Northern California Grantmakers

Just in time for the opening of cherry blossom season, California Philanthropy descended on Washington DC, last month as part of Foundations on the Hill (FOTH), co-presented by the Council on Foundations and the Forum of Regional Associations.

This year through coordinated efforts, NCG, Southern California Grantmakers (SCG) and San Diego Grantmakers (SDG) jointly scheduled and attended all meetings together as a unified “California Delegation.” Together our group set out to find opportunities to connect the work of our collective members to federal efforts underway.

In previous years, visits to DC have focused on meeting with Congressional offices and promoting the advocacy agenda developed by the Council on Foundations. This year, however, the California delegation opted to shift our strategy slightly. With all three associations in the process of articulating our respective advocacy strategies, and all three making it a priority to build working relationships with the district staff of California Congressional representatives, this year we felt our meeting attention should focus on the federal agencies in the Capital. While we still visited our State Senators’ offices and shared elements of the Council on Foundation’s advocacy agenda—including a request for the simplification of the excise tax on private foundations; a request for the permanent extension of the IRA charitable rollover allowance; and a request for easing the voluntary ruling process from foundations seeking to make program related investments (PRIs)—this year’s focus was more on building bridges within federal offices.

We set up meetings with a selection of federal agencies, particularly those currently investing in the communities where our members are working, or on the issues where our members invest as well.

Prepare yourself for the “alphabet soup” of federal work!

In 2010 the Obama Administration launched the Neighborhood Revitalization Initiative an interagency collaboration engaging the Departments of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Education (ED), Justice (DOJ), Health and Human Services (HHS) and Treasury. The collaboration is intended to support local communities in developing and obtaining the tools they need “to revitalize neighborhoods of concentrated poverty into neighborhoods of opportunity.”

The current administration has supported an unprecedented climate of coordination, and cross-sector collaboration, both in regards to interagency communication and coordination, and federal agencies looking to adopt best practices and strategies from other sectors. To this end, many officials recognize the expertise and long-view approach inherent to philanthropy and are seeking to develop working relationships with the sector.

We secured meetings with representatives from the Department of Housing and Urban Development and the Department of Education as part of the NRI, and additionally we reached out to meet with the White House Office of Social Innovation, and the California Governor’s Office in Washington.

We approached each meeting armed with information to share about the funder collaborations underway within our respective regions, and to begin to develop a roadmap of connections between what is happening within our memberships and the priorities at the federal level.

Who Went With Us

In addition to staff from NCG, SCG and SDG, our CA delegation also included Cole Wilbur, Trustee and past President of the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, and Dan DeSantis from the Fresno Regional Foundation. Fresno was recently named as one of six participating communities in the Strong Cities, Strong Communities Initiative (and the only participating city west of the Mississippi!). As part of the initiative, Fresno has staff from federal agencies living within the community, and working in partnership with the City and foundation staff to leverage federal investments for community and economic development. Mr. DeSantis was able to speak to agency staff about the efforts already underway, and clearly demonstrate the convening and facilitating role the foundation can play in supporting the initiative.

Meeting with Department of Justice

The Department of Justice, in partnership with DOE and HUD among others, supports the National Forum on Youth Violence Prevention, a national network of stakeholders which facilitates best-practice sharing to more effectively address youth violence prevention through comprehensive planning. Two of the six participating communities are in California: San Jose and Salinas. Representatives were recently in Washington for a gathering of the Forum on April 2-4. During our meeting with DOJ, Office of Justice Programs Chief of Staff, Thomas Abt, shared that local foundations can play a role in supporting the efforts of the initiative through serving as meeting conveners and committee advisors as the information sharing continues.

We also learned more about the Building Neighborhood Capacity Program (BNCP), a core component of NRI that seeks to build the capacity of distressed communities through the provision of planning technical assistance and an on-the-ground facilitation, all with the goal of increasing the community’s capacity to receive stronger federal support.

 ”Having philanthropic support is a sign of credibility.”

Meeting with Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office for International & Philanthropic Innovation

The Office for International and Philanthropic Innovation (IPI) is truly the manifestation of the type of cross-sector collaboration we were seeking to encourage with our meetings. Created two years ago with the vision of building the capacity for HUD to learn from best philanthropic and international practices, IPI works across public, private and civil sectors to support HUD’s mission primarily through research, network development and facilitating collaboration of partners and resources.

Platforms for Connections

We met with Ana Marie Argilagos, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of the office (and former grantmaker) who has been working diligently to connect funders to the work of HUD and other federal agencies. Earlier this year, HUD released a web feature at partner.hud.gov providing detailed information on Choice Neighborhoods grantees and high-scoring applicants. Meant to foster collaboration and coordination, the platform will likely expand to include other grant programs. Ms. Argilagos will be a featured panelist at the 2012 Council on Foundations conference in Los Angeles on April 29th.

HUD has also recently announced the inaugural Secretary’s Award for Community Foundations, which will be awarded as part of the Council on Foundation’s annual Fall Conference for Community Foundations. This award is meant to recognize excellence in public-philanthropic partnerships and highlight the power of collective impact. Applications must be received by May 11, 2012.

Department of Education, Office of Strategic Partnerships

Like HUD, the DOE has made great strides in reinforcing cross-sector collaborations with the establishment of the Office of Strategic Partnerships, which oversees coordination the Department’s various grant programs, and community stakeholders (including foundations, local government and families). Our meeting with DOE demonstrated this commitment to coordination, as we met with the Director of Strategic Partnerships, Suzanne Immerman along with staff representatives from the Office of School Turnaround (who administer the School Improvement Grants program), Promise Neighborhoods, and the Office of Innovation and Improvement (which administers the Investing in Innovation Fund, i3)

Also like HUD, the DOE has web-based interactive feature at data.ed.gov which allows users to examine datasets from the departments various grant programs. A truly comprehensive tool, data.ed.gov is part of the Obama Administration’s Open Government Initiative and invites funders and other stakeholders to drill into a multitude of datasets and visualize resulting data.

Understanding the complexities of education reform, and the additional layers of complexity within California, staff representatives challenged philanthropy to establish a single resource to convene information on statewide education reform efforts. No small charge of course, we were reminded of the successful centralized cross-sector efforts underway in Delaware (Vision2015).

Additionally, we were called to bring our sector’s skills as evaluators to the table, as staff made the case for evidence-based data on measuring intervention efforts in education. Quite simply put, they pleaded, “We don’t know what works”. Grantmakers can play a significant role in outlining the evaluation components of the innovation fund grants.

The i3 fund is actively seeking peer reviewers with content expertise in their six Absolute Priorities, or in education evaluation for the 2012 Grant Competition. Education grantmakers are doubly qualified and we were asked to promote the opportunity with our respective memberships.

Roadmap for Success

We want to maximize the momentum built from these meetings and further facilitate connections between federal and regional efforts. While we recognize that many of our members are already working in partnership with federal grant programs, we realize there is still a lot more opportunity for bridge-building.

To that end we are in ongoing conversations with everyone we met with, and are working to identify both specific contacts for more targeted partnerships, and opportunities for learning.

The climate is perfect for ongoing public-private partnership development and we aim to serve as your network weaver to facilitate success!

NCG member Judy Patrick, CEO and President of the Women’s Foundation of California, was featured as a guest blogger last June on Council of Foundation‘s Re:Philanthropy blog.

In her blog post, Judy reflects on the effects of California budget cuts on the individuals and communities served by the Women’s Foundation of California:

“After years of watching the California state budget balanced at the expense of women and families, we decided it was time to put a human face on the impact of budget cuts. As a foundation serving communities directly affected by the budget cuts, we saw firsthand the impact on California’s women and families.”

The foundation decided it was time to try and influence the budget debate, instead of solely dealing with the effects of budget cuts on women and families in California.

Partnering For Change

The Women’s Foundation decided to partner with the “California Budget Project (a well respected budget analysis organization) and fund research for policy makers and advocates to make the economic and human case for preserving the small safety net that still remains in California.”

As a result of this partnership, the California Budget Report has released three reports to legislators, advocates and journalists.

To learn more about the Women’s Foundation of California’s public policy work on the California Budget, read Judy Patrick’s full blog post online.

For this third post on Twitter, I thought it would be helpful to hear how NCG member Quixote Foundation is using Twitter.

As the old adage goes, “Don’t take my word for it.”

To take a bit of a break from the technical what and how posts in this social media series, I thought I’d ask an NCG member who is using Twitter to participate in a short interview.

I decided to contact someone who I’ve interacted with on Twitter: Quixote Foundation’s strategic consultant, Keneta Anderson. Keneta has advised the foundation since 2003 on a wide range of topics including program, governance, outreach, brand and communication strategy. As Quixote Foundation’s copywriter and the voice of its muse, “Don,” she is responsible for the QuixoteTilts Twitter presence.

Side note: I did consider conducting the interview in tweet-fashion, that is 140 characters or less…then I thought better of it. Following is the interview I conducted via e-mail with Keneta Anderson of Quixote Foundation.

NCG: Keneta, thank you so much for accepting my invitation for a quick interview on how Quixote Foundation is using Twitter. First, please tell us how many people are on staff at Quixote? And, are all of you using the Twitter account?

Thanks for asking. Quixote Foundation has four staff members, and I write the Twitter feed as part of my consulting work. I scan the news, blogs, grantee sites and other content sources every morning, and everyone on the team helps by feeding me additional ideas, links, thoughts from their own reading, or real-time notes from events they attend. I translate that information into 140 characters and the QuixoteTilts’ voice.

NCG: Why and when did Quixote decide to join Twitter? And how do you use it?

We started in May, 2009, just before the Council on Foundations annual meeting. I Tweeted from sessions by repeating interesting quotes, commenting on concepts, sometimes challenging what speakers said, and giving an overall feel for the event.

We really found our purpose for Twitter by experimenting. Between events we use it to help move strategic messages, amplify our grantees’ and colleagues’ voices, engage in conversations relevant to our interest areas and values, build relationships, spark awareness where action is needed, and have a little fun.

When Quixote Foundation announced its decision to spend the entire endowment, we used Twitter as one part of our outreach plan. It only took a couple of Tweets about spending up to get people interested in the topic, and Twitter relationships led to several articles, blog posts, and opportunities that ranged from guest blogging to conducting a webinar. Most importantly, it’s a resource for us to hear what the people we “follow” have to say—what has their attention, why we should care, how we might be able to respond quickly.

NCG: As a grantmaker, what benefits or drawbacks have you found to using Twitter? Anything unexpected come out of being on Twitter?

Twitter has allowed a little foundation to establish a relatively big voice with targeted audiences, and also to move progressive ideas among new audiences we’d be highly unlikely to reach through other venues.

It helped us draw so much fresh attention to the notion of spending up that other donors are still getting in touch, saying they may consider doing the same and they want to know more. In some cases we’ve been able to raise awareness of important grantee or interest area issues, and people have taken time to respond. Those are huge, mission-centered benefits for the small investment.

Unexpectedly, our Twitter presence has introduced us to many real-life, ongoing relationships. Using a topical or event hashtag (#) and monitoring all the relevant Tweets is a great way to identify who in particular you might want to seek out in person. With Twitter breaking the ice, collaboration can start much faster than attempting 20 random conversations at a conference cocktail party (although we’d advocate for doing that too).

The only drawback is it’s hard to maintain a steady presence, and we’re still wrestling with what to do about that difficulty. Our Twitter outreach has been effective because we’ve been strategic about selecting content, exercising brand control and maintaining a consistent voice by using just one writer; but that means QuixoteTilts goes silent if I’m away, which isn’t especially effective. The good news is most organizations on Twitter face the same conundrum. I really believe expectations will sort themselves out as users find a realistic pace for the tool.

NCG: Any advice for a grantmaker who is considering joining Twitter?

The blogosphere is full of “Top Twitter Tips” and the like, so you can hit Google for the basics.

I’d just add: Start by following grantees and leaders in areas that interest you, and read their Tweets for a while. Don’t force yourself to chime in if you don’t have anything to say—Twitter is an available tool, not something that’s mandatory to use. If you like or dislike particular Twitter personalities, try to figure out why and apply that insight when crafting yours. Incorporate the purpose and voice into your overall brand and communication strategy. Understand it’s an evolving tool in the hands of imperfect humans, like any other communication method we use; so if you have an occasional disruptive encounter that may reveal more about one individual than about Twitter itself.

NCG: Do you have any favorite Tweeters that you recommend others follow?

NorCalGrant, of course. Off the top of my head: Joe_Brown, tactphil, drgrist, mrdaveyd, celiaalario, motherjones, sightline, nwf, Rosetta Thurman, bsttrach, meddemfund…it’s a good start, but I’m sure I’m leaving out many spectacularly cool people.

NCG: Thanks so much for sharing your perspective on Twitter and for offering other grantmakers an example of how to use this social media tool.

You can follow Quixote Foundation on Twitter at twitter.com/quixotetilts

The Social Media & Grantmaking blog post series will cover a wide range of topics. Check out the introduction post outlining the series.

To see all the posts in this series, simply type “social media series” into the search box located upper right of this web page.