The Arlington Tomorrow Foundation will expand its training offerings for nonprofits as it seeks to become more than just a check-writing organization.

Carolyn Mentesana, executive director of the foundation, said the results of a study of Arlington’s nonprofit sector confirmed much of what city leaders knew about the sector’s needs.

A survey of 176 nonprofits found a nearly evenly distributed list of problems facing the organizations, including over-reliance on few funding sources, difficulty scaling programs, and difficulty finding funding sources.

The study also found that organizational leaders would welcome training opportunities for staff and volunteers, but that these resources were prohibitively expensive.

“This study gives us the opportunity to become more than just check writers in the community,” Mentesana said. “We stand alongside them and become coaches. We stand alongside the nonprofits and support them in ways that go beyond just writing checks for programs and capital.”

In addition, Mentesana recommended streamlining the foundation’s application process, saying applicants could wait up to eight months for a decision, depending on the time of year and whether council members – all of whom are also board members – are on vacation.

“That’s a long wait,” Mentesana said. “That’s my point.”

The foundation’s board members instructed Mentesana to develop a plan and approved the foundation’s budget of $753,531. The budget includes $40,000 for boot camps, lunch-and-learns and meetings known as capacity-building trainings, and $80,000 for charitable events.

Mentesana said the charitable events portion would fund nonprofit events the city has long sponsored as it looks to reduce state general fund spending during its budget cycle.

Grants considered or changed

The Arlington Tomorrow Foundation has approved three final applications and rejected one.

Approved items include:

The foundation rejected a $77,940 request from Nehemiah Builds to fund an after-school skills-building initiative.

Foundation members approved a modification to a $150,000 grant to Arlington Animal Services approved in May. The city government requested funds to enter into a one-year lease on a retail space at Parks Mall in Arlington.

The animal shelter also requested $236,000 and three full-time positions from the city, but that request was rejected in the 2025 budget proposal.

The department requested that the original foundation grant funds be redirected for repairs at the shelter related to the February 2021 freeze.

Disclosure: The North Texas Community Foundation and the Arlington Tomorrow Foundation were Financial supporters of the Arlington Report. News decisions at KERA News and the Fort Worth Report are made independently by the boards of directors and financial supporters of each organization.

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