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For funders interested in healthy neighborhoods -- where residents are bringing their energy and creativity to solving local problems and influencing larger, communitywide projects -- it is critically important to find ways to deliver dollars and technical assistance to neighborhood groups that operate below the usual grantmaking radar.

A newly published retrospective evaluation of the Mott Foundation's Community Foundations and Neighborhoods Small Grants Program concludes that a number of common factors contribute to the sustainability of small-grant programs, despite significant differences in their local settings.

A Legacy of Leadership and Support for Grassroots Grantmaking looks at what happened to the 25 small-grant programs launched by community foundations under the Mott program. The report also examines how other entrants to the field of neighborhood small grants have drawn from the Mott experience. In addition, it explores how the field of grassroots grantmaking has evolved in the years since the Mott program ended.

The evaluation was done under the direction of Janis Foster, a former community foundation executive who now directs Grassroots Grantmakers, a membership organization of more than 30 funders.

The full report can be found on the Web site of Grassroots Grantmakers. In addition, the executive summary is available both in print and electronic versions at that site.