Common Ground Community Land Trust Expansion

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Executive Summary

Common Ground Community Land Trust Expansion is a nonprofit in Minnesota that keeps homes permanently affordable by holding land in trust for the community. Families buy the homes through a ground lease, receive homebuyer education, counseling and down payment help and sell to another eligible family at a formula price when they move.

In many neighborhoods, rising prices push out the families who built them. A family with a stable income may still be unable to afford a down payment and a monthly payment at current prices, and few programs ensure that the home stays affordable for the next family.

With this grant we will help about 6 families become homeowners in Year 1 in 1 neighborhood and counsel many more. We are not a lender or a law firm and we do not guarantee that a family will qualify for a loan. We follow fair housing laws. We promise a fair, plain-language agreement and careful stewardship of public money.

Our Year 1 budget is about $242,500, growing to about $311,000 by Year 5 as we add sites, coaches and participants. Each year's budget is planned to balance, with a small surplus each year. We have 4 staff in Year 1 (an Executive Director, a Land Trust Director and a Homebuyer Counselor) and 7 by Year 5.

We are asking the Twin Cities Affordable Homes Foundation for $80,000 for the Land Trust Director and down payment assistance. Our other income and startup support cover the rest. These numbers are estimates based on the assumptions listed at the end of this proposal, and we do not promise any result beyond what we describe.

Company Description

Common Ground Community Land Trust Expansion is a nonprofit organization in Minnesota. We are a registered charity with a volunteer board of directors, a written conflict-of-interest policy and a yearly budget the board reviews.

Our mission. To keep homes permanently affordable for the families who live in them by holding land for the community and helping families buy the homes on it.

What we do.
- Hold land in trust and sell the homes on it to eligible families through a ground lease that keeps them affordable for the next buyer.
- Provide homebuyer education and one-on-one counseling.
- Offer down payment assistance paid at closing.
- Steward each home with inspections, repair guidance and help to avoid foreclosure.
- Acquire and rehabilitate vacant homes with partners and public support.
- Run a community board with residents, homeowners and community members.

Our values. Respect for every participant, honesty with families and partners, safety first and a place for everyone who wants to belong.

What we do not do. We are not a lender or a law firm. We do not give legal or financial advice beyond housing counseling and refer buyers to lenders and attorneys. We do not guarantee that a family will qualify for a loan. We follow fair housing laws. We follow the rules of our partner sites and our insurer.

How we got here. A group of residents, a banker and a housing counselor began helping a few families buy homes that were being sold to investors, and keeping a say in how the homes were sold later. The model worked and neighbors asked for more homes. We kept simple records of homes bought, sold and kept affordable. This proposal asks for support to move from a few homes to a steady program with paid, trained staff and the materials to match.

Problem & Opportunity

In many neighborhoods, rising prices push out the families who built them, and homes that were once affordable become out of reach.

Cost. A family with a stable income may still be unable to afford a down payment and a monthly payment at current prices.

Access. Few programs help a family become a homeowner and ensure the home stays affordable for the next family.

Safety and trust. Buyers want a fair, understandable agreement, and funders want to know that public money keeps homes affordable for the long term.

Missed benefits. Families who rent for decades build no equity, and neighborhoods lose long-time residents.

What we hear.
- A mother says she pays more in rent than a mortgage would cost and cannot save for a down payment.
- A teacher says she grew up here and cannot afford to live here.
- A homeowner says buying through the trust changed her family's future.
- A banker says the trust's homes have very low foreclosure.

We do not claim that a program can solve every challenge. We believe that when a community holds the land, a family can own the home and the home stays affordable for the next family.

Products & Services

Common Ground Community Land Trust Expansion gives working families who cannot afford to buy at market prices a safe, welcoming place to become homeowners and stay in the neighborhood.

How the program works.
1. Education. Families take a homebuyer course and meet with a counselor to prepare finances and credit.
2. Eligibility. Families confirm income within guidelines and work with a participating lender.
3. Home. The family selects an available trust home, which the trust or a partner has acquired and rehabilitated.
4. Ground lease. The family owns the home and leases the land from the trust under a clear, plain-language agreement.
5. Down payment help. We provide assistance at closing from our fund.
6. Stewardship. We inspect homes, advise on repairs and help homeowners facing trouble.
7. Resale. When the family sells, the home is sold to another eligible family at a formula price.

What a typical session looks like. Participants arrive and check in with a staff member, settle in together, work on the day's activity in small groups and finish with a short talk about what went well. Staff praise effort, correct mistakes kindly and make sure no one is left out.

Staff. Our counselors are certified housing counselors who pass a background check, complete our training and are paid for their time.

Access and fairness. Programs are free. Education and counseling are free. We follow fair housing laws and welcome every eligible family, and offer services in English and Spanish.

Market Analysis

Who we serve. Families with incomes at or below guidelines our board sets who want to buy a home in our neighborhoods. Eligibility is based on income, ability to obtain a mortgage and a commitment to live in the home, and families are selected fairly by a written process.

How we estimate need. We cannot count every young person who could benefit, so we plan from what we can see. In our first homes we received many more applications than homes and kept a waiting list. Lenders and the city told us that many more families are ready to buy than the area offers. For Year 1 we plan to serve about 6 participants at 1 neighborhoods. By Year 5, with more staff and sites, we plan to serve about 22.

Where participants come from.
- Housing counselors and lenders.
- Employers, schools and churches.
- The city housing office.
- Families who tell a friend.

Who else benefits. Neighborhoods keep long-time residents. Banks gain steady borrowers. The city keeps public funds working for generations.

What the numbers mean. Every number here is a family getting the keys to a home they can afford to keep. We keep our early counts modest and honest so we can do the work well.

Competitive Landscape

What young people can find today, and how we are different.

1. Traditional homeownership programs. Help a first buyer and the home may leave affordability at resale. We keep it affordable.

2. Public housing and vouchers. Essential and long waits. We offer ownership.

3. Habitat-style programs. Excellent and limited by volunteers. We add a trust model.

4. Market-rate homes. Out of reach for many. We offer a path.

5. Rental housing. Needed and does not build equity. We offer ownership.

What makes us different.
- Homes stay affordable for the next family.
- Education, counseling and down payment help.
- A plain-language ground lease.
- Stewardship and foreclosure prevention.
- A board that includes residents.

Why this gap matters. Existing programs do good work, and most serve people who can already pay or who live close to them. The people we serve are the ones left over: they live in the wrong neighborhood, have the wrong schedule or have no one to ask. We are built to reach them.

We have spoken with housing counselors, lenders, the city housing office and other land trusts to make sure we are filling a gap and not duplicating services. Their letters of support are in the attachments.

Marketing & Sales Strategy

How young people and partners will find us.

Reaching young people.
- Housing counselors and lenders. We will give them a short referral form and a named contact.
- Employers and schools. We will share information and hold talks.
- Churches and neighborhood groups. We will hold open houses.
- Local media. We will share stories of new homeowners with permission.
- Word of mouth. Homeowners tell friends.
- A simple website and a phone line with a text option.

Reaching staff and sponsors.
- Recruit counselors and stewards through housing agencies, banks and community groups.
- Offer an orientation, a background check and training in safety, privacy and respectful practice.
- Give partners a short report each quarter with counts of participants and what they said.

How we decide who joins. We use a simple sign-up form and enroll participants in the order received, with priority for those with the greatest need and for people new to the program. We keep a waiting list when the program is full.

What we watch. Sign-ups, attendance, homes sold, homeowners still in their homes and how many participants return for a second season.

Operations Plan

How the program will be carried out.

Timeline for Year 1:
- Months 1 and 2 (July and August): Hire the staff, buy equipment and materials, finalize the waiver, consent form and privacy policy with our attorney and sign site agreements.
- Month 3 (September): Open applications and begin homebuyer courses.
- Months 4 to 10: Counsel buyers, acquire and rehabilitate homes and close sales with ground leases.
- Months 11 and 12: Survey homeowners and partners, report to funders and plan Year 2.

Space. We work from a small office and hold classes at libraries and community centers.

Safety and privacy.
- Every ground lease is reviewed by an attorney and explained to the buyer in plain language.
- Homes are inspected before sale, and public funds are tracked and reported.
- Every staff member and volunteer passes a background check and completes safety training.
- Staff work in pairs or in view of others whenever participants are minors or in a vulnerable situation.
- We keep an emergency plan at every site, and participants complete an emergency contact form.
- We keep records private, share them only with a participant's permission or as the law requires and follow a written policy.

Equipment. We buy about $7,000 of equipment once at the start: laptops and a secure client system ($3,000), office furnishings and locking file storage ($2,500), inspection and field tools ($1,500). Later years replace or add a few items.

Staffing. In Year 1 I serve as Executive Director. The Land Trust Director, paid $52,000 a year, manages homes, partners and compliance. The Homebuyer Counselor, paid $44,000, works with each family. We add a counselor in Year 3 and another in Year 5.

Management & Organization

Marie Johnson, Executive Director. I lead the organization, report to the board and am responsible for budgets, partnerships and reporting. I came to this work as a housing counselor who saw families priced out of the neighborhoods where they grew up. I will complete the homebuyer course so I understand the program from the inside. (Replace this paragraph with your own background.)

Staff. The Land Trust Director manages homes, partners and compliance, and the Homebuyer Counselor works with each family. Each passes a background check. These positions are part of our grant request.

Board of directors. Our volunteer board includes a homeowner in the trust, a resident, a banker who serves as treasurer, an attorney, a housing counselor and a community leader. The board meets every other month, approves our budget and reviews our safety plan. No board member is paid, and members with a conflict of interest step out of related decisions.

Advisory partners. A city housing official, a lender and a housing attorney give guidance twice a year.

Staffing and pay in this plan: Executive Director, paid $56,000 a year; land Trust Director, paid $52,000 a year; homebuyer Counselor, paid $44,000 a year.

Milestones Narrative

Our goals, how we will measure them and when we plan to reach them.

Year 1 outcomes (July 2027 through June 2028):
- Serve about 6 participants at 1 neighborhoods.
- Run at least two full seasons and a summer session.
- Have at least 85 percent of participants attend most sessions.
- Have at least 80 percent of participants return for a second season.
- Receive positive feedback from at least 90 percent of families who answer our short survey.

What we count and how.
- Participants enrolled, sessions and games attended, from our records.
- Skills learned and goals met, from the coach's checklist.
- Equipment issued and returned, from our log.
- Participant and family feedback, from a short, confidential form.
We report what we find, including what did not work, and use it to improve.

Growth over five years.
- Year 2: About 10 participants at 1 neighborhoods.
- Year 3: About 14 participants at 2 neighborhoods.
- Year 4: About 18 participants at 2 neighborhoods.
- Year 5: About 22 participants at 3 neighborhoods.

Learning along the way. At the end of each quarter, the director and the board review the numbers and decide whether we are on track. If we are behind, we will adjust our outreach, our sites or our schedule before asking for more money.

After the grant. By Year 5, grants make up about 43 percent of our budget, down from about 60 percent in Year 1, as partners and donors give more. We will keep building those relationships every year.

Funding Request

What we are asking for, and how the money will be used. Our request: $80,000 from the Twin Cities Affordable Homes Foundation for the Land Trust Director and down payment assistance, for July 2027 through June 2028.

The request is spread across these budget lines:
- Personnel: Land Trust Director salary, $52,000.
- Other: Down payment assistance paid at closing, $28,000.

Other money in the program. This request is about 55% of our Year 1 grant income. Other grants and the income lines below pay for everything it does not cover.

Year 1 budget: about $242,500, planned to balance with a small surplus (about $10,100 after the yearly wear on equipment). Year 1 money coming in: Grant Revenue $146,500; city Housing Trust Fund $60,000; bank and CDFI Partners $26,000; individual Donors $10,000. Year 1 costs: executive Director $56,000; land Trust Director $52,000; homebuyer Counselor $44,000; homebuyer Education and Counseling Materials about $5,000; down Payment Assistance Fund about $40,000; property Stewardship and Insurance about $12,000; legal and Title about $8,000; community Engagement about $4,000; administration and Insurance about $10,000; about $3,000 a year for the wear on equipment.

One-time startup costs. Startup costs of $18,000 are paid once from startup money, not from the yearly budget: $3,000 for laptops and a secure client system; $2,500 for office furnishings and locking file storage; $1,500 for inspection and field tools; $4,000 for attorney review of the ground lease, buyer agreement and privacy policy; $1,800 for signs, flyers and a simple website; $1,700 for counselor certification and background checks; $3,500 for first insurance payment.

How we got our startup number. The Funding Need Calculator in this plan adds the startup costs ($18,000), the cash the program uses before it balances (about $0) and a cash cushion of about $57,800, which is about three months of Year 1 costs. In all, that comes to $76,000. We start with $6,000 from our founding board and $72,000 in startup support from a community foundation and a bank, $78,000 in all, which covers that amount with room to spare.

The next five years. Our budget grows from about $242,500 in Year 1 to about $311,000 in Year 5. Grants are planned at $146,500, $131,500, $163,000, $149,000 and $135,000 in Years 1 to 5. Other income grows: city Housing Trust Fund from $60,000 to $100,000; bank and CDFI Partners from $26,000 to $50,000; individual Donors from $10,000 to $26,000. Our surplus is planned at about $10,100 in Year 1, about $10,600 in Year 2, about $13,400 in Year 3, about $14,300 in Year 4 and about $15,000 in Year 5. We grow from 1 neighborhoods to 3 by Year 5, adding a part-time coach for each new site.

Savings. We plan to keep several months of costs in savings. The lowest year-end balance in the plan is about $72,800, at the end of Year 1. Some grant payments and partner payments arrive after we bill, so we plan for about $9,700 owed to us at the end of Year 1.

Cost per family. In Year 1, our total costs are about $38,733 per family served, which includes setting up the program. By Year 5, with more family served and a trained team in place, that falls to about $13,456 per family.

After the grant. City housing trust fund, corporate sponsors and individual donors grow every year, so grants become a smaller share of our budget. Participants and families share their stories, and businesses can sponsor a team or a season by name. We will look for partnerships with schools and the city that want a safe, free community land trust option for every child.

Risks and how we will handle them:
- An injury. Certified coaches, proper equipment, groups matched by age and skill, a written emergency plan and insurance.
- A site is no longer available. We keep agreements with more than one site and a plan for bad weather.
- A coach leaves. We keep a list of trained backup coaches and share lesson plans.
- Low attendance. We adjust sites, times and rides based on family feedback.
- A privacy problem. We follow a written policy, use secure systems and train every staff member and volunteer.
- A grant ends. We keep savings and grow partner and donor support each year.

If you are just starting. A new organization can begin before it has its own 501(c)(3) status through a fiscal sponsor: an established nonprofit that receives grants for you and passes them to your program, usually for a fee (commonly around 5% to 10% of the grant, sometimes more; ask before you agree). Another way is to start smaller: one neighborhood, a handful of familys and a small team, tracked carefully. Strong results from a small start make larger grants easier to win.

Appendix Notes

Documents to attach with this proposal:

- Your IRS 501(c)(3) determination letter, or your fiscal sponsor agreement.
- Your most recent financial statements and your current year budget.
- A list of your board members and what each one does.
- Signed letters of support from partner schools, agencies and sites.
- Your site agreements and your insurance certificate.
- Your consent, waiver and privacy policy.
- Your safety plan and background check policy.
- Your program outline and schedule.
- Quotes for equipment and materials.
- Resumes for your Executive Director and key staff.
If you don't have any of this yet, no worries - let's continue.

The assumptions behind our numbers (change them in the Financials section to match your own):
- Grant Revenue: $146,500 in Year 1, growing to $135,000 in Year 5.
- City Housing Trust Fund: $60,000 in Year 1, growing to $100,000 in Year 5.
- Bank and CDFI Partners: $26,000 in Year 1, growing to $50,000 in Year 5.
- Individual Donors: $10,000 in Year 1, growing to $26,000 in Year 5.
- Pay (a full year, per person, including payroll taxes and workers' compensation): executive Director $56,000; land Trust Director $52,000; homebuyer Counselor $44,000.
- Other yearly costs in Year 1: homebuyer Education and Counseling Materials $5,000; down Payment Assistance Fund $40,000; property Stewardship and Insurance $12,000; legal and Title $8,000; community Engagement $4,000; administration and Insurance $10,000. These grow between 4% and 6% a year.
- Equipment: $7,000 at the start, then $1,500 to $2,500 a year.
- Startup costs: $18,000, paid once from $78,000 in startup money.
- Participants served: about 6 in Year 1, growing to about 22 in Year 5. Sites: 1 in Year 1, growing to 3 by Year 5. Courses run each season and homes are sold as they are rehabilitated.
- About 4% of each year's income is still owed to us at year end.
- Tax: none, as a nonprofit.
- Every dollar amount is an estimate. Replace them with your own quotes and real budget.

Startup Costs