Northern California Grantmakers

The headline for Philanthropy Journal‘s top news story today definitely is a wake up call:

“Grantees Flunk Funders on Communications”

Ouch.

The article highlights the findings from a recent report released by The Center on Effective Philanthropy (CEP).

“Nonprofits believe foundations have failed to communicate clearly, if at all, their responses to the economic downturn, and have offered nonprofits little useful help in their developing their own response.”

The economic downturn forced many foundations into unfamiliar territory when it came to Communications. At the beginning of 2009 NCG hosted an event for members to specifically address this new challenge. Our program “What Economic Trends Mean for Foundation Investment and Communication Strategies” was highly attended and featured Dan Cohen of Full Court Press who spoke specifically on creating a communications plan to inform grantees and other stakeholders.

Recognizing that members wanted more tools and resources on the subject, NCG also created an Economy page on our website to house:

• Program handouts from “What Economic Trends Mean for Foundation Investment and Communication Strategies”
• NCG Member responses, the formal communications and press releases on how they planned to cope with the economic downturn and its effect, if any, on their grantmaking.
• Specific resources for Family Foundations, Community Foundations and Corporate Foundations/Giving Programs
• And much, much more.

I’m not sure how many of our members’ grantees participated in CEP’s survey. But I do know that when the new economic reality began to sink in at the beginning of 2009, many NCG members were sharing their press releases so that other foundations who didn’t have a full Communications staff could have examples of how to draft their own response. And members were discussing with each other how to communicate to grantees and other stakeholders about their foundation’s new giving reality.

So if you’re looking at your communications report card and think you have room for improvement, the good news is there’s always time to try and get your grade up.

Read the Philanthropy Journal article in full online.

Read The Center for Effective Philanthropy’s A Time of Need report online.

Read the NCG Newsletter article on our 2009 economy program Member Login required online.

Check out NCG’s Economy resource page for grantmakers online.

Last week on our blog we featured the work of PhotoPhilanthropy, an organization which promotes the use of photography as a method of supporting nonprofits and their causes.  As NCG members look for ways to tell their own stories, and/or the stories of their grantees, PhotoPhilanthropy provides excellent examples of compelling visual narratives as a way of “telling your story.”

But, aside from creating an online community, how does PhotoPhilanthropy connect talented photographers with nonprofits? Or rather, how do they get photographers to consider using their talents to benefit nonprofit causes?

PhotoPhilanthropy’s Activist Awards provide photographers with an incentive to highlight a nonprofit’s work and cause through a photo essay. Additionally submissions for the awards stipulate collaboration with a nonprofit organization, which is verified by PhotoPhilanthropy.

PhotoPhilanthropy Activist Awards’ monetary incentive and stipulated collaboration draw talent and creativity, that might not otherwise consider working with nonprofits in this capacity, to the field.

We’ve seen this M.O. at work before in Vodafone Americas Foundation’s Innovation Project. Launched in 2008 by NCG member Vodafone Americas Foundation, the Innovation Project is a competition to promote advances in wireless technology that address critical issues.

And most recently, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced it would award $10 Million to the first companies who help Haitians send and receive money via their cell phones.

Like PhotoPhilanthropy’s Awards, these other examples of prize philanthropy highlight a cause and draw talent (in the form of creativity and technical expertise) to work with nonprofits and/or communities in need.

PhotoPhilanthropy Awards Currently Accepting Submissions

Do you know any photographers who might be interested in this rewarding challenge? If so, the PhotoPhilanthropy Activist Awards compeition is accepting submissions until October 1, 2010.

The award categories and prizes are:

• Professional Photographer: $15,000 Grand Prize
• Amateur Photographer: $2000 Grand Prize
• Student Photographer: $1000 Grand Prize
• Community-based Photography: $2000 Grand Prize

For a complete list of the guidelines and submission requirements, visit PhotoPhilanthropy online.

The Nonprofit Finance Fund announced today the release of survey results that show that “America’s nonprofits expect that 2010 will be financially more difficult or as difficult as 2009.”

Key findings include:

• Nearly 90% expect 2010 to be as difficult or more difficult than 2009; only 12% expect 2010 to be financially easier for their organizations.
• 80% of nonprofits anticipate an increase in demand for services in 2010; 49% expect to be able to fully meet this demand level.
• Only 18% of organizations expect to end 2010 above break-even; 35% of organizations ended 2009 with an operating surplus.
• The majority – 61% – have less than three months of cash available; 12% have none.

Learn more about the survey and its results online.