Proposed, for board reviewBudget adopted by day 60; founding gift ask made by day 90; gates reviewed quarterly
One budget, one order of operations
Set a year-one budget of roughly $100,000 to $150,000 with three funded lines (one intake coordinator share, lockboxes, a small evaluation share), a named board owner for each pillar, go and no-go gates reviewed each quarter, and a written rule that care capacity is funded and the referral agreement is signed before any awareness push.
Adding up the original proposals produced well over $200,000 in year one before duplicates were merged, from a group with no staff, no tax status and no grant history. The regional funders that fit this work give new groups modest amounts: PacificSource Foundation grants typically run $10,000 to $50,000 with letters of intent on a fixed calendar, St. Charles treats applicants without 501(c)(3) charity status as unlikely to be funded, and the City of Bend’s sponsorship program asks unregistered groups to name a fiscal sponsor. A group that asks many funders for many things at once looks like it has not decided what it is.
So the plan would fund three lines and make everything else volunteer or deferred. The first fundraising ask would be a founding gift that covers one year of the intake coordinator, because without that one person the care network is a list of therapists, not a program. Devices would be placed inside the next renewal of S.A.F.E., the Central Oregon Suicide Prevention Alliance’s free lockbox program, as a named line rather than a competing application. Evaluation would get a small share so the group can say what changed.
Order matters as much as money. Nearly every awareness idea in this plan carries the same risk: tips and referrals that outrun care. The proposed rule is written down: the coordinator is funded and the escalation agreement with the county is signed before any push for SafeOregon (the state’s school safety tip line), parent session or lock event campaign. Most nonprofit leaders report concern about their own burnout, and attention fades between events; the gates and the board owners are how two founders with full-time jobs would keep this from becoming thirty projects.
Why we think it works
- PacificSource Foundation grants are typically $10,000 to $50,000, with 2026 letters of intent due January 23, April 24 and July 24. (PacificSource Foundation for Health Improvement, strong evidence)
- St. Charles treats community benefit applicants without 501(c)(3) status as unlikely to be funded. (St. Charles Health System: Community Benefit Grants and Sponsorships, strong evidence)
- The City of Bend's sponsorship and grant program requires unregistered groups to name a fiscal sponsor. (Community Sponsorship & Grant Program, City of Bend, strong evidence)
- Nearly 90 percent of nonprofit leaders report concern about their own burnout. (State of Nonprofits 2025: What Funders Need to Know (Center for Effective Philanthropy), moderate evidence)
- A national youth-led nonprofit cut most of its staff in 2025 after growing faster than its funding. (The Reload, 2025, moderate evidence)
What we would do
- Adopt a one-page year-one budget by day 60: a coordinator share of $25,000 to $45,000 housed in a partner agency; devices of $20,000 to $40,000 placed inside the next renewal of S.A.F.E., the Central Oregon Suicide Prevention Alliance's free lockbox program, as a named line; an evaluation share of up to $10,000; container, insurance and website under $15,000; everything else volunteer or deferred to year two.
- Make the first fundraising ask a founding gift that covers one year of the coordinator; announce no other program until it is pledged; state the fiscal sponsor's fee in every ask and in the annual report.
- Name a board owner for each pillar; founders own program, not paperwork; limit the first 90 days to five things: the legal container, joining the existing alliances, seating the Lock It Up council, asking for the coordinator gift, and merging the lock program into S.A.F.E.
- Write the sequence down: coordinator funded and escalation agreement signed with Deschutes County Behavioral Health and BestCare Treatment Services (a nonprofit behavioral health provider); counselor-initiated referrals begin on parent consent; the referral agreement with the High Desert Education Service District (the regional agency that supports all six school districts); only then the SafeOregon training push and parent sessions, with county Behavioral Health and BestCare briefed before each campaign.
- Set go and no-go gates reviewed each quarter: no lock events scheduled beyond confirmed device stock; no awareness push until the intake line answers; no caring contacts (follow-up check-in messages to people who have reached out) until six months of intake data; no new tool built until a receiving institution has agreed in writing.
- Calendar the funders: PacificSource Foundation letter of intent January 23, 2027; St. Charles after the IRS determination letter arrives; a federal STOP School Violence grant subaward through the ESD for training; a small annual device appropriation request to each county commission; City of Bend sponsorship for Bend events only.
How we would know it is working
- Budget adopted by day 60 and published in the annual report with the sponsor fee stated
- Founding gift ask for one year of the coordinator made by day 90; pledge status reported
- Gates reviewed and published each quarter; zero awareness pushes before the intake line is live
- Share of program spend on the three funded lines (goal above 80 percent in year one)
- Founder hours per week tracked and capped by the board
What could get in the way
- The original proposals created four part-time roles, each a separate grant with a three to six month lead time.
- One coordinator role, housed with a partner agency that already employs licensed staff, with lock logistics and roster administration as duties; the group would pay a share of an existing position rather than becoming an employer.
- When the lock money runs out, advocacy is cheaper: a volunteer group that cannot fund lockboxes in year three can still write testimony for free, and that is how a storage program becomes a campaign without anyone deciding it.
- A three-year device budget, a standing Lock It Up council veto on any shift of effort from Lock It Up to Advocate, and an October report that says what the group got wrong.
- Two founders with full-time professions face dozens of first-90-day tasks.
- Five things in 90 days, one owner per pillar, and everything else scheduled for months 4 to 12 or year two.
Who we would work with: Fiscal sponsor, Board treasurer and pillar owners, PacificSource Foundation for Health Improvement, St. Charles Community Benefit, Roundhouse Foundation (a Sisters-based family foundation) and the Deschutes, Crook and Jefferson county commissions, High Desert Education Service District (STOP School Violence grant applicant), City of Bend