Using Communications Strategies to Increase Foundations’ Public Policy Impact

August 23, 2010

The desire to achieve impact is taking yet another step. First, there was great talk about foundations moving beyond writing checks to figuring out how to change the systems that may have created the need for the check-writing in the first place.

This has led to more and more foundations putting their resources – money, knowledge and connections – toward public policy engagement and impacting public policy. We highlighted the work of several Minnesota foundations in this arena in our Summer issue of Giving Forum.

Now, a first-of-its-kind report from the Center on Philanthropy & Public Policy at the University of Southern California focuses on the question of how foundations that wish to engage in public policy are using communications to expand the reach and impact of their work even more.

The study, released in May and aptly titled “How Foundations Use Communications to Advance Their Public Policy Work,” compiles interviews with senior communications officers at 18 of the country’s largest foundations, including MCF member W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

Three structural models for communications staff at these foundations emerged:

  • The advisory model, in which the communications team advises program staff both formally and informally.
  • The embedded model, where communications staff are embedded in the foundation’s major program teams.
  • The communications department model, an approach where a separate communications department produces independent products and programs, in addition to serving as advisers.

While the communications staff sizes are small, communications work extends beyond core staff and encompasses what consultants, partners and grantees do as well.

Study authors James M. Ferris, Marcia Sharp and Hilary J. Harmssen identified 10 distinct strategies foundations use to boost their public policy engagement through communications. Five are within a foundation’s grantmaking work, and five go beyond it:

Five Strategies Within the Grants Program

  1. Build communications support into the budget for a larger program – includes funding communications components of larger project grants related to public policy engagement.
  2. Give grants or contracts specifically for communications – includes stand-alone communications grants for strategy development, implementation, or messaging, as well as companion grants to projects or research studies with significant policy implications.
  3. Provide expert consulting support to grantees – includes expertise provided by consultants or networks or directly by foundation staff to further an organization’s skills and expertise in strategy development, messaging, social media, polling, and other general communications tools.
  4. Offer communications capacity building to grantees  – includes programs to build grantee skills and knowledge in organizational development, advocacy, strategy, and social media.
  5. Train program officers – includes programs on funding advocacy and communications, the role of communications in policy engagement, basic communications strategies and tactics, and legal issues related to advocacy and policy engagement.

Five Strategies Beyond the Grants Program

  1. Sponsor convenings – includes community forums and other forms of gatherings that bring together key actors and influences on an issue.
  2. Do direct media outreach – includes activities conducted in the name of the foundation, as well as on specific policy issues such as op eds, press releases, blogs, etc.
  3. Use the CEO’s bully pulpit – includes speaking, writing, or blogging on particular policy issues or topics, and calling meetings and conducting relationship building with important stakeholders.
  4. Establish communications departments within the foundation – includes publishing, creating news services, producing public education campaigns, creating media partnerships, and running awards programs.
  5. Build a cause brand – includes creating favorable/trusted name recognition for the foundation, as well as consciously developing a cause brand around a particular public problem or issue.

While communications can play a vital part in a foundation’s public policy work, interviewees stressed that the greatest challenges are: to manage the complexity of relationships involved for a core communications staff what works on daily basis with individual grantees, coalitions and collaborations, program officers, contractors and consultants; and content experts, and to integrate communications into the program work, especially at an early and strategic level.

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

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Mindful Media: Using the Matrix to Plan Your Messaging

August 16, 2010

Deciding what communications mediums to use should not feel like trying to read this.

What is the Matrix you ask? No, I’m not talking about the mind-bending late 90′s sci-fi flick. I’m referring to a nifty tool developed by Aspiration that helps you sort out the mind-bending  myriad of mediums both online and off that so many are using to spread messages these days.

Referred to as the publishing matrix, the tool is a simple grid that lists the types of messages you produce, and then has a column for each of the communications mediums that you currently are using. Using an “X” you can indicate which type of message, whether it be a press release or a blog post, should receive what type of distribution (e.g. facebook post, tweet, etc.)

It’s an excellent method for documenting what your promotional practices are for your messages among staff, especially if you have multiple staff members or even volunteers producing and distributing messages for your organization. You can download an example of the publishing matrix  at aspirationtech.org.

I learned about the tool at a presentation that Allen Gunn, executive director of Aspiration, gave at the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmaker conference. Located in San Francisco, Aspiration is a 501 c3 organization that specializes in connecting nonprofit clients with software solutions to help them better carry out their work. There is a variety of free resources for nonprofit communicators interested in streamlining their use of social media on aspirationtech.org.

- Cary Lenore Walski, MCF web communications associate

Image CC Patrick Hoesly

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Giving Memo, The Employee You Didn’t Know You Had

August 11, 2010

Keeping tabs on grantmaking in the state is a full-time job. If you’re a busy nonprofit executive director or development professional, tracking all that goes on is daunting if not impossible.

Fortunately, here at Minnesota Council on Foundations we track all this information for our grantmaker members and the nonprofit community.

Today I’d like to talk about Giving Memo, our enewsletter for the nonprofit community. It’s one of the best ways to stay on top of all of this information, and best of all, if you’re subscribed, it’s delivered free every other week to your inbox. It’s kind of like the helpful staff member you didn’t know you had, ready at hand to provide you with need-to-know information about foundation and corporate giving in Minnesota, and much more.

Giving Memo Sums Up the Latest on Minnesota Grantmaking

The entire team here at MCF receives hundreds of emails, tracks dozens of news sources and scans more than a hundred Google Alerts to keep up to date on news from, for and about grantmakers in our state. We share those updates with you in the “Minnesota Grantmaker News & Notes” section of Giving Memo.

Giving Memo Updates You on People to Know

Have the staff members at one of your current or potential funders changed? MCF is often the first to know. Regardless of whether there’s an official press release, MCF collects information daily about staff and trustee changes. We  share these updates in the “People” section of Giving Memo.

Giving Memo Features New Grant Opportunities

Have the grant deadline or proposal criteria changed? What new opportunities are on the horizon? MCF maintains comprehensive databases of Minnesota grantmakers and grants. We share upcoming grant deadlines, grant updates and new grant opportunities in each edition of Giving Memo.

(And for even more detailed information, you can subscribe to Minnesota Grantmakers Online.)

Giving Memo Offers Even More

In addition to these features, Giving Memo frequently includes:

Giving Memo is Yours and It’s Free (but You Need to Sign Up*)

Clearly, Giving Memo is a pretty amazing resource. So, are you signed up to access this awesome new employee? If you’re not, you can sign up online now by filling out this short form. If you have friends or colleagues who would enjoy this resource, send them an email with this link.

- Cary Lenore Walski, MCF web communications associate

*Please note that MCF never shares or sells your information. That would be mean.

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Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When the Stakes are High

July 30, 2010

Earlier this week, I attended a conference for the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers.  The Forum is a network of associations from across the country, so I was glad to connect in-person with our colleagues. 

The conference planning committee did an excellent job providing relevant content.  For me, our most interesting plenary session was on Crucial Conversations, delivered by Ron McMillan from VitalSmarts. The stage was set for this session as we talked about how the field of philanthropy is changing.  Transitions like these often require staff and members of regional associations to engage in difficult conversations about future directions and the role associations play in supporting grantmakers on their journeys.

McMillan and his team call these discussions “crucial conversations” (which also happens to be the title of their best-selling book). Crucial conversations are those that have high stakes and opposing opinions, and that trigger strong emotions.  They are crucial because decisions about our future are often on the line.  In other words, these are conversations that matter.

Unfortunately, when it matters most, we often do our worst.  Others judge us by the way we handle these conversations.  While crucial conversations make up only about 10% of the conversations we have, they are the conversations that people remember us by.

When the stakes are high and there are disagreements on what to do and our emotions are coursing powerfully through us, people tend toward two reactions:

  • We go silent and cave in without effectively communicating our point of view, or
  • We go violent (sometimes physically, but most often vocally) and let our emotions get the better of us, so that the content of the discussion becomes clouded by the outburst.

There are consequences to both of these reactions.  When we “go silent” and shut down, the problem that we are trying to solve only gets worse, because we fail to be honest and open about our thoughts on the matter.  When this happens, organizations get stuck in old ways and old ideas.  When we ”go violent,” other people react by getting defensive, or worse, getting even.  Problems don’t get solved because the conversations are so volatile that we lose sight of what we were arguing about in the first place.  

Master communicators neither “go silent” or “go violent”.  They remain calm.  They ask probing questions.  They encourage dialogue, or the free flow of meaning.  And they make it safe for others to join them in crucial conversations by creating mutual purpose (“You know that I care about your goals”) and mutual respect (“You know that I care about you”).

Crucial conversations are hard, but they happen every day in foundations and nonprofits.  Think about the conversations that take place in your organization: When do crucial conversations come up?  How are they handled?  What can you do to make your organization a safe place for these kinds of conversations?  Please comment on this post with your tips and tools for how you engage in crucial conversations.

-Stephanie Jacobs, MCF director of member services

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Capacity, Culture, Commitment and Comfort: Finding Public Policy Strategies That Fit Your Foundation

July 20, 2010

How much change can a foundation catalyze by simply – albeit generously – writing checks? Not as much as it could if it also engaged in public policy activities. In fact, public policy work should be viewed as an essential part of a foundation’s efforts, say several members of the Minnesota Council on Foundations.

In our Summer issue of Giving Forum, “Public Policy and Philanthropy: Many Roads Lead to the Same Destination – Change,” John Larsen, trustee and administrator of the John Larsen Foundation, says, “Ultimately, the work of our foundation is about creating real, systemic change, and that can only happen when we start talking to government. Whether you’re a small family foundation like us, or a very large foundation, we all need shifts in public policy in order to achieve really significant lasting social change.”

The challenge is that working to achieve shifts in public policy is often equated with lobbying. And the thought of walking up the steps of the Capitol or testifying before a legislative committee is more than many funders can fathom.

Lobbying, however, is not the sole avenue to influencing public decision making and advocating for causes. Although it is the most recognized public policy engagement tactic, it is only one of 18 distinct policy strategies that Julia Coffman outlines in “A User’s Guide to Advocacy Evaluation Planning,” published by the Harvard Family Research Project.

A “Framework of Public Policy Activities,” which we include in Giving Forum, also includes using electronic outreach and social media, coalition and network building, grassroots organizing, briefings and presentations, polling, pilot projects, research investigating issues and identifying solutions and policymaker education, among others – all of which can impact public decision making, which ultimately shapes policy development, approval and implementation.

A foundation can engage anywhere along the continuum, pursuing those activities that fit its capacity, culture, commitment and comfort levels. A public policy activity that feels right for one foundation may not fit another.

Many foundations choose a combination of strategies, leveraging their resources to: raise awareness of where the public stands on particular issues; bring together divergent points of view to first converse then collaborate; empower community members to advocate on their own behalf by providing technical assistance; increase the capacity of nonprofits to mobilize others; identify messages that resonate with policymakers and the public; determine what would happen if the status quo was allowed to prevail; aggregate what is known already about an issue and put that to work to further discussion; or identify possible solutions and best practices.

These MCF members have each chosen distinct strategies to impact public decision making that fit their capacity, culture, commitment and comfort level. Read more about their work in our just-published Giving Forum:

Lead article:

Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation: An outgrowth of its grantmaking and programmatic activities, community dialogues and business loan work, SMIF’s public policy activities, including building coalition and networks and partnering with the media to draw attention to the issues and how public policy could impact the success the foundation seeks.

The Minneapolis Foundation: As part of the School Readiness Funders Coalition, a group of funders with diverse strengths and abilities in advocacy work, The Minneapolis Foundation brings to the group its ability to lobby and testify at legislative hearings to advocate for the coalitions “Agenda to Achieve Learning Readiness by 2020.”

John Larsen Foundation: When awarding grants supporting work toward LGBT equality, the foundation  considers if educating policymakers is an end goal of the nonprofit’s work and if the organization has a research plan and a track record of communicating those findings to policymakers.

Indian Land Tenure Foundation: Striving to ensure that lands within the original boundaries of reservations is acquired, owned and managed by Indians, the foundation views education about land issues a priority, as well as identification then pursuit of strategies for achieving legal reform.

Women’s Foundation of Minnesota: The explosion of social media has created a new landscape for the foundation to leverage its expertise to educate, engage and broaden its reach to shift attitudes, behaviors and institutions that limit equality for women and girls.

Voices of Philanthropy articles:

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Identifying partners best qualified to successfully implement strategies and measuring what’s important to guide future initiatives drive the foundation’s advocacy work.

Initiative Foundation: Based on the belief that local people are the key to strengthening communities, the foundation increases civic engagement by providing training, technical assistance, resource referral and grants to help citizen-based teams develop and carry out strategic plans.

While these efforts are diverse, the common thread amongst them is the recognition by these foundations that strategically developing goals to influence public decision making and intentionally engaging in public policy activities and advocacy work can move systems change forward.

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

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New Strategic Philanthropy Resource: Deep Social Impact Blog

July 12, 2010

Boston-based The Philanthropic Initiative Inc. entered the blogosphere mid-June with Deep Social Impact. Striving to broadcast more widely its knowledge gained from 20 years of advising donors and researching, designing and implementing a variety of philanthropic initiatives, TPI says its goal for Deep Social Impact is to wrap “shared learning around practical advice – with a healthy diet of inspiration.”

This “strategic philanthropy blog” will cover a range of topics – philanthropic leadership, women in philanthropy and global philanthropy. Written by TPI senior staff, topics to date have included:

TPI is looking to intertwine their lessons learned and experiments-in-progress with yours, so read and comment away, says Ellen Remmer, TPI’s CEO and president. “We are looking to spark dialogue among donors and philanthropy professionals and hope the Deep Social Impact blog grows to become a valued resource for donors who are committed to increasing the impact of their giving.”

TPI is a nonprofit advisory team that designs, carries out and evaluates philanthropic programs for individual donors, families, foundations and corporations targeting a wide range of social issues, including education, health, issues affecting youth and families, hunger and nutrition, housing and homelessness, community and economic development, civic engagement, environmental issues and the arts.

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

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Let’s Talk About It

April 28, 2010

At last week’s Facing Race Ambassador Awards event, keynote speaker Naomi Tutu challenged the audience to continue conversations about race. In her speech, Ms. Tutu challenged the notion that by ignoring America’s long-standing issues of race, racism and oppression we were solving the issue, and further asserted that avoiding challenging conversations about race could be compared to having a puss filled wound and repeatedly covering it with bandages and packing, keeping the infection in, saying in every facet of our lives, what we ignore is sure to come back to haunt us.

She said, “Conversations can be frightening – they tell you who you are as a human being. However, the gift on the other side of the challenge is the building of relationships and community. God has given us the gift of diversity. It is an insult to pretend you do not notice it. Enter a conversation because the differences we bring can be gifts to one another. In a child’s world, noticing differences are an opportunity to move the conversation forward.”

Her words stirred me and got me wondering why we as people, as professionals, as co-workers, and co-board members don’t have conversations about race more often. Why is it that when the topic of race comes up, even in conversations related to diversity, inclusion and justice, we tend to back away, change the subject, or shut-down? Why is it that we can spend hours talking about disparities, difference, and what _______ should do, but only minutes about racism itself… intentional, unintentional, individual, and institutional racism?

Though there are many ism’s that should be addressed, racism is arguably the ism that lasted the longest and has the potential to continue into perpetuity in large part due to our inability and/or unwillingness to have open, frank, and crucial conversations in our day-to-day lives about it. So what can we do to change it?

For some, it’s been as simple as having lunch. In 1997, Joe Martin a long time Bank of America executive in Greenville, SC challenged the community to set-aside one day each week to have lunch with someone of a different race. These lunches not only provided an easy opportunity to have discussions about race and racism, but a way to begin building cross-racial relationships that extend beyond the formality of day-to-day business interactions.

Others have chosen even more intentional means such as visiting a worship place with different style and different cultures than you’re used to, or setting up a play-date for your children with children of different races, attending community events that take you out of your comfort zone, and interacting with the attendees to learn more about them as individuals and as a community. The options are as diverse as we are, but you still might be wondering how to actually have the conversation. I mean having lunch with a person of a different race doesn’t guarantee that you will actually talk about race and racism. Like any conversation with a purpose, it must be intentional, and there are tools to help us not only become more knowledgeable but prepared to have those crucial conversations.

A book has recently been released entitled “To Be Free: Understanding and Eliminating Racism” that I believe can help those who strive to know and do more to address racism. The book was written by Thomas Peacock and Marlene Wisuri, and the forward was written by Eric Jolly.

The book was produced with support from several Minnesota foundations and MCF members and free copies have been distributed at several recent events. Though the book was written to assist educators in preparing youth to prevent and eliminate racism, its content is enlightening and motivating for adults as well. Each chapter ends with a summary of its key themes and activities to promote understanding of its topic that could easily be used in a group setting for workplace dialogues and training.

I encourage you to use this book, available at aftonpress.com to create your own conversations about race and racism, and share with us and your peers on the blog your own solutions for continuing eliminating racism through conversation. And to share the words that were shared at the Facing Race Ambassador Awards event, the conversation about race will end when racism ends.

- Tawanna Black, MCF diversity fellow

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Need to Craft a Social Media Policy? Start Here!

April 2, 2010

Does your foundation or nonprofit need a clear policy for using Twitter, Facebook and other web 2.0 communications media? When crafting new policies, it’s sometimes difficult to know where to start.

Fortunately, resources on the ‘net like PolicyTool can help you. Developed by Canadian company rtraction, PolicyTool is a free online social media policy generator that asks you 12 simple questions, and then presents you with a basic policy that’s updated with the information you provided.

Although the policy is technically “customized” for your organization, I recommend using what’s created merely as a starting point for your policy. Once you’ve created a first draft using PolicyTool, consider checking out online examples of how others have crafted social media policies for their organizations, and see if you can find anything to adapt. Some excellent examples can be found on The Altimeter (mostly for-profit examples) and Socialmedia.biz (includes a number of sectors — including nonprofit).

When crafting your policy, consider with whom on your staff you should consult. Having the right people engaged can help you get ahead of potential disagreements later.

Finally, remember that creating the policy is the easy part. Once you’ve established the policy, your most important task is educating your fellow staff members about it. As a best practice you might review your policies with your team of social media communicators once a year, or once every six months, just to make sure that the guidelines aren’t forgotten.

For other practical advice on creating and sustaining clear policy on using social media, I recommend checking out this post on Beth’s Blog and these insights on best practices gleaned from the Society for New Communications Research.

- Cary Lenore Walski, MCF web communications associate

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