This column addresses two different but related topics: volunteerism and grants.

Time, like money, can only be spent once. Donating time is often a more precious gift than money. Donating one’s time and talent to a community project or charitable organization benefits both the recipient and the person making the gift because it binds volunteers together for the common good. Too often, however, exceptional service by volunteers goes unrecognized.

Every year, the governor honors the service of individuals and community organizations that make a real difference in the lives of West Virginians. For 2009, there are nine categories for which nominations may be made, including five age-based categories ranging from elementary and middle school to adults over 60. A National Service category recognizes AmeriCorps and VISTA volunteers, and Senior Companions or Foster Grandparents. Another category covers non-profits, faith-based organizations and schools. An individual’s lifetime achievement can be recognized, as well as families in which two or more members volunteered together in 2009.

If you know someone or an organization deserving of recognition for outstanding service to improving West Virginia through volunteerism, please take the time to make a nomination for the Governor’s 2009 Service Awards by the March 31, 2010 deadline. If you would like a nomination form, call me or send an email and I will mail one to you immediately. You can also contact Volunteer West Virginia at 304-558-0111 or online at volunteerwv.org.


Grants are where volunteers and charitable giving often meet. Charitable non-profits such as churches, schools and community service organizations depend on volunteers and typically small donations to sustain their activities. To fund larger projects, however, they often rely on grants. Even relatively small grants from philanthropies, e.g., $2000, typically require an application - which may be fairly simple and straightforward - but also financial reports and documentation that funds are spent as intended. Such reporting can be burdensome for all-volunteer organizations or those unaccustomed to reporting project status and expenditures to outsiders. As a result, small charities often pursue very small grants (e.g., $500-$1000) with few strings attached and minimal reporting requirements while foregoing significant opportunities because of their inability or reluctance to move to a higher level of accountability for grant funds.

For larger organizations with accounting systems and audited financial statements, including municipal and county government - which, for grant purposes, can be considered charitable - there is a wide world of grant opportunities. This fact alone should provide incentive for small charities to strengthen financial management policy and practices.

In January, the County Commission agreed to pay for a one-year subscription ($995) to The Foundation Center’s website at the McClintic Library in Marlinton. When the software is installed in a few weeks residents of Pocahontas and surrounding counties will be able to search for grant makers, large and small, that serve charitable and local government purposes in West Virginia. While The Foundation Center is the premier resource for grant seekers, other web sites such as Grant Station ($599 annually) provide similar services.

Many federal grants are structured to stretch local governments’ tax dollars through matching funds. The Catalog of Federal Domestic Assistance is an online database of all federal programs available to state and local governments (cfda.gov). It is surprising how many federal grants aimed at economic development in rural America are sponsored by the Department of Agriculture, usually through cooperating state agencies. In addition, other federal departments such as Transportation, Commerce, Education, Health and Human Services and Housing and Urban Development offer grant programs for rural counties.

Recently, about 30 representatives of charitable organizations and local governments throughout West Virginia  attended a grant writing workshop in Charleston conducted by Volunteer WV. The students’ interests included raising funds to build an animal shelter, educating the public about spay/neuter programs for pets, helping increase the success rate of veterans who start college on the GI Bill, promoting the last remnants of “splash dams” in Mingo County from logging days before railroads, and reducing the practice of “straight piping” sewerage into creeks and rivers. Interestingly, about a quarter of attendees were AmeriCorps or VISTA volunteers who were there to learn how to apply for and administer grants for the organizations or agencies they are assisting.  

The attendee from Putnam County works for its county commission as the grants manager. She helps find grant opportunities for county agencies and assists in preparing grant applications, if needed. She also coordinates ongoing grant programs to supplement county services that could not be provided through tax revenues alone.    

As an experiment, the Pocahontas County Commission could establish a grants manager position in its immediate office with duties similar to those in Putnam County. During the next year or two, as responsibilities and working relationships are clarified, the position could be filled by an AmeriCorps or VISTA volunteer with a passion for improving delivery of services to county residents. Such an experiment would link volunteerism to grants.    

Jay Miller may be contacted at 304-799-4950 or at pocahontascoordinator@gmail.com.