Archive for March, 2009

Earlier this week, I had the privilege of attending a conference put on by the Grants Managers Network whose role is to “improv[e] grantmaking by advancing the knowledge, skills, and abilities of grants management professionals and by leading grantmakers to adopt and incorporate effective practices that benefit the philanthropic community.”  Over the course of 2 and a half days, I met individuals from all over the country who work in all types of philanthropic organizations including corporate, family, and community foundations.  There was even a guy who does grantmaking for a hedge fund!  I didn’t know that even existed!  To say the least, I was exposed to lots of information about grantmaking strategies and initiatives that a lot of different funders are undertaking.  The things I want to highlight from the conference are Project Streamline and multiple conversations about efforts to simplify, demystify, and innovate grantmaking.

I was ecstatic to find out that there is a collaboration of grantmaking and grant-seeking organizations who seek to simplify the grantmaking process.  Project Streamline has conducted research around ways grantmakers can make the grantmaking process less burdensome for nonprofits and more beneficial to both grantees and grantmakers.  In a report called “Drowning in Paperwork, Distracted From Purpose: Challenges and Opportunities in Grant Application and Reporting,” Project Streamline highlights how grantmakers sometimes have unclear guidelines, request information that isn’t ultimately used, or ask for things from grantees that can be acquired more easily by using technology and the internet (like using Guidestar to verify an organization’s 501(c)3 status).  Grantmakers often seek innovative practices from their grantees, but how often are grantmakers innovative in how they do their grantmaking or how they interact with grantees?  I even learned that a collaboration of funders in Colorado share a common application form such that nonprofits can submit the same application to multiple foundations.  A lot of work and compromise went into that effort, and I hope such efforts or commitment to innovate grantmaking can take hold here in the Bay Area as well.

In addition to Project Streamline’s work, Tony Proscio spoke about how foundations use jargon, confusing language, and hierarchical tones in commications with nonprofits which ultimately creates an even bigger power dynamic between grantmakers and grantseekers who actually want a more collegial relationship. Proscio has written many essays and books on this topic, and challenged grantmakers to communicate through their grant applications, procedures, websites, etc. in a way that shows a tone of ‘humanity’.  Things like speaking in passive voice, using lots of jargon, or using elevated words ‘must do this’ instead of ‘please do this’ create a tone that ultimately can distance the connections between grantmaker and grantee.

To close out the event, a Bay Area local, Bill Somerville from the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation challenged foundations to take more risks in their grantmaking.  He challenged the notion of grantmaking that requires a lot of paperwork, reporting, or lengthy processes that must take place before checks are sent to nonprofits.  Mr. Somerville spoke of grantmaking built on trust with nonprofits doing critical work as opposed to too much formality.

It was great to hear all the different perspectives from grantmakers all over the nation.  The Mitchell Kapor Foundation is constantly looking for ways to be more strategic, innovative, and non-risk-averse in how we work with nonprofits, and I look forward to helping our foundation strive to be a bit more innovative than the conservative norms within philanthropy.

The economic crisis has reached a pivotal moment. Not only are major financial institutions and insurance companies having to face the consequences of predatory lending and fiscal mismanagement, everyday people are losing their jobs, homes, and community resources. As the federal government’s disbursement of the American Recovery & Reinvestment Act begins to land into empty state government coffers, and cities across the nation are ramping up to access funds to pay for projects on hold, we would like to encourage folks in the nonprofit sector to prepare for this opportunity to influence the movement of resources into their communities.

This economic crisis has impacted low-income communities and communities of color and will continue to disproportionately burden these communities unless activists, advocates, and policy leaders are able to pressure state and federal leaders to invest in them. The numbers are staggering. In “The Preliminary Report of the Impact of the Economic Stimulus Plan on Communities of Color” by john powell from the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race & Ethnicity at Ohio State University, it is noted that:

• African American homeownership gains were reversed after 2004; they have reverted to 2000 levels.
• The Economic Policy Institute asserts that black and Hispanic unemployment could reach as high as 18.2% and 13.1% respectively in 2010 if a recovery package is not implemented. Both of these figures are more than twice the unemployment rate the groups experienced in 2007 (8.6% for blacks, 5.8% for Hispanics).
• Between 2000 and 2007, median black family incomes dropped 1.0% for all families (down 1.9% for single female-headed families; dropped 9.1% for single male-headed families; married couples saw a modest increase of 1.9% median income). The overall decline is the first in a business cycle of this length since WWII.

As a Foundation committed to social justice work, we want to make sure our grantees and partners are aware of the consequences and opportunities presented by the crisis. Attached please find links to resources that might support your work and inform your understanding of how this crisis impacts the communities you are working with.

john powell: “Preliminary Report of the Impact of the Economic Stimulus Plan on Communities of Color”

Maya Wiley: “Talking Points Economic and Housing Recovery for Everyone: Racial Equity and Prosperity

Northern California Grantmakers: 2009 Relevant Articles on Philanthropy, Nonprofits, & the Economic Crisis

Hi everyone!  It’s been a busy and exciting couple of weeks here at the Mitchell Kapor Foundation.

One of the highlights of the month was our Defining a Green Jobs Movement convening, an all day meeting held on March 3rd at our offices with all of our grantee organizations working on green jobs issues.  As national attention shifts towards greening our economy and state-wide policymakers work to build emerald cities, we wanted to create a space for out grantees to meet each other, discuss opportunities for working together, and lay out key elements to defining a green jobs movement with social equity at its center.  There were over 20 organizations at the convening representing workforce development, labor, climate justice education, environmental justice advocacy, community building, cooperative green jobs, social enterprise, and reproductive justice to name a few. It was an amazing lineup of the Bay’s best and brightest!

An as you can imagine there were a whole lot of highlights, but here are my favorites:

•    Opening the morning with drumming and hearing where folks were from and how they felt about nature;
•    Malik Looper of Literacy from Environmental Justice talking about being a new Executive Director and having the other EDs in the room reach out to him;
•    Ian Kim of the Ella Baker Center for Human Rights amazingly and excitedly layout the opportunities presented by the federal Stimulus in California; and
•    Kevin Danaher of Global Exchange telling participants that instead of protesting on Titanic as it sinks, we need to work together to build a solar powered-ship built with recycled material where workers aren’t exploited and invite those Titanic-bound folks onto our better alternative.

All in all, it was a great convening and we’re looking forward to having more of these in order to support the amazing work of our grantees.

Today was a good day.

For anyone wondering what a foundation professional actually does, here’s a rundown:

Started out this morning in the Excelsior meeting with an alliance of community organizers who are working to build the electoral power of voters in southeast San Francisco.

Had a teleconference with a current grantee to get an update on their voter protection program work, particularly as they push toward establishing a national right to vote.

Wrote a memo to VoICE grantees; reviewed grant renewal process with Tiffany.

Skimmed evaluations from participants in last Friday’s “Strengthening Our House” Seminar, sponsored by BABIP and underwritten by the Foundation.

Ate great Afghan food and chatted with our KEI Creative team, the dudes who design our website and media materials.

Met with Tamara Moore, program officer at the College Access Foundation of California, to begin planning a gathering for the ABFE fellowship alumni and to start sketching out a possible collaboration between CAFCA and our BBCBI grantees.

Listened to and advised an upstart social entrepreneur in the midst of developing a community-based, intergenerational, self-sufficient outreach and recruitment program…and I can’t say more than that.

Chatted with Carmen about plans for a convening (co-hosted by the Akonadi Foundation) to highlight opportunities presented by the stimulus package.

Tried to catch up on email…

Worked with Mitch to map an agenda for a brainstorming session bringing together high tech thought leaders and a major social advocacy organization.

Attended terrific open house for Timothy Silard, the new President of the Rosenberg Foundation. Made connections with other foundation leaders interested in our proposed stimulus convening.Traded six business cards. Will send out detailed emails tomorrow!!

Came home to write a blog entry.

Today was a good day.

Photo by Thomas Hawk on Flickr.

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