PhilanthroFiles

By Cara Donley, The Donley Foundation 

A few weeks ago, my family’s small foundation had its annual spring distribution meeting. The foundation’s trustees came together to review the cycle’s grant proposals and decide whether or not to fund them.

While none of these meetings is ever identical to the next, they all tend to feel pretty similar: grants are reviewed, some are recommended and some are not, justifications are given and final decisions are made. Some version of this scenario has happened at every one of the meetings I have witnessed – until now, that is. At the most recent meeting, a new element was added to the proceedings, which can be summed up as follows: I made my very first grant – ever!

I should explain that I am a third-generation family member on the associate board of our foundation, so I am not a full trustee yet. Consequently, this was a discretionary grant that had to be approved by the board of trustees. I, along with my sister and a cousin – all in our twenties and relatively new to foundation involvement – researched potential grantee organizations and each of us chose one for which to propose a discretionary grant.

The most interesting part of this process was the unexpected. I surprised myself in several ways. I researched two organizations for this grant and was surprised by the one I ended up choosing. I had positive initial reactions to both organizations. However, after going through the questions on our foundation’s discretionary grant form, I ended up choosing the organization with stronger financials and a proven impact, even though not all of its programs aligned with the “sweet spot” of our foundation’s mission. The discretionary grant form asked:

• How and why did you choose this organization?
• What is the primary work of the organization?
• Who benefits from this work, and how?
• Describe this organization’s impact.
• How does its work support our foundation’s mission? 

They seem like simple questions, but answering them was an eye-opener. The process helped me realize first-hand the importance of objectively justifying one’s gut-level reactions with careful analysis and reasoning. I now understand why it’s crucial to be able to verbalize why we support a program: to ensure that we are using reason, and not just intuition, to make decisions. Both are important. 

The process also helped me see what motivates my philanthropy overall. In my case, having local impact, my personal life experiences, and my family’s values and history influence my decision making the most (on a gut level, that is). In my reasoned analysis, I tend to look at: 

• Financials
• Demographic data of population served
• Impact assessments
• Board makeup
• Program size and budget
• Organization size and budget
• Size of requested or discretionary grant 

What motivates your philanthropy? Has your foundation established an intentional discretionary grant making process?  If so, what insights has it provided and how has it helped your foundation make better decisions?

Cara Donley is an associate board member of The Donley Foundation, which was established in 1987 to promote self-sufficiency and achievement for under‐served people through the support of education and literacy. The foundation makes grants within certain geographical communities in Pennsylvania, Vermont, New Hampshire and Illinois. Cara was born in Chicago, Illinois. In 2006, she earned a B.A. in Philosophy from the College of Wooster in Wooster, Ohio. Cara has worked for several nonprofit organizations in grant‐writing and fundraising capacities. She also has an interest in design and hopes to own her own business someday.