Happy Independence Week!
My clients—family offices, family foundations and individual donors—often ask me: how do I figure out how to focus my philanthropy? The world has an infinite number of issues and problems to solve, and the needs are greater than any one funder can possibly fix.
And when I ask seasoned philanthropists if they could do one thing differently when they started, they consistently say, “I wish we had focused our grantmaking earlier.”
This past week, I led a webinar with Exponent Philanthropy on Grantmaking Basics. During the webinar, I shared some good practices from Exponent Philanthropy on deciding on, and getting to know, your chosen field of focus.
Focusing your giving helps you…
- Develop deeper knowledge and expertise over time, so you can discover gaps, opportunities, and leverage points where you can make a difference,
- Build better relationships with grantees and others in your chosen field,
- …and it helps you make better decisions!
In philanthropy, we talk about “scanning the landscape”—a term to describe immersing yourself in an issue to learn all you can. If you are first starting out, you (and your board/family/family office members) can ask yourselves: Which issues in my community or interest area are most serious and most in need of attention? Of those, which is of greatest interest to me/my foundation/family/family office?
How do you scan the landscape? Here are some tips:
- Set up a schedule of “coffee meetings” with people in your area of interest
- Facilitate community conversations or focus groups
- Talk with other funders, government and nonprofit agencies, business leaders, service recipients
- Research the internet and external resources
When you develop insight into the gaps and opportunities out there, it empowers you to know exactly how, where, and when to leverage your money, connections, and influence. And, chances are, you’ll cultivate valuable relationships with others along the way.
One of my foundation clients, for example, wanted to better understand the need for GED, Literacy, and English as a Second Language courses in their community. In doing the scan, we learned that local business owners (bankers, restaurants, retailers) were having a hard time hiring staff who understood basic customer service and business protocol. The foundation now has included funding this business training in its overall strategy.
Sometimes scanning the landscape will take you in a different direction than originally intended. For example, I recently worked with a philanthropy client interested in the opioid crisis in her region. We conducted a high level scan that included one-on-one conversations with public, private, and nonprofit organizations. What we found was the issue was so broad and complicated that any potential solution was beyond the amount of funds available to invest.
Once you are engaged in grantmaking, it’s important to get to know your grantees. Simply said: good relationships produce better grant outcomes. There is richness in developing an honest, open funder/grantee partnership—one that balances power and collectively moves the needle forward. Here are some tips for establishing good grantee partnerships:
- Carve out time to listen and learn about your grantees’ real needs, and the field they work in. Often grantees won’t put essential things they need in proposals. Ask them questions, and listen to what they say.
- Build open, trusting relationships with grantees. You will learn much more and show up as a partner, not simply a funder.
- Offer general operating support, capacity building support, and multiyear grants. Impact and change depend on strong, sustainable organizations. Results take time.
What are some tips you can share about finding your philanthropic focus?
Drop me a note at Suzanne@SuzanneHammer.com. I would like to hear and learn from you.
Until next time, enjoy these summer days!
Suzanne