Resources

Greetings from Central Texas. I am collecting data on best practices for start-up or even idea-stage organizational funding: Do any of you operate in this space or can you share best practices? Even pointing me in the right direction is greatly appreciated. Lastly, is anyone working/supporting community land trusts as it relates to affordable housing? Again, I am seeking best practices, tips - what to look out for, and be aware of. Thanks in advance. Rebecca Rodriguez

Hi all, We’re looking to create a set of sentinel indicators at the portfolio level for some of our thematic areas. We’re understanding sentinel indicators to be indicators that are closely related to the TOC critical assumptions and track whether expected changes are happening. They are intended to identify areas that could benefit from further investigation. Is anyone else using sentinel indicators or something similar and would be willing to share more about their experience and the indicators they are using? Would really appreciate it! Best, Chhavi

Greetings, Our Foundation is currently looking for a new system to manage Payroll and Benefits. We are a private family foundation with 7 staff members. I am curious if there are organizations similar in size that use these applications to manage their benefits and payroll? Furthermore, I am curious to learn how folks structure HR if it is not in-house, what type of system(s) do you utilize? Please share your thoughts and insight if you have any! Kindly, Lindsey

Hello everyone, We are seeking examples of conflict of interest policies that covers the board for their review of grants, including recusals. Thank you! Georganna ___

Dear GEO Community, Our foundation works closely with nonprofits that serve families and children in the region. We have focused on organizational resiliency and capacity building, and over the last several years, we noticed a critical need for executive leadership wellness and self-care. The foundation plans to offer new wellness grants to executives at our partner nonprofits, but this is a new funding area for us! What is your experience with wellness grants, leadership burnout support, and nonprofit leadership self-care? I would love to know more about your grant guidelines, how funds were used, and overall feedback from your grantees. Thank you very much! Laura

Good morning, CFU has undertaken a process to develop a community impact strategy for our endowment, issue-based funds, and initiatives. We'd appreciate recommendations for any monitoring and evaluation consultants that this group has been especially impressed with. It would be a bonus if there were any experiences with ESG metrics. Many thanks in advance!

Dear grantmaking colleagues, Our team is in the search of a grants management system that will help automate our current manual grantmaking process. We’ve narrowed down our top 2 choices - SmartSimple and Salesforce – and want to ask if folks here have any thoughts, opinions, and / or red flags on these systems. Or – please let us know if you know of any exceptional GMS product that has served well for your organization. We are looking for a GMS that is easy to use, highly secure, functional, and continuing to grow in capabilities with our growing organizational needs. 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?

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

Hello Everyone! We're trying to understand how funders view fiscally sponsored projects. In particular: Do grantmakers avoid fiscally sponsored projects? If the sponsor of the project doesn't have a really snappy Guidestar listing and/or website, does this impact the grantmaker's perception of the sponsored project? If a sponsored project has been successful and is looking to grow, is it preferrable for them (in the eyes of a funder) to become a separate nonprofit? Any general recommendations for a fiscally sponsored project? Thanks so much for any shared insights!