Resources

Greetings, I am seeking additional information on the geography information that is entered by applicants that are submitting grant proposals. Is there a tool or software that can track and/or analyze entered geography information? Specifically from the data provided by applicants that submit grant proposals?

Hello GEO Community, We are seeking some sense for how common it is for executive directors to also be board members – in particular at Family Foundations? If anyone would be up for sharing their experience with this and any feedback, that would be super. Thank you!

Would anyone be able to share with me their Supplier/Vendor Diversity Policy? I am looking for both foundation and nonprofit examples.

I’m interested in hearing from peers how you utilize your Grants Management System (GMS) to support evaluation and learning work. Our current system at the National Endowment for Democracy is configured more for the grant and compliance side of our grantmaking and all of our evaluation and learning work is happening in “shadow” systems. We’re working with a consulting firm that’s taking us through a process, so my questions are more about how your GMS fits into your evaluation and learning work and what you like/don’t like about your current set-up. This is probably better suited to a conversation rather than an email, so please respond if you’re willing to speak with me and we can connect. Thank you in advance,

Hello, We are exploring ways to improve our evaluation and learning as a partner. We are hoping to explore a platform that would go beyond a traditional reporting structure and would allow grant partners and community leaders to utilize something similar to a listserv to both inquire and share learnings from their work. We would love to hear about any successes and/or challenges in developing this type of resource, what platform might work, and if being a funder presented any barriers (thinking about power dynamics). Best,

Hello everyone, This is probably a perennial question for a lot of us, but I wanted to ask anyway and learn from your responses: - Does your foundation make any longer-term grants or engage in longer-term funding relationships with grantees through grants that are renewed over a number of years? - If yes, what does that look like? o Is it a well-defined program approach in which different types of grants are treated as automatic renewals or automatic multiyear grants? Or is it a funding mechanism your foundation has developed over time as a time-saver for the grantmaking staff? o Do you automate renewals? o Do you require anything different, any less or any more in the application or in the due diligence, from longer term or renewal grantees than you do from first-time or short-term grantees? o If you issue a formal agreement to your renewal or longer-term grantees, does that agreement look different from the one you would issue to a first time or one-time grantee? o Do you have a limit on how many times you will renew a grant? o What are some lessons learned about long-term renewals that you would be willing to share with other donors? Thank you for helping me think this through. All the best,

Good morning GEOList: We are a grantmaking and an operating foundation, and we collect a lot of data on connections between program cohort participants, and between participants and organizations in our grantmaking network. We are interested in hiring a consultant to help us clean and standardize the data, and answer questions like:  What does the network look like, within and between cohorts and organizations?  Have new connections developed over time?  Have existing connections been maintained and/or strengthened?  Are there more higher level interactions over time (e.g. professional rather than social)?  Where are the hubs/animators within the network? Where are the outliers? If you have worked with a firm that can provide social network analysis consulting, I am interested in hearing about your experience (good and bad) and to see any deliverables you are able to share.

Hi folks, My work is going to start using live captioning to make our Zoom meetings and webinars more accessible. I wanted to ask whether anyone had any recommendations for affordable third-party live captioning companies? We have a simple 60-minute Zoom webinar with less than 30 participants happening early next week, so hoping to set this up ASAP. Thanks!

Do any of your foundations buy carbon offsets when your staff travels by plane? Thanks,

Hello! I am seeking info on practices around retirement contributions at family foundations in the $50M to $250M asset range. The specific questions are: 1. What is the total number of staff of the organization? 2. What, if any, contribution is made by the foundation towards the 401k/403b retirement benefits for staff? Thanks for any info!