Time to start Generating Change!

This is a guest post by Rusty Stahl, Executive Director of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP).  It was originally published on April 26, 2012 on the EPIP website.

Today marks an important moment in EPIP’s history — the launch of our Generating Change initiative. There are lots of bells, whistles and fanfare at our national conference as we celebrate this launch, but what does it really mean for funders?

Simply put, it’s a chance to make your grantmaking more effective than ever.

Here’s why:

Foundations are only as effective as the nonprofits they fund. Those nonprofits, in turn, are only as effective as their leaders. Therefore, it stands to reason that when foundations make smart, strategic investments in nonprofit talent and leadership development, they are also investing in their own grantmaking effectiveness.

How do you make those smart, strategic investments? That’s where Generating Change comes in.

Generating Change is designed to:

• Create deep discussion about the challenges and opportunities for nonprofit talent and leadership development;
• Illuminate new ways funders can address this critical need at all levels; and
• Increase investment in talent and leadership development at the individual, organization, movement and sector levels.

For years, we’ve heard the predictions that nonprofit leadership was on the brink of a crisis, as departing baby boomers left a rash of hard-to-fill leadership vacancies. Our research found that although the crisis isn’t quite as threatening as originally predicted, developing nonprofit talent and leadership is a real challenge. But luckily, the answer to sustaining nonprofit leadership lies within the sector itself.

Generating Change aims to supply what funders need to learn more and get involved in investing in nonprofit talent and leadership development. Check out the case studies, videos and resources in our Generating Change online tool kit for funders. Learn more about nonprofit talent and leadership development in our initiative framing paper.

Help us celebrate by learning why and how you can get involved in Generating Change!

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Posted by Kris Putnam-Walkerly © Kris Putnam-Walkerly and Philanthropy411, 2012.

Reflections from a Millennial

Philanthropy411, is currently covering the Council on Foundations conference with the help of a blog team. This is a guest post by Chanelle Gandy, Program Associate at The Funders’ Network.

 by Chanelle Gandy

As a newcomer to philanthropy and Council On Foundations (COF), I departed the COF annual conference in Philadelphia with a renewed sense of purpose and urgency for my work.  But what’s more, I sincerely enjoyed myself while interacting with some of the best and brightest practitioners our field has to offer.

When I was employed in a different sector, I attended my share of conferences that weren’t so Millennial-friendly, as evidenced by low attendance by the “under 30” professionals, a clear lack of programming and networking receptions designed for emerging leaders, and a “wait your turn” mentality.

I actually began to think that this was the norm and continued to attend conferences every subsequent year thinking that someone eventually would pay attention to my evaluation feedback, which was essentially a plea for more programming tailored to the needs of new practitioners in our sector.

The COF conference was a different experience. Aside from the conference program, I had very little information from which to form my expectations for the COF conference.  There’s no doubt that I looked forward to making new connections, expanding my learning, and matching names with faces, but I was pleasantly surprised to find that this conference made a genuine effort to be Millennial-friendly.

The Funders’ Network for Smart Growth and Livable Communities has been intentional in its inclusiveness efforts, including designing ways to further the development of new professionals both internally and programmatically. My experience at COF shows me that philanthropy as a field also understands the importance of preparing the next generation for leadership.

During a pre-conference session, I was greeted by two Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) members who quickly brought me up to speed on the events they’d be sponsoring in conjunction with the conference.  I was sold after I heard “young people.”

What I learned the following evening was that EPIP is the best kept secret in our field for aspiring practitioners and senior and executive foundation staff who are committed to cultivating the next generation of foundation leadership. Since beginning my career in philanthropy, it has been quite refreshing to interact with senior program staff who embrace the mentorship role, and most importantly, challenge my thinking about the issues we care about.

If you found this blog post useful, please subscribe. On Twitter? Follow me @Philanthropy411.

Posted by Kris Putnam-Walkerly © Kris Putnam-Walkerly and Philanthropy411, 2010.

The Experiences of An Emerging Leader at National Philanthropy Conferences

Philanthropy411, is currently covering the Council on Foundations conference with the help of a blog team.  This is a guest post by Maisha Simmons, Program Associate at The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

by Maisha Simmons

While attending my first Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) national conference in Philadelphia, I did not know what to expect. I figured it would be a group of eager, early career professionals trying to understand this world of philanthropy — how to find our path and make our mark. I found it to be all of that and more. I easily wove through sessions examining how to understand philanthropy, manage power dynamics, and think about creating social impact. Each session was more and more intriguing as I contemplated my own journey in philanthropy and how I would like to make my mark in this world.

But the session that I enjoyed the most was on the last morning of the conference where young professionals had the opportunity to sit at the feet of new and seasoned CEOs:  “Across Generations: A Multigenerational Dialogue on Philanthropy”. As a new professional in philanthropy I was refreshed by hearing each person’s journey in philanthropy and how they have been able to navigate obstacles and opportunities. I found myself amazed by how they were able to bring their passion for social justice and use that passion to influence the field to combat some of the systemic injustices that are facing vulnerable communities.

I transitioned to the Council on Foundation’s Annual Conference with the excitement of EPIP fresh in my mind. Each day I spent in Philly enjoying the spirit of brotherhood, I appreciated the theme of this year’s conference “Windows”. From the opening plenary session which challenged our field to evaluate how we talk about our work, how we support non-profits, and how we have positioned ourselves as a sector, to the closing plenary that charged us to continue to intentionally grow in diversity of both thought and experiences, this conference was affirming.

This year’s Council on Foundation’s conference is the second one I have ever attended I am always amazed at how many people converge in one place to hear what’s trending in the field, take advantage of the opportunity to connect with Foundations that are working in your issue area, and also share some of the struggles that folks are facing. I found the spirit of the meeting collegial even thought there are the awkward times of searching for just the right table during the plenary sessions!

Since I work for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (a national organization) my perspective of the field is colored by a lens of thinking about big picture strategies for macro issues. However, in this conference I was challenged to think more about the local funder as my partner to working in communities who are also taking on some extremely systemic issues that are affecting their respective communities. In the “Listening to Voices from the Field II workshop”, I was inspired to hear how when a Foundation uses a place-based strategy they really dig in to join local boards, participate in community learning sessions and how they let that community hold the Foundation accountable to being responsive to both the true needs and the evolution to solution in those communities. Additionally, I came away with ways that as a national funder we can complement the work of place-based initiatives.

As I grow as a grantmaker I am always thinking about strategy, strategy and more strategy. The sessions “Philanthropic Strategy: Too Much of a Good Thing?” and “The Intersection of Strategy and Evaluation: Creating New Possibilities for Social Impact”, were a tag team of sessions that allowed me to realize the balance of strategy and evaluation. But what became even more evident, as I stepped out of the ivory tower, is that at the end of the day we are charged to improve the lives of people who often do not have resources in their communities because of the systemic barriers that exist within those communities. BUT they do have the tenacity and the courage to not only face those obstacles, but they have the passion and determination to change them. As gatekeepers of the resources it is our responsibility to listen, to seek input, and to allow ourselves to be challenged about our academic theories of change. When evaluating we should not just check a box when something has been “accomplished”, but understand how the evolution of change will often require evolution of strategy, and allow our frame for evaluation to change with the strategy.

As I took the train home to New Jersey on the last day of my six-day journey, I had plenty of time to reflect on the two events. I left EPIP ready for the revolution in philanthropy to unashamedly bring my energy and perspective to my organization in new, fresh, and exciting ways. To always remember that in the field of philanthropy we carry power dynamics into a situation and we should as young professionals acknowledge and respect that power.  COF reminded me of a family reunion where the elders shared their knowledge with the field or family in a way that took into account diversity of perspective and experiences. I found my time spent in the City of Brotherly Love was time well spent…I had great food, met good people, and left proud about my passion for social justice to improve the lives of people in vulnerable communities!

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Posted by Kris Putnam-Walkerly © Kris Putnam-Walkerly and Philanthropy411, 2010.

Bringing A Narrative Eye to Philanthropy – Part 3

Philanthropy411, is currently covering the Council on Foundations conference with the help of a blog team.  This is a guest post by Jorge Cino, Social Media Fellow, at the Levi Strauss Foundation.

by Jorge Cino

Note: You can access the first part of this post here, and the second part here.

Throughout the recent annual conferences of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) and the Council on Foundations (COF), I noticed that grant makers are placing striking emphasis on how to communicate our stories in new and better ways. While many leaders are still (understandably) looking for ways to measure the impact of their organization’s social media efforts (Beth Kanter discussed this in a recent Philanthropy411 post), content quality remains a non-negotiable pillar of communication.

In the social media landscape, blogging presents both an opportunity and a challenge: the opportunity to tee up your organization’s work with more depth and color than the 140-character- Tweet allows, and the challenge to unlearn some of our instinctive approaches to communication.

Abandonment can be difficult. Especially when it comes to the long paragraphs, jargony language, dense sentence structures and dry prose that often characterize philanthropic communication.

At the Levi Strauss Foundation, we believe storytelling is a crux part of our efforts to convey the work of our grantees in original and better ways. As a creative writer, I offer these five tips from the storytelling world as lynchpins to successful blogging about philanthropy—communication that keeps in touch with our times and preserves the integrity of our rich and multifaceted work:

1. Lead with the human element of a story. Make the reader care about your cause by drawing their attention to the people at the core of the issue. Also, you only get one beginning—give the reader an appealing hook to “enter” the story. When we profiled Lateefah Simon, the executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights in the Bay Area, we opened the story with a personal quote about how historic advances in social justice intersected with her life. This grounded the piece at a personal level—and  answered the “so what?” of the story right away.
2. Don’t miss “teachable moments”—but keep them accessible. As a general rule, avoid subjecting the reader to technical terms unless you can explain them in vivid, concrete ways. The beauty of the blog medium is that specialists and casual readers alike may access content at any given time. There are always new opportunities to bring awareness to an issue your foundation cares about, and to the role your foundation plays in addressing it.
3. Stimulate the reader’s senses. Keep the prose crisp, shorten paragraphs to a couple of sentences each, and appeal to the reader’s sensory palette. (When in doubt, split the sentence in two!) Condense denser passages into digestible “nuggets” of information. Whenever possible, accompany your pieces with vivid imagery or video: in the digital age, appealing to the senses helps sustain the reader’s attention and provides multiple entry points to your story.
4. Keep in mind the intended audience for each post. Underlying the previous points is the imperative that your message should adapt to your audience. Although I earlier used the word “lynchpin,” I would choose a different word if I were addressing a field that doesn’t use it often.
On the flipside, remember that your intended reader is likely reading your story online. Whether you’re a baby boomer, a Gen-X or a Millenial, your online content exists in the social marketplace—many other blogs, videos and podcasts compete for your reader’s attention. Keep this in mind as you consider what kind of information you want to include in a single post.
5. Anchor the story to the organization’s history, hallmarks and values. A crisp, well-placed sentence about your foundation’s role in tackling a given issue can go a long way toward building reputational awareness. For example, this is how our guest blogger explained her role in eradicating discrimination against Filipino migrants living with HIV/AIDS.

With these tips, I conclude this series of posts about my experiences bringing a narrative eye to the Levi Strauss Foundation’s communication efforts. I hope these posts provide useful insights and practical tips about the art of blogging. I also hope they inspire other leaders and emerging practitioners to think creatively about how they might best leverage social media tools.

I thank Philanthropy411, as well as EPIP, COF and Daniel Lee, for giving this “emerging practitioner” a voice.

If you found this blog post useful, please subscribe. On Twitter? Follow me @Philanthropy411.

Posted by Kris Putnam-Walkerly © Kris Putnam-Walkerly and Philanthropy411, 2010.