Happy to share that the California Civic Participation Funders Collaborative, of which we played a minor advisory role, has come out with a great case study of how funders can come together – as we often encourage our nonprofit partners to do – around a common vision and goals. As shared by the collaborative:
“How can foundations help build movements for opportunity and social change…and win? This is the question we set out to address as part of the California Civic Participation Funders collaborative. This group of ten funders, large and small, working on a wide range of progressive policy issues, came together in early 2010 with the shared goal of increasing civic participation among underrepresented populations. Now we’re releasing the first case study of our work, published by the Haas, Jr. Fund.
We’re excited by what we’ve found. While funders are often hesitant to work together for fear of losing autonomy or straying from mission, we’ve explored ways to remain independent while also collaborating for greater impact. And while 501(c)3 funders sometimes shy away from civic participation work and 501(c)4 funders from long-term movement building, we’re learning how to work together to share information, ideas and resources.”
This is a fantastic group of thinkers and movers; hopefully we’ll have more opportunities to work jointly! Many thanks to Cathy Cha, Senior Program Officer at Haas Jr, for her leadership of and dedication to this effort!
