The Changing Faces of Philanthropy

January 17, 2012

A new report, Cultures of Giving, commissioned by MCF member W.K. Kellogg Foundation looks at the recent growth of identity-based philanthropy – defined this way:

A growing movement to spark philanthropic giving from a community on behalf of a community, where “community” is defined by race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation.

The U.S. population is changing, with ethnic and racial groups growing faster than the overall population. Not surprisingly, the face of philanthropy is changing along with it.

The report found that 63 percent of Latino households now make charitable donations, and blacks give away 25 percent more of their income per year than whites.

Concurrently the definition of philanthropy is expanding to encompass contributions of any size from people of every income bracket and ethnic background. And, the report shows how these new philanthropists are pooling their money—in increasingly organized ways—for greater impact.

The report challenges funders to consider ways to collaborate:

  • by providing seed support and other forms of assistance,
  • by embracing identity-based funds as critical partners in the sector and forging stronger connections within communities of color,
  • by diversifying the leadership of mainstream philanthropy to reflect changing demographics and
  • by shifting practices to reflect what communities of color are teaching about the future of giving and how funders can positively impact the country’s most vulnerable children and families.

MCF agrees that grantmaking is most effective when grantmakers reflect the diversity of the communities they serve.

For local information on the subject, check out our 2011 Working Towards Diversity IV report, which paints a comprehensive picture of the demographics, policies and practices on diversity and inclusion of Minnesota grantmakers. Review our diversity resources, and visit the websites of our strategic partners:

It’s important work. W.K. Kellogg Foundation president and CEO Sterling Speirn puts it this way, “We believe that understanding and supporting this emerging area of philanthropy is essential for any foundation, funder or donor who wants to drive social change.”

- Susan Stehling, MCF communications associate

CC Photo: KellyCDB

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Member Post: Grantmaking Transparency in the Age of YouTube

January 12, 2012

One of MCF’s Principles for Grantmakers is to be transparent in communications with the public, applicants, grantees and donors. Many foundations are now using video and social media to do just that. Naomi Pesky, director of marketing and communications at Minnesota Philanthropy Partners, shares here a recent example she’s been working on.

When planning the launch of Minnesota Philanthropy Partners, we knew creating a video about our grantmaking work was an important component. As we unveiled a new name for our network of 1,600 funds, foundations and organizations, we wanted to reassure nonprofits that the grantmaking for three of our anchor foundations,  The Saint Paul Foundation, F. R. Bigelow Foundation and Mardag Foundation, remained the same.

Video is also a great way to make our grantmaking processes more transparent. We hope that an insider peek into our practices will help nonprofits be more informed when working with us, which would then result in more powerful collaborations. Our program team wants to work closely with nonprofits. We welcome conversations with organizations to learn about their work and understand if their programs and objectives fit with our funding priorities and commitments.

Ultimately, this new grantmaking video, along with other communication efforts like our Nonprofits to KnowTM  video series and MNSights magazine, is intended to help strengthen philanthropy in Minnesota. We hope the outcome of the new video is that more great programs find our foundations and that our community is the better for it. Have a look and let us know what you think!

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Diversity and the False Choice

December 21, 2011

I recently came across this article on making diversity more meaningful, courtesy of a referral from Rosetta Thurman’s blog. It packs a lot of good thoughts into a few pages, but here’s one thing that especially stood out to me:

[Economics professor Scott Page] made a remarkable discovery, subsequently elaborated in his 2007 book, The Difference: How the Power of Diversity Creates Better Groups, Firms, Schools, and Societies. Not only did diverse teams comprising members who each thought differently about the problem outperform less diverse teams, but they often did so even when the less diverse teams had better individual problem-solvers as members. As Page concluded, diversity trumps ability.

This struck a chord for me because it can be so easy to think of diversity as a laudable goal, but one that competes with other priorities instead of supporting them. We can hire the most qualified candidate, or we can hire one that will make us more diverse. We can take some time to do a diversity training, or we can get that work done that’s piling up our desks.

The research mentioned above is a powerful reminder to me that these are false choices. Increasing diversity in an organization is a plus for job candidates precisely because it can make them the best choices, by adding new perspectives and experiences that wouldn’t occur to a more homogenous group. An organizational focus on diversity is valuable because it produces better results, by getting us all to consider those different perspectives and inform our work through them.

If you appreciate those reminders about the value of diversity like I do, I encourage you to give the full thing a read. MCF is committed to the principle of diversity in philanthropy, and released a Diversity and Inclusion Action Kit for grantmakers earlier this year.

On a related note, I was glad to see an announcement this week about monthly Diversity and Inclusion Networking Lunches, sponsored by the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits and Charities Review Council, and hosted by a variety of organizations doing good work on this issue in our community.

-Chris Oien, MCF web communications associate

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Arts Giving Needs to Contribute More to the Common Good

November 8, 2011

For those of you who have been following our recent article on 2009 arts giving trends, you know that arts giving in 2009 in Minnesota fell to its lowest level since 2003, but there is hope on a national level for a rebound in 2011. According to the article Arts Giving is Up, But Hold the Applause by Joel Rose from National Public Radio, charitable giving for the arts was up 5% so far in 2011. The star example of this mini renaissance is the Metropolitan Opera which had a fifty percent increase in donations this year, a record campaign bringing in over $182 million dollars.

What does the “hold the applause” refer to? The majority of money given went to serve audiences that are whiter and wealthier than the American average, and to large organizations that primarily serve Western European culture, like opera houses, art museums and classical music groups. The majority of foundations give to arts organizations with yearly budgets exceeding $5 million.

Now, I personally love the Minnesota Opera and would be thrilled to see it also have a blockbuster fundraising year, and as an individual I have every right to support what fits my tastes. But what about large grantmaking organizations? What obligations do they have to ensure an equitable, inclusive and diversified field of grantees get funding?

One solution to increasing the diversity in arts grantmaking may be to make grants available tailored to the needs and capabilities of small arts organizations, which tend to be more diverse.  Some grantmakers already offer small grants to promote community art and multi-cultural or ethnic art initiatives. At MCF member The St. Paul Foundation, the Asian Pacific Endowment specializes in funding community-based organizations and informal grassroots groups with budgets under $500,000. In 2010, this endowment funded projects that used culture, including the arts, to address social issues that affect the Asian Pacific Islander community in Minnesota. One example of the grant projects that the Asian Pacific Endowment funded is the Bon Odori pictured above, performed annually at the Japanese Lantern Lighting Festival in Como Park. Initiatives like the Asian Pacific Endowment are first steps towards ensuring that arts funding in Minnesota diversifies, truly serving the common good.

- Kaitlin Ostlie, MCF administrative assistant

Photo courtesy of the Japan America Society of Minnesota

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Learning When There’s No Time To Learn

June 10, 2011

How do you make time to learn when your e-mail box is overflowing and your to do list is ever growing? It’s a problem for everyone, including those who work in the field of philanthropy.

GrantCraft asked their readers how they think about time and how they manage it. More than 1,400 of their subscribers replied. Their general consensus was:

What matters is how people use time to learn and make sense of learning, individually and across a team or organization.

As one respondent put it, “Work never ends, and so we need to learn to manage our time to include learning on the job.”

Four lessons came out of the survey. Each is listed below with one reply illustrating how a respondent incorporates the lesson into their everyday work.

Lesson 1: Establish a culture of learning by building learning into routine processes.

Build in opportunities for learning as you go. Sometimes there isn’t time to do a long reflection process at the end of a project, but there can surely be steps along the way where everyone takes time to observe the knowledge exchange that is happening.

Lesson 2: Raise the profile of learning by noticing when it happens and naming it explicitly.

Start and end meetings with questions like, ‘If there’s one thing you’d like to say to others doing a similar thing, what would it be?’ – in other words, quick things that force people to be analytical.

Lesson 3: Cultivate personal habits of learning that work for you.

I drive to site visits a lot, so I use the time to reflect and think about ideas to explore when the pace allows. It may be a small thing, but turning off the radio and focusing thought on the work can be useful.

Lesson 4: Try new activities – but choose wisely and keep things simple.

Time is always a challenge. To help overcome it, we institutionalized some set-aside time for learning. For instance, we have a monthly book club-like discussion group session with recommended readings and discussion guides…

Find out much more about these and other ideas for learning when there’s no time to learn in the four-page survey summary from GrantCraft. 

Photo CC Dalo_Pix2

- Susan Stehling, Minnesota Council on Foundations

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Gaining Perspective – and Having the Courage to Share It

April 11, 2011

Gaining Perspective

One of the things I enjoy the most about working within the nonprofit and philanthropic sector is that we have a culture of openness, a willingness to share successes so that others may replicate “bright spots” for their constituents.

But what about the not-so-bright spots? The pot holes on the road to progress are very instructive, yet many nonprofits  and foundations alike do not always feel comfortable charting them.

Fortunately, there are those organizations that have the gumption and the commitment to transparency to share bright spots as well as lessons learned. One such organization is the Northwest Area Foundation (NWAF).

NWAF, an MCF member, shares insights on a recent 10-year undertaking to reduce poverty in a new FSG report titled Gaining Perspective: Lessons Learned From One Foundation’s Exploratory Decade.

In 1998, NWAF set out to solve one of the most pernicious and wicked problems facing communities —  poverty. The foundation laid out a bold new approach to addressing poverty over its large, eight-state region. It was an ambitious undertaking, and results varied.

However, instead of hiding pitfalls the foundation experienced on the road to results, NWAF has generously shared those insights with us, so that the field, and ultimately communities and families across the nation, may benefit. The FSG report and executive summary can be downloaded at fsg.org.

If you’re attending the national COF conference, NWAF President Kevin Walker will be referring to the lessons learned outlined in this report during his session. See the conference website for details.

Join the Conversation: How do you think we can create a culture of openness and continual improvement among foundations and nonprofit service providers? Do you have any other examples to share of nonprofits or funders using different strategies to increase transparency? Please leave your comments below.

- Cary Lenore Walski, MCF web communications associate

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Admitting Mistakes, Finding Solutions: The Gates Foundation’s Grantee Perceptions Report

July 19, 2010

Bill and Melinda Gates and their philanthropic partner Warren Buffet have been in the news a lot lately following the announcement of their ambitious $600 billion giving pledge, an open challenge to the nation’s billionaires to commit to giving away half of their fortunes to charity.

However, there’s been other recent news regarding The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation that you may not have heard. As I read today in this post on the Philanthrocapitalism blog, a recent Center for Effective Philanthropy Grantee Perceptions Report found that the foundation is facing communications challenges with its grantees.

The report is based on a survey of 1,544 of Gates’ grantees. On the positive side of the ledger, it found that the foundation is perceived by grantees as having a profound positive impact on work in the grantees’ fields, particularly in the areas of knowledge building, public policy and creating effective practices.

However, the assessment of the Gates Foundation’s communications was not so rosey. Grantee partners reported that the organization’s goals and strategies are unclear, and that similarly they felt that the foundation had a poor understanding of their goals and strategies. Respondents also noted confusion about the foundation’s decision-making and grantmaking processes and expressed frustration over program officer turnover.

As you may know, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a member of MCF. So you may be wondering why we would report on one of our members performing poorly at, well, anything. The truth is, although the report found that the Gates Foundation has a need for improvement, its transparency about those challenges is admirable and should serve as a model for those grantmakers that value transparency and accountability in their work, both key tenets of MCF’s own Principles for Minnesota Grantmakers.

The Gates Foundation has been very open about its involvement in the assessment process and the results, posting the findings here on its website, along with the audio from a number of grantee community calls. The foundation also has been clear that it will be addressing these shortcomings by reevaluating its communications and creating new strategies for enhancing cohesion and clarity between program managers and executives at the foundation and its grantee partners.

That’s why I salute the Gates Foundation for being upfront about the challenges that it faces. It’s through this process that the organization will be able to enhance its relationships with grantees, and ultimately the impact of its grant giving.

As physicist Tom Hirshfield once wrote, “If you hit every time, the target is either too big or too near.” Philanthropy is a bold endeavor with high stakes. By learning from our collective mistakes through accountable and transparent practices, we can capitalize not only on success, but failure too, and ameliorate the world-changing work that we all share, while at the same time affirming the public trust.

- Cary Lenore Walski, MCF web communications associate

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Google Moderator — Your Key to Community Input?

June 3, 2010

“Don’t do something about me without me.” I first heard Tamar Cloyd of Education Voters of America speak these powerful words during a talk on diversity and the leadership pipeline on Rosetta Thurman’s podcast.

The Suggestion Box

Google Moderator, it's like the suggestion box for the 21st century.

This phrase succinctly states the importance of community engagement in the work we do as philanthropists, and the words come echoing back to me like an idiomatic boomerang every time I recognize a new tool for grantmakers to engage their grantees and community stakeholders.

Today I’d like to share with you one of those tools, Google Moderator, and discuss how using it to crowdsource decisions can help you tap into the communities you seek to serve.

If you’re unfamiliar with the term crowdsourcing, let me give you the quick explanation. Crowdsourcing is when you use an online platform such as a website or a web application to allow people to do an activity, like donate to a cause or create and rate solutions to a problem. Minnesota Idea Open is one such example of how a foundation is using crowdsourcing to determine how to solve pressing social issues and, in turn, who should receive its grant money.

Google Moderator is a free online tool that allows anyone who has a Google account and something to talk about to start a discussion. It allows the moderator to post a question in text or now in the form of a YouTube video and solicit feedback in the form of ideas, suggestions or questions. Anyone who has a free Google account, like a gmail account can submit a response. Once a response is posted, it can in turn be rated by other users for quality, so that best input gets pushed to the top.

To see an example of Google Moderator, you can view this discussion that I just made on the topic of using tools such as Google Moderator to crowdsource philanthropy (I know, it’s so meta!) While you’re there, feel free to give the platform a test drive by posting your own thoughts.

One of the most obvious limitations of the tool is that there’s no way to pick the crowd that you’re sourcing. Currently, if you create a discussion, anyone can participate. So, if you’re a grantmaker looking to engage a very specific community, then there’s no way to ensure that you’re engaging only your target population.

However, despite limitations, it’s exciting to think how grantmakers, policymakers and nonprofits can use tools like this to partner with communities in problem solving.

For grantmakers concerned with upholding the principles of transparency and the engagement of diverse communities, figuring out how to harness these online tools effectively to support grantmaking decisions will be where the rubber meets the road, and support of these values translates to action in the 21st century.

- Cary Lenore Walski, MCF web communications associate

Image CC Peter J. Bury

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