Here’s how Philly Stake bridges the funding gap between major nonprofits and small initiatives

What’s better than not having to cook Sunday night dinner before the start of another busy week? Not having to cook Sunday night dinner and playing a direct role in improving your city.

Since 2010, Philly Stake, “a recurring event celebrating locally sourced food and creative community projects,” has brought Philadelphians together for the unique experience of sharing not just a meal, but also the decision of how to distribute funds for a community-enriching project.

When Philly Stake founder and organizer Theresa Rose initially became interested in Sunday Soup, a global network of groups who gather to share meals and ideas, she knew she wanted to bring a version of this intimate grant model to Philadelphia. Now, Philly Stake operates with the same desire to fund startup-like community projects that are too small for most conventional grant application processes.

After putting out a call for organizers and assembling a core network of volunteers, Rose has since grown Philly Stake into a provider of over $18,000 in local grant funds over the last five years along with co-organizers Mira Sophia Adornetto, Ruth Scott Blackson, Mallary Johnson, Albert Lee, Brett Mapp, Phaedra Tinder, Annemarie Vaeni and Jonathan Wallis.

At every Philly Stake, attendees make a $20 donation, for which they receive a freshly prepared meal made from locally sourced food, as well as the opportunity to cast a vote to fund a project from a lineup of presentations. Half of the money collected is saved to finance the next event, and the other half is granted to the winning presenter to fund their idea.

Stake guests learn about a community project. (Courtesy photo)

In addition to tossing aside any formal or lengthy procedures usually associated with the grant application process, this direct funding model dumps an immediate source of impact into the hands of a passionate leader.

According to Rose, that method of operation is very intentional.

There’s only one requirement for a Philly Stake proposal: The project must be “creative, relevant, and community engaging.” This way, more people can submit proposals, since most foundation-based grants tend to prevent individuals from applying.

“We love the idea that it’s very open and democratic, and anyone can apply,” said Rose, adding that Philly Stake receives far more proposals than one would expect because of this non-restrictive eligibility.

Philly Stake’s push for greater access goes beyond its funding model: The organizers handpick half the lineup of presenters from their collection of received proposals, and then they pull the second half out of a hat so every applicant has an opportunity to be heard.

Chosen presenters usually invite friends to the event for support, which creates a reliable, “built-in audience” for Philly Stake. But there’s still plenty of participation from community members without personal ties. “There’s a following, there’s an interest, and people are getting excited about the work we do even if they’re not attached to our presenters,” Rose said.

Stake organizers and presenters. (Courtesy photo)

Rose has learned that perseverance is key when organizing a long-lasting project, especially when excitement about being a part of a new, local venture naturally dwindles as time goes on. The nature of a volunteer-dependent effort, she said, is that individuals will come and go, meaning group dynamics will shift and change.

It’s not easy, Rose said, but learning not to get caught up in the minutiae of who’s doing what leads to a valuable evolution of personalities and responsibilities.

As for the impact made by a Philly Stake grant?

At the fifth Philly Stake, Pat McLean won a thousand dollar grant for Tomorrow’s Girls & Women, her community enrichment and empowerment organization. She used the funds for “a summer of activities such as field trips to museums, the theatre, libraries, speaking engagements, books signings, restaurants [and] amusement parks” for 22 young girls.

“Without [Philly Stake’s] support, the number of girls able to participate for that year would have been cut in half,” McLean said. “We are beyond grateful to them.”

Even though not every applicant walks away with funding, Rose believes the experience of presenting to an engaged local audience is a reward in and of itself.

“For the presenters, I feel like the largest impact has been the idea that they are a part of this community of people,” she said. “They get to share their work and they get to be together and see each other doing similar work.”

In the era of online crowdfunding, organizers of small, grassroots organizations don’t often get to come together and engage with each other’s projects, Rose said, which is why there’s power in connecting with “other people like you who are bravely carving out beautiful, sustainable, just ways of being in the world.”

According to Rose, this weekend’s Philly Stake will be a bit of an experiment. Because of a collaboration with the Greater Philadelphia Cultural Alliance, every project presented at the dinner will be of the fine or performing arts variety, marking the first time Philly Stake has centered an event around a specific theme.

Tickets are still available here for the Sunday, Jan. 24 event, and attendees are encouraged to connect via Facebook.