Resources

This report is a final offering to philanthropy from the Hazen Foundation and its nonprofit partners. The report includes grantee recommendations for funder partnerships that advance a more effective and sustainable movement for social justice.

Good morning! I’m reaching out to see if there are any community foundations working with their local governments to re-grant ARPA funds to nonprofit organizations in their service area? We have been approached by a county government in our region to manage the distribution of the ARP (American Rescue Plan) funding they have allocated to nonprofit organizations. We could see how this would fit within our purview as the region’s community foundation but have some questions about the financial and legal implications of receiving federal à county funding. Are there any community foundations in this network that have worked with their local governments in general, or more specifically, around ARP funding that could share their experience related to these questions? Thank you!

Good morning, At Global Fund for Children, we are exploring creating an online community space for our partners working with children and youth around the world. I would love to hear from our GEO community what has been your experience in launching and managing an online community of partners? What's worked? What hasn't? Right now, we have experience with some of our regional cohort groups using Whatsapp. We've heard back from some partners that they are interested in a more unique dedicated space (so not a Facebook or LinkedIn group). Would also love to hear any experiences with specific platforms, especially those that allow for a multilingual community. (From my research, there are few available!). A note on some of the objectives and potentials we're seeing with an online community space: • Facilitate network building within and across regions and issues • Share resources and events created by partners and Global Fund for Children • Create a library with capacity development resources • Share time-sensitive opportunities for funding, training, and advocacy • Generate conversation online and virtually about timely issues • Keep partners connected even if no longer grant recipients Thanks so much in advance for sharing your experience! I'm also happy to set up a time to chat or for a group of us to share experiences, depending on the response.

Hi there - as we plan for next year we are looking at how long we fund the organizations in our portfolio. We don't have any rules about this. A large number of organizations have been in our portfolio for 6 years or more. I am thinking about how to balance long-term commitment with bringing in new partners in a context where I can't increase staff. Would appreciate any examples of how folks manage this. Thanks! Lisa

Hello Colleagues, Our Foundation is preparing to celebrate our 50th Anniversary and great work is already underway! I’m reaching out to ask about your experiences with celebratory grantmaking – special programs or projects that you launched, particular grants (any specific sizes, focus, etc.) that were awarded, and/or new priorities that were identified in partnership with a celebratory milestone -- Looking forward to learning from you and your experience! Wishes of health to all!

The Mary Black Foundation will be undergoing a RFP process for Investment Firm this fall. We would like to use a consultant to help us through the process of soliciting and reviewing proposals. Do you have any recommendations for this service? Many thanks for your feedback!

Dear Colleagues, We are working with a group of foundations in Brazil to find best-in-class examples of what many call venture philanthropy, and we want to use as comparators initiatives that include most or all of the following characteristics: 1) tailored financing which includes BOTH grants AND impact investing through debt, equity, or other forms; and hybrid financial instruments; 2) high engagement of funders; 3) long term approach and stable investment over time of AT LEAST 3-4 years; 4) emphasis on strengthening capacity and partnerships to build self-reliance and resilience; 5) organizational support to develop skills, improve structures and processes, etc.; 6) intention and action on measuring and managing outcomes and impact; reflection and adjustment by funders and recipients together; and ideally 7) sharing learnings with the broader community. If you have good examples to share, whether they succeeded or failed in their aims, we would like to include them as cases. Thank you.

ACT for Alexandria, a community foundation in Alexandria, VA, is developing a capacity building cohort focused on racial equity for nonprofit leaders in our community. We are curious about any of your experiences with similar initiatives.

We are a small family foundation funding in Dane County, Wisconsin, interested in collaborating more formally with other Dane County funders to elevate the effectiveness of our nonprofit sector. I am looking for examples of other collaborative efforts, namely place-based funders working together to: identify capacity needs, bring and/or develop learning opportunities for nonprofits, and evaluate capacity gains.

The H. E. Butt Foundation is researching ways rural areas have successfully implemented early childcare centers. We are interested in research data around different methodologies for implementation.