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San
Diego
Grantmakers Update |
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"If
you don't like the way the world is, you
change it. You have an obligation to change
it. You just do it one step at a time."
--Marian
Wright Edelman |
December
2008 |
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Most
grantmakers spend considerable time thinking about how
they can be most effective, yet the grantmaking process
is rife with inefficiencies. How can we streamline
application and reporting practices?
Strategic
Restructuring for Nonprofit Organizations
February
5, 2009
Time: TBD
In
this time of economic hardship and uncertainty,
nonprofits increasingly are looking to their fellow
organizations for collaborations, alliances and even
mergers. What is the range of partnerships available to
nonprofits, and what are organizations around the
country doing to counter the weak economy?
This
program features David LaPiana, La Piana
Associates,Inc., a national expert
on nonprofit collaboration. One half-day session for SDG
members will focus on funder support for successful
strategic restructuring, and a separate partial-day
session will be held for nonprofits. Further details
will be provided shortly.
Corporate Peer
Learning
February 23,
2008
4:00 pm -6:00
pm
Location:
TBD
On
February 23, 2009, the corporate giving community will
come together to celebrate International Corporate
Philanthropy Day (ICPD), building awareness of
corporate-community partnerships and inspiring
businesses around the world to engage further in
philanthropy. This is the perfect time to join your
colleagues in corporate philanthropy at an SDG informal
meeting to launch our 2009 corporate peer learning group
- a facilitated roundtable about key issues important to
you, topics to be generated by the group.
Click
here
for a complete list of SDG programs. To RSVP, please
call (619) 744-2180 or email programs@sdgrantmakers.org. |
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More
on the Economy
As
the economy continues to dominate the news and impact
our field, don't forget that SDG has a
comprehensive Philanthropy
& the Economy webpage, regularly updated with
the latest headlines and resources. If you've
forgotten your member login info, contact us. Information from our
December 4th members session "The Current Economic
Storm: How Grantmakers Can Respond" is available on the
webpage. Below is a sample of just a few items
from the site:
Local
Headlines
Provocative
Articles
- Pablo
Eisenberg argues that foundations' failure to give
more is "inexcusable."
- Rick
Cohen says foundations need to "get over
themselves."
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Member
& Community Partner News
YOUR
ORGANIZATION COULD BE FEATURED
HERE!
Don't forget to let SDG know what's new with you, from
grantmaking to awards, events, and more. We want to
share the good news about all of our members. To submit
an item for the newsletter, email nancy@sdgrantmakers.org.
Kaiser
Permanente
announced $300,000 in HIV/AIDS-related grants to
Southern California organizations, including local
groups: Auntie Helen's Fluff'n Fold; Being Alive San
Diego; Christie's Place; Family Health Center of San
Diego, Fraternity House; Mama's Kitchen; Neighborhood
Healthcare; San Diego Youth & Community Services;
Special Delivery San Diego; Townspeople; and Vista
Community Clinic.
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Report
from Paul Brest Program
On
November 20, SDG hosted a Distinguished Speaker
Luncheon featuring Paul Brest,
President of The William and
Flora Hewlett Foundation, the fifth largest
foundation in the United States. Mr. Brest shared
the framework for strategic
philanthropy presented in the newly published book
he co-authored with Hal Harvey. Money Well Spent: A
Strategic Guide to Smart
Philanthropy argues that billions of
philanthropic dollars all too often go to waste, failing
to achieve stated goals or make true change happen. The
reason for this is simple: poor strategy. If you
missed the program, check out these
resources:
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For
Corporate Givers
Based
on corporate contributions data from 155 leading
companies, including 69 of the Fortune 100, this edition
of Giving in
Numbers
(pdf) features a comprehensive study of 2007 corporate
giving and the economy, peer benchmarking tables, case
studies on leveraging data to increase budgets and
matching-gift programs, exclusive year-over-year
analyses, and various tips and tools.
BCLC
Report on the State of Corporate Community
Investment
BCLC,
with the assistance of a grant from the U.S. Department
of Commerce Economic Development Administration, has
begun a process to map how and why companies invest in
communities across the United States. Click
here
for the report.
New
Online Resource Center for Education
Grantmaking
The
Business-Higher Education Forum announced the launch of
StrategicEdSolutions.org,™
a new Web-based resource center for
corporate
philanthropists and others who want to make effective,
high-impact investments in education. The site provides
strategies, tools, and successful programs and an
interactive forum for corporations and foundations to
share best practices.
Obama
& CSR
At
Business for Social Responsibility's recent conference,
90 percent of business leaders surveyed said
President-elect Barack Obama will have a positive impact
on the CSR agenda. The group outlined a three-point
recommendation for the Obama Administration to advance
CSR, with a focus on investment in renewable energy,
climate change mitigation, and public-private-civil
society partnerships. Click
here
for more.
Small
businesses give generously to charity, with
three-quarters of small-business owners in a recent
survey saying they donate a percentage of their profits
to nonprofit organizations.
On average, small
companies contribute 6 percent of their profits to
charity, according to the study, which was conducted by
American Express. |
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For
Community Foundations
COF
Community Leadership Framework for Community
Foundations
Developed
by a national task force of 30 field experts,
the
framework
defines leadership from a uniquely community foundation
perspective-and offers tools any community foundation
can use to help ensure leadership is strategic and
systematic, not sporadic.
Community
Foundation Issue Briefs
COF
publishes the "What You Need to
Know"
series of topical papers of interest to community
foundation staff and board members. Each edition
provides overviews of important executive, finance and
administrative, development and donor services,
communications, and grantmaking issues.
The
Balancing Act: The Role of a Community Foundation as a
Grantmaker
This
report
from the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation provides a
broad overview of the evolution of community foundations
as grantmakers worldwide. Discusses grantmaking
strategies, sources of funds, grantmaking areas, and
challenges, as well as advantages unique to community
foundations.
Financial Times: "A
New Role for Community
Foundations"
This
article
posits that community foundations in the US are at risk
of becoming irrelevant unless they can transform into
trusted donor advisers. The article touched off a
debate that
the article's author, Sean Stannard-Stockton, discusses
in his blog.
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For
Family/Private Foundations
WSJ:
"Family Charities Get
Focused"
As wealthy families
reassess their investment portfolios and look to
preserve their wealth amid today's weak economy, many
are also rethinking their charitable giving. A growing
number of families are writing so-called mission
statements to guide their giving.
Barron's: "Next-Gen
Givers"
Generous
Gen-Xers are putting their own spin on charitable
giving, combining their desire to achieve with their
desire to do good.
NYT:
"Foundations
Face Pitfalls When Heirs Take
Over"
This
article details succession problems in family
foundations.
The Boston Globe: "Bank Releases
Initial Philanthropy
Findings"
"Nearly
60 percent of wealthy households who stopped giving to a
charitable organization attributed their change in
philanthropic behavior to 'no longer feeling connected
to the organization,'" Bank of America Corp. said
today.
Tactical
Philanthropy Series on Wealth
Management
Sean
Stannard-Stockton has a three-part series on wealth
management and
philanthropy
on this blog. |
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Philanthropic
Headlines
Nonprofit
leaders hopeful that Barack Obama will listen to their
ideas take note: This week he sent a senior adviser to
meet with foundation officials, including the CEO of
Northern California Grantmakers.
In
a marked shift, a growing number of philanthropists and
their foundations are spending large amounts of money
and raising their voices to influence public policy, the
New York
Times reports.
Philanthropy Journal:
"Trust Seen as Critical in
Philanthropy"
Most nonprofits
agree they need to evaluate programs carefully to make
sure they deliver on their promises. But what happens
when nonprofit goals are broad and not so easy to
quantify, such as promoting the arts, abolishing racism
or instilling a love of reading in children? |
The
New York Times annual giving section includes articles
on the economy's impact, transaction-based giving,
philanthropic travel, arts patrons, women's
philanthropy, innovation, and more.
Charities
in the Washington metropolitan area have trimmed
overhead costs, have frozen hiring, and are considering
cutting programs and laying off staff members as the
economy causes them fund-raising problems and an
increase in demand, reports The Washington Post in its
special charitable-giving issue. Other articles in the
issue: how to engage in strategic giving and advice for
donors who wish to optimize social
returns.
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New
Discount for SDG Members 
20%
off The Foundation
Review: the first peer-reviewed journal of
philanthropy, written by and for foundation staff and
boards, and those who work with them implementing
programs. If you subscribe
by 12/31/08, you will receive 20% off. After that,
you can still receive 10% off. To receive the
discount, use "San Diego Grantmakers" as the discount
code. |
Foundation
Coalition Report
Grantcraft:
Roles@work
Grantmakers
manage a lot of expectations about their work. The new
card deck, a tool named Roles@work,
collects the 29 roles grantmakers mentioned most
often. SDG has a sample available.
CEP
Report: More Than Money
Most
of foundations' efforts 'beyond the money' make little
difference to grantees. More than Money: Making a
Difference with Assistance Beyond the
Grant
reveals that only when foundation staff provide
assistance beyond the grant in one of two ways do
grantees report a substantially more positive experience
with their funders. The report describes what is
entailed in providing assistance in ways that really
matter to grantees.
New
COF Journal:
Thought>Action>Impact
COF
has created a new bi-monthly
journal
intended to be a valued and dynamic forum for differing
views on issues relevant to the philanthropic
field. The first issue is about philanthropy's
response to the economic crisis.
Higher-Impact
Philanthropy: Applying Business Principles to
Philanthropic Strategies
This
Bridgespan Group
article offers
insights on achieving higher-impact philanthropy for
donors who truly aspire to serve society better-whether
through their foundation giving or as individual
philanthropists.
GEO:
Is Grantmaking Getting Smarter?
Grantmakers
for Effective Organizations (GEO) conducted a survey of
the attitudes and practices of staffed grantmaking
foundations in the United States. The study found
a persistent gap between nonprofit needs and
grantmaker practices. Click
here
for a related article.
Paper:
The Nonprofit Marketplace
The
William and Flora Hewlett Foundation has partnered with
McKinsey and Company to propose a path to a stronger
nonprofit marketplace. The resulting
paper
seeks to answer two related questions: 1.) How can
we help donors make smart philanthropic
decisions? 2.) How can we ensure that the
strongest, most effective nonprofits get the resources
they need? |
(SDG
is a sponsor)
Governance Rocks: When you Know the
Score
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This
online SDGrantmakers Update is published by San Diego
Grantmakers to help SDG members meet the challenges
of philanthropy today. Our mission is to connect,
educate, develop, and inspire a diverse group of
foundations and corporations to stimulate effective
philanthropy in the San Diego region. Copies of past
editions are archived here.
Contact
Nancy Jamison, 619/744.2180 or nancy@sdgrantmakers.org
to suggest article ideas or submit news
items. |
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