By Stephen Alexander, Exponent Philanthropy
Join me to explore the values and visions of emerging leaders of a social-minded generation. Below is an excerpt from my recent conversation with Kerry McHugh, vice president and program officer at the Helen J. Serini Foundation, and 2014 Exponent Philanthropy Next Gen Fellow.
Your foundation is relatively new. What are you most proud of so far?
We were founded in 2012, so our first grants were made in 2013; 2014 was our first full year of grantmaking. Just in those first two years, we’ve really honed in on our mission and made sure that our grants tie back to what we want to achieve in our community. We fund organizations that provide opportunities for at-risk and low-income youth and their families; that’s a broad subject to begin with, but even over the past 18 months, our focus within that umbrella has become much stronger. Obviously, we’re far from perfect, and we’ve got a lot of work on focus and impact ahead of us.
It takes a lot to focus. Our foundation reached a point relatively quickly where the number of grant applications surpassed our annual grantmaking budget. When you get to the point where you have to start turning people away, it forces you to focus on your mission.
What do you enjoy most about your work?
Right now, because the foundation is so new and I’m new to philanthropy (joined the foundation in 2014), I’m enjoying the learning aspect: looking for resources related to philanthropy and best practices in grantmaking, and even more so getting to know the nonprofit community in Maryland. It’s amazing the work that people are doing to improve their communities across the state, and I’m constantly astounded by the number of organizations out there I never knew existed.
It’s really impressive and exciting how welcoming those in philanthropy have been. Those who have been doing this for years have been really accepting of me as a newcomer, and couldn’t be more excited to share experiences and knowledge. I’ve worked in other industries where the opposite is true, with high levels of competition making people hesitant or unwilling to share their knowledge. In philanthropy, I’ve found there’s a sense of being in this together as a community.
Part of that, I think, is realizing that you can’t fund every project, even when it’s a worthy one. At least at our foundation’s size, it’s rare that we’ll ever be covering 100% of a project or operating budget. When you think of yourself as a piece of the overall funding pie rather than the be-all and end-all, it changes the perspective a little bit and forces you to realize the importance of collaboration—with your grantees and with other funders.
On the other hand, it can be quite difficult to break into philanthropy from the outside, don’t you think?
I can definitely see how that can be true; it goes back to not knowing where to start, I think, because the information is out there but it can be overwhelming to sift through it all. Honestly, and mostly accidentally, I timed my participation in Exponent Philanthropy’s Next Gen Fellows Program pretty perfectly from that perspective, joining the 2014 cohort just as I shifted into a staff role with the foundation. So I never felt like I was going at it completely alone. Without that starting point it’s hard to know where to begin, but with a group of peers to work and learn with, I quickly realized everyone is figuring it out as well, even if they’ve been at it for a very long time.
What are some of the best resources you’ve come across?
Besides Exponent Philanthropy? Really, though, we just renewed our membership for the next two years; it’s become a no-brainer cost to us, and the resources and information we’ve gotten from Exponent Philanthropy have been invaluable. Outside of that, I’ve discovered lots of one-off articles and resources mostly through word-of-mouth referrals from grantees and others in the community. It’s amazing what resources you’ll find if you go into conversations with open ears. My reading list is shockingly long at the moment, and I expect it will stay that way for some time.
Even though I’m thrilled to have so much to learn and so much to read, the amount of information can be overwhelming. It feels like you never know quite enough, and you’re inundated by information from all these different angles, and sometimes it’s hard to know where to start.
Related resources
What’s Different With a Focus
Tips for Building a Career in Philanthropy
2015 Next Gen Fellows Program, a 6-month training fellowship for trustees or staff ages 18-35; apply today for the program that begins in May!
Program Manager Stephen Alexander designs sessions for our educational programs and coordinates content production with the goal of delivering the best service possible to the Exponent Philanthropy community. Before coming to Exponent Philanthropy, Stephen worked with Thomson Reuters, Jones Lang LaSalle, and two small nonprofits in Washington, DC. Stephen currently serves on the board of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network’s DC chapter. Follow Stephen on Twitter @salxndr and Exponent Philanthropy @exponentphil.
