Resources

I am writing today to see if you have guidance at your foundation for program staff about working well with grantees that you could share with us. We are embarking on a cross-foundation effort to create guidance for program staff on many dimensions doing excellent work with grantees. This might include guidance for how to engage grantees (i.e, communications, responsiveness, site visits, frequency of contact) or guidance on what to cover (i.e., how success will be measured, the role of and plans for evaluation, full/true costs of grantees’ work, D/E/I topics, and so forth).

We are introducing a multi-year grant for the first time, specifically a three year grant. We would appreciate hearing back as to best-practices for reporting and/or model for language proposing a multi-year grant to a grantee.

I am seeking guidance on a more equitable policy for Indirect. I am noticing that more and more nonprofits are adding an indirect rate to their grant budgets. It used to be that we only saw this with universities and research entities. When talking to some of our grantees about this rate, I've learned they each calculate the rate differently. Also, when an applicant breaks down what would normally be considered "indirect," we don't add up the expenses to see if they come within our policy. Our current policy is no more than 12% (but again, that's if they title it "indirect.") Please include your average grant size or grant range in your response.

I'm wondering if any of you have insights, processes, or resources to share on board development with an equity lens?

A colleague of mine is working with a large progressive behavioral health and human services organization serving young people in 12 states. They would like to bring a futurist to their Annual Retreat. A fee would be paid. Who would you recommend that could speak about any one of three topic areas listed below: 1. How will behavioral health and human services be delivered in 2030- such as using technology, the contract structure, relying on predictive analytics, scientific discoveries, creating service networks to provide a continuum of care, etc.? 2. How technology will have changed our world in 2030 in terms of how we live, work, play, and access services? 3. The relevance of the human service nonprofit sector as a critical service link in meeting the needs of our society in 2030 and the business model that will support them?

We are actively reviewing the benchmark established for our long-term investment portfolio. Would you be willing to share your long-term asset allocation and the corresponding benchmark used?

There is a foundation interested in giving multi year grants for the first time. They are searching for some best practices in how to design and implement this new approach, what budgeting guidelines to use (specifically best ways to decide what percentage of their grant making to allocate for this), and any other insights related to implementing multi year grants in a sustainable and impactful way.

One goal we have is to combine final reports with renewal proposals. Does anyone have examples to share of this sort of combined report/proposal format and how you’ve sequenced deadlines, conversations and due diligence, and renewal grant recommendations?

In addition to advancing EDI in our own work and that of our grant partners, we want to share learnings from the Diversity in Theater initiative with the broader theater community and other funders working at the intersection of arts and social justice. Have you taken on a similar learning, evaluation, and field-building initiative at your foundation? If so, would you be willing to share your process and approach with us, including potential pitfalls to avoid and opportunities to explore?

One of our members is interested in learning more about what funders and nonprofits are offering in terms of education benefits for their employees. They are not seeking information on tuition reimbursement (employee pays first, seeks reimbursement), but rather scholarship or grant programs that support employees in their pursuit of a higher education degree or credential.