Imagine building a beautiful house, but never being home to enjoy it.

Or amassing a world-class collection of art, but not having a key to open the door.

How about having some of the best teachers, coaches and mentors around, but keeping them away from your community's children.

That's a bit the way the men and women who run non-profit programs have got to feel. Good people, almost always working for salaries far smaller than they would receive in the private sector, they face incredible challenges. They want to share their programs, centers and resources with the most people possible, however they are often understaffed and usually concerned about costs.

The boards that govern those programs also are often frustrated when good programs are curtailed because of lack of funding, or great programs don't get off the ground at all because the dollars aren't there to support them.

It's a problem I've seen up close while serving on various boards or in volunteer capacities for non-profits. While they have valuable things to offer the communities they serve, they are stymied in expanding their programs by a lack of operating funds.

And, it's a problem that has gotten pretty severe for some local organizations, faced with rising costs - for staff, utilities, insurance.

We are blessed in this area with a great array of non-profits catering to our cultural, educational and physical needs. Lead by super staffs and dedicated volunteers, they do great things every day. They've also been supported through the years by the community in the form of donations or memberships.

And, they've also been supported in their growth through grants, both private and through local, state and federal funding sources. These grants are manna from heaven when a group is trying to expand facilities or programming.

But, one thing I've seen through the years while serving on boards is that there are almost no grants or funding programs that help groups with the essential things, like paying for light bills, or snow removal or copy paper.

Those things just aren't "sexy," I've discovered. Groups with money to give often want their names associated with things that will last after they are gone. Buildings, edifices of concrete and stone - those last - and those things get money.

I always joke that if the lottery ever went my way, I'd set up a foundation called the "Unsexy but Essential Fund," dedicated to helping programs cover those expenses, like garbage removal, buying office supplies like pencils and pens, and funding staff so our museums, art centers and theaters can stay open longer, when kids and working families can access them.

The "Unsexy but Essential Fund" would pay for the plumber when the sink backs up at those offices. It would help to fund the after-school programs for youth and it would never require its insignia "UBE" to be attached to any of those activities.

The people who work with non-profits are dreamers - they like to dream big. That's what organizations who give grants exhort them to do. However, I've seen that, after years of having big dreams halted by the harsh reality of chasing donors and juggling basic bills, they become discouraged. What good does it do to have a beautiful facility if it's too large to efficiently heat and cool on the same budget you had with a smaller location? How can you invite the public to a new space, if you can't hire staff to be there when the public has time to come?

How do you gain support - and future donors - when you can't reach them because your hours of operation or programming is limited due to budget restraints?

If a group with money to give wanted their name held up and revered, they would consider a grant program like my "Unsexy but Essential Fund." Ask around, if you don't believe me. Talk to the folks involved with local non-profits. They'll tell you the stresses involved when the outlay is more than what's coming in.

We're lucky here in northwest Iowa. We've got great resources here, and we have generous people who helped to build those resources. But right now, we have to step up to the plate and support those resources. For us and for our children.