FORUM'S Forum

Practices That Matter – Project Streamline Takes Stock of Streamlining

Dan Brady — Mon, 20 May 2013 14:18:28 +0000

The Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers is a national partner for Project Streamline.

Project Streamline has a simple premise: that the cumulative impact of the philanthropic sector’s requirements undermines nonprofit effectiveness, causing grantseekers to devote too much time to seeking funding (often without payoff) and reporting on grants (often without benefit) to the detriment of their mission-based work.

Five years ago, Project Streamline – a field-wide effort led by the Grants Managers Network – published “Drowning in Paperwork, Distracted From Purpose,” a study of the burdens of application and reporting.

Since then, the effort has developed resources to help grantmakers understand this burden and take steps to reduce it. Project Streamline produced practical tools, convened conversations, offered workshops and webinars, and released a self-assessment instrument, developed in partnership with the Center for Effective Philanthropy. Many grantmaking associations and other philanthropy support groups have promoted streamlining concepts and principles.
Has it worked? Well, it depends on who you ask.

In a just-released report, Practices That Matter, Project Streamline documents how even as many foundations are increasingly aware of and committed to streamlining, the experience of the average nonprofit organization with multiple funders still spends time responding to application and reporting requirements that are poorly designed, redundant, inappropriately scaled, or mystifying.
Across the sector, a lack of feedback and a mismatch between foundation values and practices lead to persistent problems and bad habits that waste grantseeker time and cause unnecessary aggravation.

For example, many grantmakers surveyed reported that they have streamlined by moving to an online application system. But grantseekers reported that most of the online systems they encounter are extremely cumbersome to use: timing out the user, failing to save work, and preventing easy cutting and pasting.
Practices That Matter doesn’t just point out problems – it also suggests five streamlined practices that that matter most. Not surprisingly, nonprofits want online systems that work well and save their work from year to year. They also want to be able to submit budget and financial information in their own authentic formats. And they want consistent, collegial communication that answers questions that arise during the process.

Grantmakers can test their own streamlining prowess by taking the lighthearted “How Do You Line Up” quiz, and get no-nonsense advice from Ask Dr. Streamline on Project Streamline’s blog. A new workshop focusing on connecting values with the practices that matter will be offered in 2013.

Partnering for Impact

Dan Brady — Mon, 13 May 2013 14:18:08 +0000

Regional associations of grantmakers can be natural and effective partners for national funders that wish to derive greater impact from their work in local areas. Regional associations have the ties that create strong local networks, the trust that creates local buy-in, and the knowledge about local issues, interests and culture. All of these things are absolutely vital for a national funder to incorporate if their work in local communities is to be successful.

But what should national funders and regional associations keep in mind when working together? How do different perspectives come into play, and how do they affect understanding, implementation and outcomes of joint projects?

Our colleagues at the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers (ABAG) and the Annie E. Casey Foundation are pleased to share Partnering for Impact: Combining National Knowledge with Regional Leverage for Local Impact, a new report for the field of philanthropy that attempts to answer some of these questions.

This report documents the experiences, successes and lessons learned during the Learning and Action Agenda Project, an effort to provide local grantmakers with information and strategies around issues of importance to the Casey Foundation —particularly around the Foundation’s Family Economic Success framework — and to motivate them to take action on those issues within their own communities and networks.

The Annie E. Casey Foundation has a longstanding partnership with regional associations to share learnings and knowledge with grantmakers. It is our hope that this report will serve as a guide for other national funders who wish to partner with regional associations. Likewise, we hope that this document may also serve as a resource for the staffs at all regional associations as they consider similar work.

The full report and its companion, Partnering for Impact Quick Guide For National Funder/Regional Association Partners, are available online at www.abagrantmakers.org/partneringforimpact .

For questions, please contact Elisabeth Hyleck, Special Initiatives Director at ehyleck@abagrantmakers.org.

Elisabeth will lead a plenary session at the 2013 Forum Conference that will summarize the report and explore its themes. We also plan to do a webinar for RAs about the report later in the summer.

North Carolina Network of Grantmakers Names New Executive Director

Dan Brady — Tue, 23 Apr 2013 13:48:56 +0000

The Board of Directors of the North Carolina Network of Grantmakers has announced Ret Boney as the next Executive Director of the Network. Ret will begin May 13, 2013.

Previous to joining NCNG, Boney served as Senior Vice President of Clarity Group, a consulting group for nonprofits, and as the Deputy Editor of the Philanthropy Journal.

Welcome, Ret!

NCNG’s current executive director Bobbi Hapgood will depart on May 17th. Bobbi has played a vital role in the Forum Network especially in the policy realm, participating in PolicyWorks and leading the North Carolina Foundations on the Hill delegation. We wish her the best in her future adventures!

Top Philanthropy Blogs

Dan Brady — Thu, 18 Apr 2013 15:59:04 +0000

Dawn Townsend of Conference of Southwest Foundations recently surveyed regional association staff to find out the top philanthropy blogs and bloggers. These are the blogs that regional association staffers are reading everyday to keep on top of the sector.

Southern California Grantmakers Joins KM Initiative

Dan Brady — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:11:16 +0000

The Forum is pleased to announce that Southern California Grantmakers has joined the Knowledge Management Initiative. The Forum’s integrated system consists of a dynamic web site supported by a robust Drupal content management system integrated with the industry-leading Salesforce database and featuring a collective Knowledgebase of quality materials for grantmakers. With SCG, nearly three quarters of regional associations are participating in KM.

Last year, the Forum network began revamping the KM System to infuse new technologies, integrate with modern systems, and scale the platform for differing audiences. The new KM System is built as an open source platform through which the Forum and RAs will have the potential to work together to provide continuity of knowledge, share syndicated content, better match the interests and talents of their audiences, expand the reach of materials and program promotion, and streamline technology implementation throughout the field.

Our KM Initiative has created an unprecedented level of collaboration among RAs and the Forum in the form of a peer-learning network. The commitment of our member organizations to this collaborative work is the key success for this initiative. The list of RA participants includes:

Arizona Grantmakers Forum
Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers
Colorado Association of Funders
Conference of Southwest Foundations
Connecticut Council for Philanthropy
Council of Michigan Foundations
Council of New Jersey Grantmakers
Donors Forum (Illinois)
Donors Forum of Wisconsin
Florida Philanthropic Network
Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania
Indiana Grantmakers Alliance
Iowa Council of Foundations
Maine Philanthropy Center
Minnesota Council on Foundations
North Carolina Network of Grantmakers
Northern California Grantmakers
Philanthropy New York
Philanthropy Northwest
Philanthropy Ohio
Southern California Grantmakers
Washington Grantmakers

The KM Partners and the Forum will be launching their new integrated Drupal-Salesforce sites throughout 2013. To find out more about the Knowledge Management Initiative, contact Val Rozansky.

FOTH Report Round Up

Dan Brady — Wed, 03 Apr 2013 17:35:29 +0000

The Maine delegation led by Janet Henry of Maine Philanthropy Center meets with Senator Susan Collins.

Several regional associations have reported on their successful Hill meetings at this year’s Foundations on the Hill. Here’s a quick round up of what happened in DC and how regionals are taking the conversation forward.

Sherry Ristau, president and CEO of Southwest Initiative Foundation, shared her experience at Foundations on the Hill with Minnesota Council on Foundations’ Philanthropy Potluck blog:

As I learned more about proposed policy changes, it became clear that there certainly could be big changes—and that the charitable deduction benefit is in jeopardy. As I visited one-to-one with key Congressional offices, it is clear we could lose this important incentive encouraging Americans to give. I am truly afraid of the unintended consequences of how our government is looking at the charitable deduction.

Meanwhile Adam Donaldson, Members Services Director at the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers had this to say about what legislators need from the philanthropic sector:

ABAG met this week with the offices of Senators Ben Cardin (D-MD) and Barbara Mikulski (D-MD) and Representatives Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and John Sarbanes (D-MD) to inform them of current policy debates surrounding the charitable deduction and examples of our members’ impact through funder collaborations. Each office asked for the same thing. More input. They encouraged grantmakers to provide commentary on policy proposals, explaining how current projects underway in Maryland could be affected.

Finally Mindie Reule, Program Manager for Public Policy at Philanthropy Northwest, strikes an upbeat note and gives us a heads up for what’s coming up on Congress’s agenda:

… we heard general support for our sector from both Republicans and Democrats, and recognition of the importance of philanthropy and nonprofits to our communities and civil society. We also know that members of Congress and their staff on both the House and Senate are working on tax reform this year—and tax policy that affects foundations and nonprofits has and will be part of those conversations.

Protecting the Charitable Deduction at FOTH

Dan Brady — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 18:58:20 +0000

This morning over 300 philanthropic leaders gathered together at the 2013 Alliance for Charitable Reform Summit for Leaders as part of Foundations on the Hill, an annual opportunity for grantmakers and regional associations to meet with their federal lawmakers in Washington, D.C. At the summit, they heard from Congressional staff and public policy leaders about the most pressing issues facing the charitable sector.

As foundation leaders and regional association staff meet with Members of Congress across the next two days, they’ll be stressing the importance of protecting the charitable deduction. A donor who itemizes can take a deduction on his or her gift at the same rate as his or her tax rate. The charitable deduction encourages charitable giving, benefiting communities across the country. As Congress considers ways to raise revenue and simplify the tax code, the charitable deduction has come under scrutiny as a potential revenue generator. However, the charitable deduction is very different from other tax benefits because it is the only one that encourages individuals to give away a portion of their income without getting anything back.

Any effort to cap or limit the charitable giving will have a devastating impact on nonprofits. Academic studies of President Obama’s proposed cap of 28 percent project that up to $5.6 billion in charitable giving would be lost each year—that’s the equivalent of the annual operating budgets of the Red Cross, Goodwill, the YMCA, Habitat for Humanity, the Boys and Girls Clubs, Catholic Charities, and the American Cancer Society combined. The Forum, the Council, and the Philanthropy Roundtable encourage Congress to advance proposals to increase giving, not limit it.

To follow all the action as foundations head to the Hill, follow the hashtag #FOTH on Twitter. For more information on how to protect the charitable deduction, visit the website of the Charitable Giving Coalition at www.protectgiving.org. The time to use your voice is now.

Next Gen Donors

Dan Brady — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:30:45 +0000

The Frey Chair for Family Philanthropy program at the Johnson Center for Philanthropy, and 21/64, a nonprofit consulting practice specializing in next gen and multigenerational strategic philanthropy, have released Next Gen Donors: Respecting Legacy, Revolutionizing Philanthropy.

This first-of-its-kind research examines the next generation of major donors and studies this crucial group directly through interviews. Study participants were carefully screened to ensure that they are 21 to 40 years old and that fit study criteria to be considered high-capacity donors.

This research endeavors to find understand how next gen major donors think about philanthropy. Their conversations revealed four key findings:

Next Gen major donors are driven by values, not valuables. While often portrayed as entitled, Gen X and Millienial donors revealed themselves to be mindful of the responsibility their wealth creates, seeking to balance family legacy with assessing the challenges of the world today.
They want impact they can see and they want to know how their involvement contributed to that impact.
They want to go “all in,” sharing not only their time, talent, and treasure, but also their ties. They want to develop close relationships with the organizations and causes they support. Next Gen donors learn about causes through their peer networks, and they believe in collaborating with peers to increase impact.
Next Gen donors are actively thinking about their identities and legacies as philanthropists.

“They want to make philanthropy more impactful, more hands on, more networked. While these next gen donors want to change things fundamentally, they want to do so in responsible ways, honoring the past while improving the future. They take their roles as major donors seriously. And as they grow into these roles, they are also eager to be taken seriously,” writes the report’s authors. Sounds like we’re in good hands.

Download the full report at http://www.nextgendonors.org.

PolicyWorks Spotlight: Stacy Carlson, Helios Foundation

Dan Brady — Mon, 25 Feb 2013 15:16:17 +0000

Stacy Carlson is is the Vice President and Program Director – Florida of Helios Education Foundation in Tampa, Florida and a member of the Florida Philanthropic Network.

This interview was conducted over email by Dan Brady at the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers as part of our PolicyWorks for Philanthropy interview series.

Helios Education Foundation is focused on creating opportunities for individuals in Arizona and Florida to succeed in postsecondary education. Accomplishing that vision requires strategic investment along the entire education continuum with a focus on creating a college-going culture and advancing academic preparedness for all students. Investment for Helios doesn’t stop at financial investment. The Foundation recognizes that the opportunity for lasting, sustainable change requires financial investments, as well as expertise and leadership. Within that purview of activity, we also see the opportunity for engaging in public policy issues. When appropriate, the opportunity for sustainability rests in building a public policy platform that supports the depth and breadth of evidence-based practices to positively influence broader reform.

What does working with Florida Philanthropic Network allow you to do together that you couldn’t do yourself? What does working with FPN make possible?

The Florida Philanthropic Network provides a network of funders who can come together in a safe space to learn, test new concepts and consider opportunities for collaboration. Through its statewide presence, FPN elevates the collective work of the philanthropic sector which gives the sector more credibility and influence in the statewide issues we support. The organization takes the individual priorities and actions of a disparate group of foundations and finds common ground from which to build a relevant case for why the philanthropic sector matters.

How did you come to realize working with FPN on policy would work for you? Or did you encourage FPN?

Helios Education Foundation significantly increased its community investment work in 2008. We did not lead with changing public policy. Instead, we slowly built our own knowledge, skills and credibility in the communities we served and the public policy arena. At the same time, FPN began to explore its role in advocacy and landed for the first few years in the advocacy space of raising awareness of the philanthropic sector to public policy influencers but also within its membership. Up until FPN’s engagement, the philanthropic community was largely ignored in high-level conversations around policy and had limited “know-how” around the mechanics of advocacy. As public-private partnerships are being emphasized and insisted upon in some instances, FPN has played an instrumental role in changing perceptions of advocacy within its membership and of the role philanthropy can play as partners in the process toward developing sound policy.

What is an interesting public policy issue you are engaged in through Florida Philanthropic Network right now or a recent success you are particularly proud of?

At FPN, we’ve been purposeful in our approach to public policy. What we learned early on is that the philanthropic sector had wide misperceptions of what foundations could and should do in the public policy realm. We needed to spend time on education and creating a higher level of comfort with FPN members. Additionally, philanthropy in Florida had no clear role or authority from the influencers in public policy. Our early steps have focused on building relationships and trust, and establishing a clear understanding of the valuable role philanthropy can play in policy discussions. A recent highlight was when the Commissioner of Education was asked to attend a Race to the Top meeting in DC, he included David Biemsderfer, President of FPN, as a member of his team. A few years ago, the Commissioner would never have thought to include philanthropy as a member of the team. Now, he reaches out to FPN on a regular basis for expertise, knowledge-sharing and a platform for getting input from the philanthropic sector.

How does your regional association keep you up to date with public policy developments?

FPN has several ways they engage members and keep us up to date with public policy updates and efforts. Besides the monthly newsletters that often highlight policy issues, FPN holds subject policy briefing webinars after each legislative session. They organize philanthropy issue-specific outreach in DC and involve key policy makers in meetings throughout the year to provide deeper knowledge around the specifics and implications of policy issues.

In advocacy, speaking with one voice as an industry can have a powerful affect. How does collaborating with Florida Philanthropic Network improve your work around public policy issues?

There is strength in numbers. Working together lends to the credibility that commitment or concern around an issue is not in the selfish interest of one organization. Additionally, diverse thoughts, approaches, and networks reinforce the effectiveness of the advocacy efforts. In a state as diverse as Florida on so many spectrums, a variety of voices and perspectives strengthens the efforts to be more representative of a broader constituency.

Board Diversity: How Change Begins

Dan Brady — Fri, 22 Feb 2013 16:16:02 +0000

Vicki Rosenberg, formerly of the Council of Michigan Foundations and now of Vicki Rosenberg & Associates recently posted an account of CMF’s diversity efforts and the evolution of the D5 Coalition on BoardSource‘s blog.

To understand how foundation boards can become more diverse and inclusive and why doing so matters, CMF and BoardSource co-hosted focus groups with diverse foundation trustees ranging in age from 35 to 75. Not one of them fit the typical foundation boardroom demographic in Michigan: White (80 percent), male (60 percent), and age 50 or older (66 percent.) Findings are reported in Diversity and Inclusion in the Foundation Boardroom: Voices of Diverse Trustees published by CMF in 2012 as part of its Transforming Michigan Foundations Through Diversity & Inclusion initiative.

What did we learn from these “outliers” about what it takes to build a diverse and inclusive board that adds value to achieving the foundations’ mission and goals?
We learned that

change can start with a CEO or trustee who articulates and models a commitment to diversity and inclusion
defining and agreeing to the strategic value of diversity and inclusion is essential. For many participants the ultimate benefit is a refocusing of the foundation’s work to equity and changing communities. As one participant stated, “Failure to address issues of equity in foundation governance will eventually lead to irrelevance.”
becoming a diverse and inclusive board takes unflagging commitment, training, new policies and practices, recruiting beyond traditional networks, and patience. And, creating safe space for honest and sometimes difficult conversations is essential. Diversity with the expectation of assimilation vs. inclusion perpetuates tokenism, bias, misunderstanding, and frustration.

Read Vicki’s full blog post at BoardSource’s Exceptional Boards blog.