Familiar Faces, New Ventures

As I was going through an old notebook, I found a piece of advice that Jessica Stannard-Friel gave me in 2007 at a conference, "start a blog, it's a great way to position yourself in the field and to develop a two-way conversation about generational issues." Jessica is the sister of Sean Stannard-Stockton, blogger at Tactical Philanthropy and she had described how Sean's experience starting a blog just a few months before had been a great way to meet colleagues and flesh out new ideas. I've stayed in touch with Sean over the last few years and was excited when he announced his newest venture Tactical Philanthropy Advisors, where he will work directly advising wealthy donors on how to make their philanthropy more effective.  I am always pleased when one of my fellow bloggers leverages the knowledge and connections that they have developed through blogging to make a personal or professional dream come true. The firm will have many services for individuals but I am most interested in his plan to bring individual donors together with professional foundation staff to share lessons learned in something he is calling the Tactical Philanthropy Knowledge Network. More about that from Sean's website:

Who you know is often more important than what you know. And yet philanthropists – from individuals to large foundations – seldom communicate with each other. The result is that donors often have to reinvent the wheel. To help our clients benefit from the vast amount of knowledge in the field of philanthropy, we are building the Tactical Philanthropy Knowledge Network.

One of the core services of Tactical Philanthropy Advisors is to act as a trusted intermediary between major donors and the professional field of philanthropy. The Tactical Philanthropy Knowledge Network is a network of professional grantmakers who are committed to the idea that knowledge-sharing leads to greater social impact. Philanthropy thought leaderJed Emerson has agreed to act as Chair of the Network. In addition, the design firm IDEO will be involved in designing the Network and facilitating Network gatherings.

The Network will launch in late 2009 with the first in-person gathering to take place in early 2010.

Let's Hear More About Work for Diversity and Inclusiveness

Odds are that you’re aware of some of the work to bring diversity and inclusiveness to philanthropy, whether it’s through the “Race Matters Took Kit” of the Annie E. Casey Foundation or even through the grants of the family foundation down the road from you. But how much don’t you hear about?

I’ve been exploring how foundations communicate their work on diversity for a case study that will be published by the Diversity in Philanthropy Project (DPP) at the end of September. The case study examines some of the innovative ways this dialogue is happening at some of the leading national foundations: Ford, Marguerite Casey, Packard, C.S. Mott, and The Denver foundations. But the question about communicating the work at other foundations is wide open: a lot of diversity and inclusiveness work still falls beneath the radar.

As Anastasia Ordonez, Packard Foundation’s senior communications manager, pointed out to me, many foundations like it that way. They’re used to taking a back seat on publicity and working behind the scenes to make things happen.

Another issue is specificity. There’s no shortage of high-minded ideals and vision statements, but what about the heart and soul of the work? Jan Jaffe, the Project Director of GrantCraft, told me that it’s not enough for foundations to tell how diverse they are. They need to show us by interacting with their staff, grantees, and stakeholders to find out why and how diversity is important to us. She said, “They need to ask what they’re doing differently as a result. How is our work different from a Benetton ad?”

The case study is far from an exhaustive list of innovative communications or challenges to communicating. I wanted to open up the dialogue to blog readers:

• What innovative communications work about diversity and inclusiveness have you seen?
• What should foundations do to become more innovative and effective in their communications?
• What would be the advantages or disadvantages of creating a best practices platform?

Remember What's Important

I was having a great day at work today and decided to buy my staff some Izzy's ice cream from the Birchwood Cafe because it is super hot and feels like the last hurrah of summer. As I was waiting in the turn lane for the light rail train to pass, I saw a man look at the train coming and jump in front of it. A man that was standing near by ran over and tried to help but it was obviously too late, in many many ways. There is probably a story here about a crumbling social services safety net, the lack of funding for mental health services, and the debate over health care access for all but quite honestly I don't have the mental energy for that today. What I will say is that as I was taking to the very kind transit officer that was getting my statement, the only thing that I could think about was how soon I could see my family. Just a half an hour before all that was on my mind was staff morale and getting ready for a fabulous reception that the Minnesota Council of Foundations is putting on for foundation staff to socialize tonight. But really, that isn't where priorities lie when you are shaken awake by tragedy.

So I leave to to you guys and the other really talented people in the nonprofit and government sector to figure out what it takes to stop these kind of tragedies from happening again but what I will say is hold your loved ones a little bit tighter and in the busyness of the day, don't forget what is really important.

Don't miss the NGen Fellowship Deadline

From American Express and Independent Sector:

The new American Express NGen Fellows Program will offer 12 under-40 professionals from Independent Sector member organizations a rare opportunity to magnify their impact and accelerate their careers. Based on the recognition that the leaders we need tomorrow are poised to contribute today, this program will build the capacity of emerging leaders through tailored online and in-person programming and special networking opportunities, and includes complementary registration and lodging for the 2009 Annual Conference.

American Express NGen Fellows will be a diverse and talented group selected from under-40 staff at IS member organizations.  Visit the IS website to learn more about the benefits of participation in the fellows program, the selection process, and how to apply.  Applications are due August 14.  

This program enhances NGen: Moving Nonprofit Leaders from Next to Now, which is designed to expand and improve the nonprofit talent pool by developing the leadership skills and networks of emerging leaders.  Free to all under-40 conference attendees, NGen offers targeted workshop sessions addressing topics important to emerging leaders and opportunities for rising young professionals to connect with leaders of all ages. Register for the IS Annual Conference today!

13 Seconds in August

Two years ago today, the 35W bridge collapsed in Minneapolis.  As Minnesotans mourned for the families that had lost so much, we also mourned that we had lost our belief in our state's infrastructure. Things that were seen as strong and unmoveable were no longer trustworthy. Immediately after the bridge collapsed, I wondered what philanthropy's role should be in this type of crisis. For the next few weeks, I worked that issue out with my colleagues at the Saint Paul Foundation and with an amazing partnership of grantmakers. Our foundations acted as a central repository, as people turned their mourning into action. We collected over $1.2 million dollars from institutions, everyday people, community bake sales, memorial concerts, and lemonade stands. We were presented with big oversized checks and glass jars full of change.

We met as grantmakers and made tough decisions about how the first dollars would go out. We made the easier choice first, we send money to nonprofits that immediately helped after the crisis. I think each of us had our own way of dealing with the weight of responsibility that came with those first choices. I read each of those applications over and over again. I talked to my step-dad, who is a firefighter and who worked many long days after the collapse on the rescue and then recovery efforts, to see how he felt about the mental health providers who had claimed that they were reaching out to the first responders (he gave them a glowing report card). I asked a friend who's children were on a school bus on the bridge during the collapse if he was getting the support he needed from a nonprofit that was requesting funds (his family was). I asked myself if I had lost a loved one in the collapse, which institution would I turn to or help, and would that be a different agency if I was an undocumented immigrant, a stay at home mom in the suburbs, or  an executive's husband. The choices that we made were tough but fair and the grants that we made during that process are the ones that I have been most proud of during my career. We got the money out quickly, with as little paperwork as possible. I am even prouder of the next phase of grantmaking, because we understood our limitations as funders and charged the United Way's 211 line with the task of coordinating services for survivors and families that had lost a loved one and provided financial assistance to those families. That phase of grantmaking paid for mortgages, wheelchair ramps, and a host of other things that we hoped would make the pain a little more bearable.

Participating in grantmaking of this magnitude and with so much pressure to do the right thing was a career changing thing for me. It taught me that philanthropy is just people reaching out to each other and hoping to make someone's life a little bit better. I also learned that relying on your instincts is an important part of the process, as well as talking to people who are closer to the issue than you are. I also found out that foundations can get money out quickly and with very little paperwork, there just needs to be the will to do that.

I'll say a prayer for the families tonight and another prayer for our field to have the wisdom and compassion needed to be the help our communities need.