Procedures

Grants

Grants are selected by Lifeboat staff with input from our advisory boards. We welcome recommendations by advisory board members on what would (and wouldn’t) be helpful to be funded for a grant. We also welcome their suggestions on how an existing grant proposal could be modified.
 

Input

We welcome input from the general public and they may also sign up for our program discussion lists. Most decisions are made by Lifeboat staff with input by our advisory boards.
 

Methods

The main method the Lifeboat Foundation uses to support its mandate is to outline solutions on our website. We also fund small grants of targeted research. As we grow we will arrange conferences, workshops, and seminars while funding larger grants plus offering prizes for targeted research as well. Over time, we will expand beyond media on our website with radio interviews, brochures, videos on YouTube, etc. Our media focus is expected to continue to be our website due to its cost effectiveness.
 

Programs

At this point our programs are meant to be outlines for programs that others would implement. As we grow, we will try to help implement these programs with grants and prizes.
 
The programs that we are concentrating on are shown in our sitemap as CURRENT PROGRAMS. The programs we are not concentrating on are shown as MORE PROGRAMS.
 
Programs are proposed by advisory board members and Lifeboat staff members. Most of the work to date on programs has been completed by board members and they have been credited as authors or coauthors of these programs.
 

Advisory Boards

As with most nonprofits, most of the members of our advisory boards don’t do much individually. But because of the large size of our advisory boards, in total they are very active. Our board members have developed programs, created reports, donated money, fueled our blog, created educational videos, joined our staff, launched numerous forums, organized events, and provided input on a range of issues from web design to grant proposals to ideas for new areas that Lifeboat Foundation should be involved in. We also have a forum/mailing list that allows our advisory board members to directly communicate with each other. Many of our boards have their own forum/mailing lists.
 
Advisory board members are mostly selected by Lifeboat staff. They have been selected by other board members as well. We welcome recommendations by board members on who would (and wouldn’t) be helpful to have on board.
 
It is not required, or expected, that advisory board members agree with all positions that the Lifeboat Foundation takes. In fact, we hope they will speak up when they disagree with us as we want their advice.
 

Umbrella Organization

Lifeboat Foundation is meant to be an umbrella organization like the United Way. So as we grow, we would prefer to fund larger and larger grants as opposed to having many people directly working for us.