward, JSF has sought to keep those at the minimum required levels the past several years. Since March, only the State University System of Florida has received full funding in the first distribution. The remaining Core grantees have been partially funded by the first distribution, with the remaining funds planned for distribution in December. A brief discussion took place about the target versus actual funding for each Discretionary area. The Disability actual funding will be short of its target this year, but it was noted that other areas have fallen short in prior years. The target is a guide, not a prescription, and there will be “over” and “under” in the short term but it should even out in the long term.
b. 5-year grant projections
The figures show a decrease in the EDR to $9,933,026 for 2024. If the market continues to do well in 2023, this number is likely to increase by year end.
The Committee approved the 2023 Grant Distribution Plan, which includes a $100,000 distribution cushion to prevent underfunding, and the 5-Year Projections as presented.
Discovery Project update
The Discovery Associates collectively have made 8 recommendations to date, 2 of which staff have agreed not to pursue. Three of them pertain to students with IDD and are on hold pending the strategy discussion at the Board Retreat. Native Women Lead, based in New Mexico, sponsored several business summits for Native women prior to the pandemic and has a strong emphasis on entrepreneurship. Partnering with New Mexico Community Capital, Native Women Lead recently received a significant grant of $10 million grant to make loans to women-led businesses through the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge.
JSF has not solicited LOIs from any of the 8 organizations since the Discovery Project began. However, Bender Leadership Academy, which had an application coming before the Committee later in the meeting, came to JSF’s attention through the Discovery process.
Abilene Paradox
The Abilene Paradox had been circulated. This is a humorous story in which the author and 3 family members agreed to go on an unplanned, 106-mile road trip from Coleman to Abilene, Texas and back, because each thought the others wanted to. The trip was unpleasant, and afterward all 4 people revealed that they never wanted to go in the first place. Because they failed to express their true feelings, the outcome was the opposite of what they had wanted.
Malcolm led the Committee in a discussion of this interesting phenomenon of group dynamics. The Abilene Paradox was introduced by Jerry Harvey in the early 1970s and it was his thesis that for groups like ours, the bigger problem is managing agreement, not managing conflict. Is this Committee too agreeable? If so, how can that be managed? Each of the Committee members weighed in on this question. Several members observed that while the Committee does frequently vote unanimously, there are many times when members disagree. Some of the
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Page 24 October Report