convening

Nurturing a Culture of Curiosity, Inquiry, and Innovation

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ConnectionsBy Andy Carroll, Exponent Philanthropy

As funders seek to leverage their resources for impact and change, many ignore a powerful asset right under their gaze. This hidden asset is the donor, board member, family member, or staff person who possesses curiosity—the drive to venture out into the community or field to listen, talk with people, and learn.

From interviews with over a hundred small-staffed funders around the country, I have learned that these inquisitive people are the ones who discover insights that take their foundation or philanthropy in a new direction, to a new level of impact. They are the ones who, by talking with people from diverse walks of life, convening grantees and community agencies, attending public meetings, or going to conferences, find out something that changes the game for their philanthropy. 

These individuals take the initiative to reach out and talk with board and staff of nonprofit organizations, other foundations in their region or field, beneficiaries of social services, university researchers, business leaders, government officials, social workers, journalists, teachers, parents, students, volunteers.

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9 Ways to Make a Difference: Strategies From Small-Staffed Foundations

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In our 30-page primer Twenty Ways to Make a Difference: Stories From Small Foundations, author Andy Carroll describes 20 strategies that draw upon the unique assets small-staffed foundations hold. Here are 9 of the 20 strategies—just a sample of the many ways Exponent Philanthropy member foundations are making a difference through their philanthropy. Do any intrigue you? Fit easily into your existing work?

1. Choose a focus. A focus allows funders to accumulate experience, knowledge, and contacts; align activities toward a common goal; spend time working on what is meaningful to them; and better assess progress, make adjustments, stay on track, and see impact. See the post Five Barriers to Focus and Ways to Push Past Them >>

2. Fill important gaps. Funders often keep a watchful eye on needs not met in their communities—a vigilance that springs from a commitment to their hometowns and involvement there as volunteers, parents, employers, and employees. They also accumulate knowledge over time as they review proposals and talk with community agencies. Sometimes they are the first to identify a problem yet unnoticed or to signal the alarm about a trend that threatens to harm, if ignored.

3. Provide emergency loan funds. Some foundations operate revolving loan funds to provide emergency loans to nonprofits. The nonprofits are often waiting for checks to arrive from the government or other sources, and the emergency loans keep critical services available. As program related investments (PRIs), these loan funds are repaid to the foundation so it may make more emergency loans.

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Voices of Emerging Leaders in Philanthropy

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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 of my recent conversation with Alexandra Toma, executive director of the Peace and Security Funders Group (PSFG), a network of philanthropists and funders investing in conflict and national security issues; and Sally Smith, managing director of The Nexus Fund, which works to build and strengthen the global community to end mass atrocities. Alex and Sally are both participants in Exponent Philanthropy’s 2014 Next Gen Fellows Program.

Why do you think there are so few funders supporting peace and security?

Alex Toma

Alex Toma, executive director of Peace and Security Funders Group

Alex: This is something PSFG is working on. One challenge is the way we talk about these issues. That genocide persists around the world is an uncomfortable and overwhelming idea for most people. We need to put our heads together and think about how we can make peace and security issues relatable to more people.

Sally: I see two issues here. First, people don’t like to hear depressing stories. We work on depressing matters, but I think there’s a way to tell more positive stories about how people are solving these problems. It’s something Alex and I discuss frequently. Second, people don’t understand that they can really make a difference. Mass atrocities and genocides can be prevented in many cases. It takes a lot of effort on multiple levels, but it can be done. We can make a big difference if we step up and work together. If people knew they could truly make a difference on something that seems so insurmountable, I have faith they would want to be a part of that.

What trends in philanthropy do you see that excite you?

Sally Smith

Sally Smith, managing director of The Nexus Fund

Sally: Innovation and technology. Sure, they’re buzz words, but new tools are being developed at a rapid pace, and it is an exciting time to find new ways to be more effective using these tools. Edutainment (education meets entertainment) is another. For example, in Rwanda there’s been an ongoing soap opera for 10 years. Its underlying message is that you shouldn’t hate others just because they are different from you, but it doesn’t beat you over the head with the message; it’s presented subtly in the form of a story. I’m also excited by how social media is changing the way we connect and share information. It’s helped break down a lot of silos in my field.

Alex: I’m really excited that people are starting to see the nexus between issues. For example, take climate change. Many people are now realizing that climate change leads to land grabs, which triggers conflict, oftentimes with associated atrocities and human rights abuses, potentially leading to destabilization of a region. Follow this path, and it leads you to power vacuums, increase in militancy, and so on. It’s all connected. It’s exciting to see those bridges being made when even 10 years ago there were little to none in existence. And it’s exciting to see funder affinity groups using those connections to do something different and do it together.

What resources, networks, and organizations should philanthropists know about?

Sally: Definitely the Nexus Global Youth Summit. There is a beauty in the passion, the energy, and innovation that young donors bring to the table. It’s a great place for young philanthropists to connect with other change makers, become inspired, and combat the isolation that can come with being separated from your peers geographically.

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A Call for Your Leadership

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By Andy Carroll, Exponent Philanthropy

Funders with few or no staff provide leadership by using their many assets, and their influence, to address important issues in communities.

A surprising thing is that leadership is seldom planned; instead, philanthropists step up to leadership through a journey that begins with passion for an issue, and a desire to learn everything about that issue. Leadership is something that unfolds, a journey that takes philanthropists to places they never imagined they’d go.

A Time for Leadership 

Never has leadership been so needed. Diverse forces and trends are reshaping communities and our society, changing the demands on philanthropy.

  • There is growing recognition that many of the problems philanthropists address are complex, difficult to understand, and impossible to solve by one funder or nonprofit at a time. Many are calling for a more collective approach.
  • Many complex problems such as hunger, homelessness, and economic insecurity are only increasing in size and scope.
  • Public funding is declining for schools, child care centers, human service organizations, arts groups, and other nonprofits that funders value and support. Many in the philanthropic sector are now openly acknowledging that private dollars cannot make up for the cuts in government support.

In this landscape of scarcity and growing needs, giving in the traditional ways cannot address the demands. By stepping into leadership roles, philanthropists uncover the potential for much greater, catalytic impact.

What do changing times and challenges call us to do as philanthropists?

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The Why and How of Saving Our YMCA

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By Alan Egly, Doris & Victor Day Foundation

What do you do when a key community resource is about to go under?

Due to poor management, our community’s YMCA faced closure. Its third year of emergency funding requests to fund its $600,000 debt and avoid bankruptcy were again unsuccessful. Funders had all but given up, except for our board and staff at the Doris & Victor Day Foundation and a few others who weren’t ready to jump ship—at least not completely.

Although our group lacked confidence that the YMCA’s management could turn things around, we weren’t ready to lose an excellent and much-needed facility that served a community with a significant number of low-income residents. We also recognized the importance of helping the YMCA and our city of Rock Island, Illinois, avoid the shame that would come with a bankruptcy.

One of the Day Foundation’s directors began to think creatively about solutions, suggesting the city might be willing to take on the facility. After meeting with the city manager and Department of Parks and Recreation, it became clear that the city was willing to take on the facility but not with its current financial obligations. What wasn’t clear was how to cover the financial obligations and convince the YMCA board that this was the best solution.

This would take several months of negotiations.

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Getting Involved Beyond Grants

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By Andy Carroll, Exponent Philanthropy

“Writing checks only gets you to a certain level. We have reached a higher level of investment, as a result of our convening, the training we do, and mobilizing people. We’re now deeply involved, and committed for the long term, working in tandem with partners. Our nongrant work fundamentally changed the way we as a foundation work.“ —Brian Rogers, Rogers Family Foundation, CA

Money has long been considered the currency of philanthropy. Dollars are central to our practices, identity, and public perception. Philanthropists are known as “grantmakers” or “funders,” and impact is thought of in terms of financing power.

But some foundations and donors are quietly pushing the boundaries of philanthropic practice, with a type of philanthropy that hasn’t even been named yet. By combining grants with research, technical assistance, convening, connecting, advocacy, mobilization, and other kinds of direct action, philanthropists are changing, and sometimes completely transforming, their philanthropy.

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How Our Foundation Members Give

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By Ruth Masterson, ASF

At ASF, we are proud to describe our members’ giving as close to the ground and rooted in personal conviction. Our members operate lean—giving with a volunteer team or just one or two staff—and they tend to be well connected to the communities in which they fund and responsive to community needs.

But what does this mean in practice? What kinds of grants do ASF member foundations make? We turned to our 2013 Foundation Operations and Management Report.

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A Family Foundation Convenes a County

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By Andy Carroll, Exponent Philanthropy

Rural Harford County, MD

Rural Harford County, MD

What would it look like for a family foundation to convene citizens of an entire county to develop a vision for the future?

This is what Exponent Philanthropy member The Dresher Foundation did in November at Connect Harford, in partnership with Maryland’s Harford Community College. I attended the event to witness this striking example of leadership by a small-staffed foundation. The Dresher Foundation has about $50 million in assets and employs one staff person.

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Convening to Build Capacity

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By Elaine Gast Fawcett on behalf of Exponent Philanthropy

Lindsey Stammerjohn, Juanita Garcia

Exponent Philanthropy member Lindsey Stammerjohn (R) and board member Juanita Garcia

When it comes to learning about important issues and moving the needle in the right direction, convening is a low-cost and high-impact leadership tool you can’t overlook.

The Exponent Philanthropy member John Gogian Family Foundation and executive director Lindsey Stammerjohn began convening grantees in 2010 as part of a capacity building initiative. They recognized common struggles that many grantee partners shared, and chose convening as one way to address these needs while connecting the organizations to one another.

At its first gathering of grantees, Stammerjohn sat in the back of the room. “We wanted our grantee partners to drive the process, and tell us if gathering as a group was valuable to them,” she says. “It became apparent quickly that we needed to have a clear purpose for convening. We had to do more than get everyone together for doughnuts and coffee.”

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Why We Convene

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By Elaine Gast Fawcett on behalf of Exponent Philanthropy

When it comes to learning about important issues and moving the needle in the right direction, convening is a low-cost and high-impact leadership tool you can’t overlook. In fact, many consider it to be a funder’s most underrated. In part 1 of a 2-part series on convening, hear how an Exponent Philanthropy member foundation uses convening to reach its goals. Read part 2 in the series

The Hau’oli Mau Loa Foundation started convening 10 partner grantees with two goals in mind: to provide a space where they could share and learn from one another, and to help them feel excited and renewed.

“It started as a way to bring partners together. We thought there would be value in them sharing experiences, challenges they face, and successes they see,” says foundation executive director Janis Reischmann. “Someone reminded us that grantees get caught in the day-to-day of their work, and, if we could do nothing more than to re-inspire and re-energize them, that would serve them well.”

Still, the foundation stepped in with caution.

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