Perspectives

At this moment, many nonprofits are facing greater fiscal uncertainty than ever before. Government funding is precarious, with budgets and priorities changing daily. However, nonprofits that have focused on capacity are faring better than most. With reserves, general operating funds, and partners with whom to collaborate, these organizations are better able to weather instability, continue providing essential services to their communities, and plan for the future.

Philanthropic funders have a unique role to play when leading in complexity and uncertainty. The role of funders – and others in a community working together to tackle intractable problems during turbulent times – were top of mind for attendees at the 2017 Collective Impact Convening in Boston at the end of May.

The biggest win for us in going through these dialogues in and outside of Baltimore was that it allowed us to develop important values on how we wanted to partner with the West Baltimore community.

Often unprecedented circumstances seem to necessitate bigger or radically different strategies. But what I know for sure is that these keys to effective grantmaking — grantmaking that produces strong nonprofit results — endure in part because they are our strongest way forward.

Even when we don’t mean to — and even when it runs counter to who we want to be — we can fall into ineffective patterns of operating that exclude, rather than engage, key stakeholders.

Here are five key lessons learned from our pilot Change Incubator program, along with examples from our participating foundations.

The Race Matters Toolkit provides a comprehensive look at how race and equity directly impact foundation officials and program staff, community members and policymakers and advocates.

Now is the opportunity for foundations to gain a clarity that has the potential to spark progress that will serve both philanthropy and the organizations that we support well into the future.

A racial equity lens focuses on how race and ethnicity impact experiences with access to opportunities, outcomes and power.

We all have blind spots. Our blind spots may cause us to change lanes when it isn’t safe to do so or ignore a pattern of negative behavior from a loved one that is obvious to others. Regardless, blind spots impair our judgment in meaningful ways.