Q: If we become grantees of the KDK-Harman Foundation, what should we expect in the area of communication, beyond the written interim and final evaluation reports?

A: We love to meet and talk with our nonprofit partners throughout the year. The staff of the Foundation is always eager to answer questions or receive feedback. Please e-mail us updates regarding your organization or specific program we are funding. We also enjoy learning about the success stories of individual participants or students, so please send us a quick e-mail when you have an opportunity and tout the successes you are having changing the lives of Central Texas families. Regarding the evaluations, we typically will have meetings over coffee to review the interim and final evaluations. In short, we want an open dialogue and relationship with our partners.

Q: What is the purpose of the KDK-Harman Foundation Feedback Questionnaires?

A: KDK-Harman Foundation is committed to excellence and continuous improvement, and seeks to pursue a high engagement relationship with our prospective, past and current grantees. Therefore, we have developed two questionnaires to gather feedback. All responses are anonymous. Your candid insights about the letter of inquiry (LOI) and grant application process will allow our board to review and determine future improvements in our process. All agencies that submit a request to the Foundation will receive the Applicant Feedback Questionnaire. The electronic questionnaire is released approximately 30 days after the board meeting. A second survey is released to all grantees after the end of their grant period once we have received the final evaluation. We very much value your opinion and strongly encourage you to complete these questionnaires so that we can continuously improve.

Q: Do you accept outside donations?

A: We are often asked if we accept outside donations. People generously offer to contribute to the KDK-Harman Foundation so that we can further support our grantees. If someone is truly interested in advancing the causes that we are passionate about, we prefer that they give directly to our nonprofit partners. We are very proud of our grantees and the work that they do to help break the cycle of poverty through education. We have the stable funds that we need to help us fulfill our mission. However, our grantees often do not.

To be responsive to those who still wish to give to the KDK-Harman Foundation, we have adopted guidelines for accepting donations. To be clear, the Foundation does not and will not solicit donations. Our goal is not fundraising. Our goal is simply to honor the intentions of generous people who are passionate about breaking the cycle of poverty in Central Texas through education and may not have the time to research all of our grantees to make their own selections. It is important to note that 100% of any contributions that we receive will be directed to our grantee partners. There are no overhead or administrative costs associated to such gifts. KDK bears all expenses of operating the foundation. For more details, please refer to Contributing to Our Work.

Q: I am interested in establishing my own foundation. Do you have any advice to get me started?

A: We are occasionally asked by generous and charitable individuals how to start and operate a foundation. We are very interested in sharing our experiences to help others form and run private foundations. We offer advice regarding structure and operations, not legal or tax matters. Please contact This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it , Executive Director, to schedule a meeting. Whether you are in the formative stages or currently operating, we are glad to share some of what we have learned in the world of grantmaking. Equally, we are interested in learning about other foundations’ experiences and exchanging information about new ideas in the field of philanthropy.

Additional resources regarding starting a foundation can be found at:

• The Council of Foundations www.cof.org
• Association of Small Foundations www.smallfoundations.org
• We offer several links to numerous organizations at Research

Q: What are the common ways of misspelling the Foundation’s name?

A: The correct name of the Foundation is KDK-Harman Foundation. We have found that many misspell our name and thought it was worth noting that Harman is spelled HarmAn, not HarmOn. Also, note that there is a dash between the three initials and Harman. Making these common mistakes when searching for our website may prohibit users from finding us.

Below is a list of commonly used incorrect spellings of our website:

www.kdk-harmon.org
www.kdkharmon.org
www.kdkharman.org