Why Nonprofits Need FLEX-ible Funds After 35 years of helping community working with members find their families, own best solutions. employees, “It takes all of our neighbors and budgeted funding to contractors to keep the doors navigate disputes, open, buy copy the volunteer paper, pay the rent, mediators of Maui and provide highMediation Services skills training for (MMS) thought our wonderful they’d seen it all. volunteers,” says Until the day their Bowers. “Whereas website started a programmatic just…disappearing. grant wouldn’t “We couldn’t cover the IT figure out what was Bevanne J. Bowers, Esq., situation because it going on or why. MMS’s Executive Director didn’t fulfill a Then our email was used FLEX grant funding to preapproved being affected, too. find tech solutions when their category, the FLEX website started disappearing. grants really help us A working website and email are conduct our work in critical for us,” says Bevanne J. a manner that is effective, without Bowers, Esq., MMS’s Executive having to worry if it’s fallen Director. “Hiring an outside IT firm outside certain parameters. We to remedy the situation was an are so thankful to the Hawai’i unexpected expense. It put our Community Foundation.” small nonprofit in a very Listening, building trust, and precarious financial position.” finding solutions that work for To fund the IT rescue, Bowers’ everyone involved -- that’s the big answer was a FLEX grant from the promise of little things. Hawai’i Community Foundation (HCF). These unrestricted grants enable the organization to “The FLEX grants really help us determine how best to use the conduct our work in a manner funds to support their operations, that is effective, without having infrastructure or programs. to worry if it’s fallen outside certain parameters.” The IT fixes have ensured that Bevanne J. Bowers, Esq., MMS can continue their daily Executive Director of operations, providing training for Maui Mediation Services their volunteer mediators and DID YOU KNOW: The Hawai‘i Community Foundation provided over $5 Million in FLEX grant funding to nonprofits across the state in 2017. Learn how you can transform your generosity into lasting change at
HawaiiCommunityFoundation.org