Bringing to Life the Buzzword “Leverage”

February 15, 2010

Over the past year, as I’ve been writing for various publications of the Minnesota Council on Foundations and reading extensively on philanthropy, the word that’s rising to the top more and more is “leverage.”

Dictionary.com defines the word several ways, but the most relevant to philanthropy are:

  • The power or ability to act or to influence people, events, decisions, etc.; sway.
  • The use of a small initial investment, credit or borrowed funds to gain a very high return in relation to one’s investment, to control a much larger investment, or to reduce one’s own liability for any loss.

Kevin Walker, president and CEO of Northwest Area Foundation, has described “leverage” the most vividly. At MCF’s 2010 Outlook Program for Minnesota Grantmakers and Nonprofits on Jan. 29, as part of the panel discussion, he said leveraging is “making sure our dollar pushes other dollars in a direction in pursuit of our mission.”

As part of my research for our spring issue of Giving Forum, which will focus on innovation in philanthropy, I am reading the annual reports of several MCF members. The 2009 report of West Central Initiative (WCI) was filled with stories of how it is leveraging its funding in the nine counties and 83 communities the foundation serves in west central Minnesota.

Among the highlights:

  • WCI’s Community Organizing and Visioning Grant was joined with a variety of public and private funding to energize stewards in Bemidji, Alexandria and Fergus Falls to create “destiny statements” envisioning the future of their communities and measurable goals to achieve.
  • WCI is acting as fiscal host, grant writer and coordinator of the Early Childhood Dental Network, which has grown into a regional effort to combat a deficiency in access to oral health care.
  • Gap financing – such as that provided to local entrepreneurs, including TFC Poultry in Ashby – is supporting job creation and business establishment and expansion in rural Minnesota.
  • WCI used its expertise to help community organizers map out a fundraising effort and create the Pelican Rapids School Fund to raise and administer funds when the school levy referendum failed and the school district faced dire cutbacks.

These are energizing, motivating and inspirational ways WCI is bringing to life the concept of “leveraging” – using its resources to push other resources as WCI pursues its mission in greater Minnesota.

– Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

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Economic Crisis Yields Challenges and Opportunities for Grantmakers

January 26, 2010

A year ago, as the economic turmoil was unfurling, looming questions of “How bad?” and “How long?” were top of mind. As we enter a new economic reality, grantmakers acknowledge that we won’t be returning to business as usual; we have to do our work differently.

How each grantmaker chooses to work “differently” is as varied as the number of foundations and corporate giving programs. Peter C. Hutchinson, Bush Foundation president, recently wrote about the challenges facing his organization: “Like others, we are pulled in competing directions. We want to do the right thing, but there are many right things we could do…The question is: Which right things are right for us?”

In our winter issue of Giving Forum, we highlight several foundations and how they’ve chosen to address the challenge of finding and then focusing on what’s the “right thing” for them to do during these tough times:

The Bush Foundation is keeping its sights on longstanding aspirations and its Goals for a Decade. Explains C. Scott Cooper, director of engagement and communication: “We have decided that the role we need to be playing in this economy is not to react to new problems, but to stay focused on the issues that we think are important – which are the same issues that were important to us before the recession – and to be held accountable for outcomes.”

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, in the midst of developing a strategic framework when the recession hit, stepped back to look for new answers. “Our big ‘a-ha’ came when we decided that – as we sat here in Battle Creek, Mich., where the bottom has repeatedly fallen out of the job market – we needed new answers to grow the economy and to bring into our workforce development perspective entrepreneurship skills and the mindset and tenacity that go with them,” recalls Anne Mosle, vice president for programs.

The Minneapolis Foundation partnered with its donors to establish a Crisis Assistance Fund to assist individuals and families with food, heat and housing, and it matched additional funding from donor-advised funds to support workforce development, education, housing and other human and social service agencies.

The McKnight Foundation is maintaining its long-term focus to fight catastrophic climate change, among other priorities. “There is often a tension between responding to changing times and remaining focused on long-term goals, addressing the most critical issues with appropriate resources, urgency and creativity,” acknowledges President Kate Wolford. Over the course of 2009, Wolford reports that the McKnight board “sharpened our strategic focus in several priority areas, including accelerating the shift to a low-carbon economy, improving third grade literacy in the metro area, and implementing place-based strategies to increase opportunities for low-income residents.”

Land O’Lakes Foundation, in the enviable position of experiencing added funding due to the company’s record growth, launched its Feeding Our Communities initiative. “We looked at who owns us – we’re a cooperative owned by farmers,” explains Lydia Botham, executive director. “And, we looked at rising needs: people who never had to go to a food shelf before who now just can’t make ends meet. We felt that more needed to be done to address hunger, especially in rural areas, where it is somewhat hidden, but just as great as it is in urban communities. Feeding Our Communities is taking our ongoing support of hunger issues to a much higher level, using our expertise and resources locally, nationally and globally.”

Foundations’ responses to the hardships created by the economic downturn are not limited to decisions on funding priorities and strategic plans. Like the nonprofits they support, many also face tough administrative and operational choices. The wellbeing of nonprofits is always top of mind, though. For example, at the McKnight Foundation, “When looking at administrative reductions, a key goal was to minimize any negative impact on grantees,” Wolford says.

Articles in Giving Forum also address funders’ perspectives on the state budget plight, the advent of federal stimulus dollars and where they believe all this turmoil is leading.

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

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Best Tool to Chart a Course in Stormy Waters: A Foundation’s Internal Compass

January 25, 2010

The challenges posed by the economic downturn and subsequent slow-motion rebound have led foundations of all types, sizes and missions to pause and ask tough questions to determine their direction in the months and perhaps years ahead.

To help foundations navigate what, for many, are uncharted waters, their boards and executive leadership must take a long look inward. Relying too heavily for direction on resources and circumstances external to the foundation may pull the organization off course.

Our winter issue of the Giving Forum, which will be available online tomorrow, includes examples of several foundations that are relying on their own histories and values as guides.

The work of the Otto Bremer Foundation during the economic crisis has been guided by a consistent theme: What would Otto Bremer do? “Our trustees feel that people are in such desperate situations now,” explains Randi Ilyse Roth, the foundation’s executive director. “When the trustees look back and think about what our founder would do, they know he would help people through times like this and hope that the work we support helps them get back on their feet.”

The foundation introduced the Bremer Emergency Fund, a joint response of the foundation and the Bremer banks. “This was about getting cash into the hands of people who needed it immediately to pay rent, buy food, heat their homes,” Roth says.

In an additional shift last year, the foundation specified that all of its funding targeting the Twin Cities would focus on poverty relief. “This wasn’t an easy change. Some of the longer-term work that also would have a positive impact on society – work that is good and important too – is not getting funded.

“There’s no real right answer,” reflects Roth, “which is why the trustees often turn to what they believe would be our founder’s intent.”

Kerrie Blevins, foundation director of the Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation and vice president of Private Philanthropy Services, defines this inward look at missions, values and histories to shape direction as “values-based giving.”

In this issue of Giving Forum, Blevins authored an article describing the values-based giving decisions of three foundations with which she works:

  • The Patrick and Aimee Butler Family Foundation board decided that, in keeping with its values and decades-long commitment to providing general operating support for nonprofit organizations, it would continue making two-year gen op grants in 2009 and 2010, recognizing that nonprofits need a stable base of support now more than ever.
  • The James R. Thorpe Foundation, which regards itself as a relationship-based funder, elected to deepen those relationships by hosting a convening of youth grantee partners representing diverse disciplines, including the arts, education and human services. Grantees discussed the opportunities and challenges they’re facing, giving the board a deeper understanding of the issues confronting these nonprofits.
  • The Laura Jane Musser Fund has long supported the arts and the environment in rural communities. Aware that many foundations were moving away from supporting these in an effort to respond to mounting basic human needs, the Musser Fund directors elected to “stay the course” with its focus, recognizing that their grantmaking is responsive and community-based and that it supports the sustainability and vitality of rural communities.

Join the conversation: Share your examples of foundations and giving programs that have chosen to chart a new course, stay the course or a combination of both after checking their internal compass during this economic crisis.

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

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Is philanthropy via TXT a fad or a revolution?

January 19, 2010

I heard a “fad vs. revolution” question posed on the radio this morning on the way to work. It was in reference to another topic, but it struck me, because I’ve been thinking this past weekend about all the various ways individuals are donating to the relief efforts in Haiti – via text messaging being the vehicle most prominently publicized.

Two men pause to send text messages on their smartphones.

Fad or future? What's your take on using SMS or texting to make donations?

I’ve been keeping my eyes open for any organization that is asking people to send in checks, but those appeals are almost nonexistent as most organizations are directing donors to their websites. A few are promoting phone numbers that take credit card donations, but these also are rare.

Is appealing for financial support via text messaging a fad or a revolution? How many more people will donate who wouldn’t have given otherwise, because it’s just a quick few punches with the thumbs and $10 is on its way? Preliminary numbers certainly point to the success of this appeal. If people give $10 via texting, but they would like to give more, will they? How?

Charitable giving is a $5.5 billion endeavor in Minnesota, according to MCF’s Giving in Minnesota, 2009 Edition research. Of this, 76 percent or $4.19 billion came from individuals. Over the past decade, charitable giving in Minnesota increased 67 percent, and the number of grantmakers in the state rose by more than 65 percent. In just a year, from 2006 to 2007, foundations and corporate giving programs increased their giving by 10.1 percent to $1.32 billion.

Has innovation or evolution in philanthropy contributed to this increase? What factors – technology, outreach strategies, messaging, donor-advised initiatives to name just a few examples – are redefining how and what we give? Which individuals and organizations are leading the way? These topics and more will be the focus of our spring issue of Giving Forum.

In the meantime, join the conversation on texting to support relief efforts in Haiti by commenting on this entry. I’m interested to hear others’ perspectives.

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

Image CC Kiwanja

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How is teacher preparation like cosmetic surgery? No, this isn’t a joke.

December 3, 2009

As someone who just had yet another birthday, I can’t believe I’m writing this: I can’t wait for the next 10 years to go by. And, the faster, the better.

Why? Today, the Bush Foundation, an MCF member, and 14 higher education institutions gathered in St. Paul to announce their partnership, guaranteeing the delivery of 25,000 new, highly effective teachers by 2020. This initiative is key to the foundation’s goal over the next decade of increasing by 50 percent the number of students in Minnesota, North Dakota and South Dakota, from pre-kindergarten through college who are on track to earn a degree after high school, and of eliminating the achievement gap among diverse student groups.

Peter C. Hutchinson, Bush Foundation president, described the launching point for this initiative:

“Research has shown that while many factors play a role in educational success, effective teaching makes a bigger difference than any other in-school variable. Research also shows that when students consistently experience effective teaching, there are no achievement gaps. By forming partnerships with institutions who are willing to ensure that children across these three states will have effective teachers, we believe that over the decade we can significantly raise the achievement of every student and reduce disparities among student groups.”

The Bush Foundation and its partners define an effective teacher as one who ensures that each child learns at least a year’s worth of knowledge for every year spent in the classroom. “That seems obvious, but that’s not happening,” said Susan Heegaard, Bush Foundation vice president and educational achievement team leader, in MCF’s summer issue of Giving Forum.

Of the 72,000 teachers currently working in the three states, 40 percent will leave the profession over the next 10 years; some will retire, others will enter another profession. Who will replace them? How will they be recruited, prepared, placed and supported? What difference will they make?

To answer these questions, the 14 partnering institutions have signed on to a partnership they described today as “transformative,” “innovative,” “rare,” “courageous,” “daunting,” and “moving us from good to great.” They stressed that the type and extent of the impact that will result from this initiative can only be achieved by way of working together – not only amongst themselves but with K-12 education institutions and others as well – and becoming a voice for change.

The 14 are: Augsburg College; Bethel University; Concordia University, St. Paul; Hamline University; Minnesota State University, Mankato; University of Minnesota; Minnesota State University, Moorhead; North Dakota State University; St. Catherine University; St. Cloud State University; University of St. Thomas; University of South Dakota; Valley City State University (North Dakota); Winona State University.

In addition to sharing knowledge and dialoguing, each partner will launch a unique strategy that plays to its strengths, while challenging the status quo to ensure the teachers they prepare will be highly effective. An overview of each partner’s plan is available through the Bush Foundation’s website.

One panelist at the announcement today summarized the proposals this way: In the area of recruitment, they move from not very intentional to very intentional; in preparation, they move from theoretical to more immediately hands on, in front of a class; in the area of placement, they move from “hope for the best placement” to “placed in only the best” – in schools that are prepared and able to support these newly trained teachers; in the area of support, they move from providing little to undertaking intensive, multi-year efforts.

For its part, the Bush Foundation is committing $40 million over the next decade, its largest investment in an initiative.

The headline of the media advisory for today’s announcement mentioned the goal of transforming teacher preparation programs and proclaimed “Effectiveness of Teachers Being Guaranteed.”

In a time when the word “uncertainty” is used and used again, the word “guarantee” is truly attention-grabbing. When questioned today about the “guarantee,” a representative of one of the partners equated his institution’s involvement in this initiative to cosmetic surgery: You wouldn’t agree to the surgery unless you were almost certain that all the pieces are in place for a successful outcome.

I would add that this undertaking is also like non-elective surgery: Whatever ailments and challenges you face will not go away on their own.

Can you imagine what our communities will be like in 10 years when the goals of the Bush Foundation and these educational partners are achieved? I can hardly wait.

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

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Where do you turn for a road map to successful partnering?

October 26, 2009

Partnering in philanthropy is like one of those trends that you know may be out there, but that you don’t notice until you start working on it, and then you see that it’s everywhere.

As we pulled together content for the fall issue if Giving Forum, which focuses on partnering, it became clear that, no matter how we defined partnering or where we looked for examples, grantmakers are deeply committed to collaborating – with each other, nonprofits, the public and private sectors, individuals, international organizations – to create greater impact and tackle bigger issues.

In the article “Nonprofits and Philanthropy: Scenario I, An Interview With Kelvin Taketa and Chris Van Bergeijk,” which appeared in The Nonprofit Quarterly, Winter 2008, Van Bergeijk of the Hawai’i Community Foundation says, “The grout that glues the tiles together is where the power is. It allows us to come up with bigger approaches and bigger solutions to social issues…There’s a real price that comes from the isolation between organizations. There’s no chance to share practices or that audacious idea that you have but keep on the back burner because you know you could never do it by yourself.”

So, if we’re committed to partnering, where do we turn for “how-to’s” or do we just jump in? When I posed this question to grantmakers I interviewed for Giving Forum, as well as members of the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, a variety of resources were sent my way. We’ve compiled some of them on our website. They include books, articles and online links on a variety of aspects of partnering – collaboration cultivation, program and organization mergers, case studies and more.

Join the Conversation: What resources have you consulted that have made a difference in helping you partner successfully?

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

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Why Partnerships Succeed

October 19, 2009

By working hard at working together, Minnesota grantmakers and nonprofits are taking aim at complex, core community needs.

In order for these partnership efforts to be successful, grantmakers believe a few key components must be present.

Brad Brown, executive director of Social Venture Partners, believes three of these components are: “First, a true collaboration requires real commitment of resources – dollars, staff, time, in-kind. We can’t just sit around the table and talk about what we want to do. Second, we need to understand what each partner can offer, and those skill sets need to be complementary. And, third, too often partnerships are people doing what they’ve always done, but in a piecemeal fashion. It’s not a real, effective collaboration until we integrate what we are all doing into a seamless whole.”

“Open communication also is essential, so partners feel they can discuss expectations,” says Marina Munoz Lyon, vice president of the Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Foundation. “If we’re burdening an organization, asking them to do too much or do work that isn’t part of their normal portfolio or for which we’re not willing to pay, organization reps need to feel they can communicate this.”

For more grantmaker insight into the keys and barriers of successful partnering, check out the Fall issue of Giving Forum, MCF’s quarterly publication. This issue focuses on “The Power of Partnering: Grantmakers Use Collective Action to Amplify Impact.”

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

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Grantmakers Say Money Is Only One Party at the Partnership Table

October 13, 2009

“How can we accomplish the greatest good?”

Jim Hoolihan, president/CEO of the Blandin Foundation, says his foundation starts its work by asking this. Exploring this question has meant that partnership work is now embedded in Blandin’s culture.

Minnesota grantmakers’ belief that more can be done through collaborating is leading to substantial and innovative collaborations. Several of these are highlighted in the just-published Fall 2009 issue of MCF’s Giving Forum, including initiatives of the Blandin Foundation, Dorsey & Whitney, Hispanics in Philanthropy, IBM, Carl and Eloise Pohlad Family Foundation, St. Croix Valley Foundation, Social Venture Partners, and others.

These grantmakers say, though, that partnership work is not always easy work. Addressing power dynamics is one key issue. Is it possible to have true collaboration when one party holds the purse strings?

If funding is viewed as only one piece of the collaboration amongst several at the table, then the answer is yes.

“Each organization brings something to the table, whether it be relationships, connections, knowledge, influence or the ability to leverage other resources,” notes Jill Shannon, director of community partnerships, St. Croix Valley Foundation. “We’re all the same that way, yet we touch our communities differently. Whether a grantee or a grantor, we can work together to accomplish a common goal. The task at hand is to see what each organization can bring forward to reach that shared goal.”

Hoolihan adds, “In some cases, we may have more money, but another partner may have more experience, and another may have more knowledge. Every partner brings something unique, and we recognize that what each brings to the collaboration is just as valuable as money… We do not have all the answers, and money by itself accomplishes nothing.”

For effective collaborations, partners not only must acknowledge the value each brings to the table, grantmakers must commit to listening sincerely with the intention of learning, and nonprofits must not be afraid to speak honestly and directly.

- Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

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