Resources

In 2021 we piloted the collection of applicant staff and board demographic data (race/ethnicity, gender, disability, sexual orientation) in partnership with our evaluation partner, as one step to understand who our grants were going to and how applicant organizations were representative of the communities they and we want to be serving. It was not mandatory and doesn’t look it will be next year either. But, we are taking feedback and trying to understand how we can be more supportive of our grantees in 1) collecting this information in a safe and appropriate way and 2) using this information appropriately to reflect and strategize on what potential gaps there may be in representation within their own organizations. We haven’t done a ton in that second space, but wanted to reach out more about the mechanics of the data collection process to understand if and what others are doing. Some questions: Are you collecting demographic data from staff and/or boards of applicant organizations? If so, what is the method or conduit for which you do this? Is the applicant responsible for getting all of their data and putting it into the application/portal or a spreadsheet of sorts? Are there any third party programs or software that allow for collecting and aggregating data this data? We also heard that organizations, and particularly the people responsible for submitting application information, would appreciate an opportunity for anonymity for themselves and their coworkers within the data collection process. Has anyone seen any tools, or know of any strategies that allow for the organization to anonymously collect this data from their own orgs?

We are currently conducting research on foundation giving to rural vs urban communities, and I am reaching out to inquire if anyone is aware of any resources in the past 5 years specifically focused on demonstrating this difference? Thank you,

Good Morning, Our Community Foundation has gotten more involved in advocacy over the past few years. As part of that, we are hoping to develop specific policies/procedures related to advocacy to help guide our work. Do any GEO members have example policies, procedures, etc. related to advocacy that we could see and/or does anyone know of other foundations that have these and would be willing to share their work?

Good Morning, I recently searched the GEOlist archives for an answer to my question, however, it seems like I am the first to inquire about this specific subject matter. My question is: The John R. Oishei Foundation, located in Buffalo, NY will embark on a strategic planning process in 2022 and to further advance our racial equity initiative, we are looking for a consultant with DEI+J experience. For those who have recently worked with a strategic planning consultant specializing in racial equity or partnered with a DEI+J facilitator to compliment the learning process, could you please share your experience and the firms/individuals you’ve engaged to guide your organization’s decision-making? Thank you. I think this is a great question to hear more from the member base on how they are approaching strategic planning with a racial equity lens. Please let me know if you need anything else from my end.

Hello Everyone! Does anyone have recommendations for a third-party provider to benchmark compensation at a nonprofit? Thank you!

Good afternoon, The Frey Foundation is in the process of reviewing our grant variance policies, including but not limited to no-cost extensions, changes of scope, additional/supplemental funding, or budget variances. Does anyone in the GEO community have examples of variance policies that they use within their grantmaking practice that they are willing to share? Regards,

Happy (Western Hemisphere) New Year everyone. I would love to hear from the PUBLIC Foundation community. Do you have any high-level language you include in the Terms of Reference for Board Directors that summarises their role in grantmaking decision-making or approvals? We are in the process of updating the role our Board plays in grantmaking decision-making. In parallel, we are working with an external organization to strengthen our capacity on meaningful youth engagement. The end result being a more youth inclusive grantmaking decision-making process. In the meantime (before the meaningful youth engagement piece of work is completed – not for another 7 months or so) we need to update some of our governance documents including BoD terms of reference. Hence, I am just looking for examples of generic language so as to not commit ourselves to anything too specific on grantmaking decision-making/approvals, but it is a HUGE motivator and reason why people want to support our organization and join our Board … so I need to mention something. Thanks everyone.

Strengthening nonprofit organizations is not just a nice-to-have, but an essential part of foundations’ work to ensure that nonprofits have the resources they need to address today’s most pressing social concerns. Indeed, the vast majority of staffed foundations – 86 percent – do just that – invest in organizational strengthening in areas such as leadership, fundraising, evaluation, communications and technology.

With racial equity becoming more and more central to the work of grantmakers, this guide explores how considerations related to racial equity can apply to the full range of grantmakers’ capacity-building efforts – everything from financial management to human resources to leadership development.

We are interested in revamping our application format and were interested in collecting samples. Does anyone in the GEO community have a blank application they could share as an example?