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| San Diego Grantmakers Update | |
"Today we increasingly recognize that nothing happens in isolation. Most events and phenomena are connected, caused by, and interacting with a huge number of other pieces of a complex universal puzzle....We have come to grasp the importance of networks."
- Albert-Laszlo Barabasi |
September 2009 | |
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| The 2010 Census: It Affects All of Us!
RSVP today for this important gathering of grantmakers:
For every person not counted, $11,500 in federal funding is lost to our region over the next 10 years.
And the risk of lost revenue to critical government funded programs is high, since San Diego County is 11th out of 50 "hard-to-count" counties in the nation! This is not surprising, given that more than 20 percent of San Diego County residents are foreign born and speak more than 80 different languages.
The Census is one of the best leverage opportunities that you will find - and it only comes every 10 years. As we all know, the primary source of dollars to support our region is from government, not philanthropy! Thus ensuring the best possible count is a perfect opportunity for funders to ensure that San Diego gets our "fair share." At this program you will learn about:
- the critical importance of a fair and accurate 2010 census count to San Diego communities and why/how philanthropic organizations can get involved.
- what a number of local grantmakers and non-profit organizations will be doing to ensure a complete count of San Diego County residents
- what you can do to support a complete count-whether or not you intend to dedicate funding dollars to census-related outreach.
Funders can make a difference! In fact, the California Endowment has announced a $4 million commitment to a statewide campaign to promote the importance of participating in the 2010 census. Join us! Call 858/875-3333 or email to RSVP. | |
Register Now: 2009 SDG Annual Conference on October 29
The 2009 SDG Annual Conference will be held on Thursday, October 29 at the Joe and Vi Jacobs Center again this year. The theme is " The Future of Philanthropy: Creating Silver Linings." We are delighted to host a distinguished group of expert speakers this year for both our plenary and workshop sessions. Register now for the conference! Save your space at the biggest SDG event of the year (over 120 of your colleagues have already signed up!).
Interested in sponsoring? Click here (pdf) to download a sponsorship form. |
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.
Interested in nominating an organization for the 2010 Kaleidoscope Award for Exceptional Governance? Click here for award details and nomination form--the deadline is October 30, 2009.
The California Endowment recently held a meeting to describe their new City Heights and statewide grantmaking and advocacy strategies. Contact Steve Eldred to find out more about how to get involved in the TCE work. Click here for more information about the TCE strategy.
Anahid Brakke has left The San Diego Foundation to become Program Officer for the Gary and Mary West Foundation, with a focus area of seniors & aging.
The Economic Recovery Fund, a joint venture of the Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego and the United Jewish Federation of San Diego County, has awarded more than $800,000 in grants to provide direct relief to those in need.
The Jewish Community Foundation of San Diego also announced the establishment of the Miriam and Jerome Katzin Presidential Chair, a gift that will support and name in perpetuity the president and chief executive officer's position at the Foundation.
Women Give San Diego, a donor circle of the Women's Foundation of California, held their inaugural meeting on September 15, focusing on the economic security and sustainability needs of women in San Diego County and how to effect social change through funding programs for women and girls. Jan Tuttleman, the founding President, Linda Katz and Gayle Tauber have established this donor circle: contact Jan for more information. Also, click here for a Del Mar Times article. |
Philanthropy and the Economy
Don't forget that SDG has a special, members-only webpage (login required: SDGmember, password 2001) dedicated to philanthropy & the economy, including resources for both grantmakers and grantees, as well as economy-related headlines. |
Featured SDG Member Benefit
Your membership in SDG includes a host of different benefits! This month's featured benefit:
NEW! Member Media Resource. We are pleased to announce that the audio and/or video recordings of some past programs are now available: you can view video of "An Entrepreneurial Spirit: Three Centuries of Rockefeller Family Philanthropy" program (June 3), hear audio of a segment of the program "Adversity Means Opportunity: How Corporate Grantmakers Can Strengthen Their Programs in a Recession" (August 13), or check out the webinar "How to Be a Supportive Funder During the Economic Downturn" (July 23).
We will keep you informed of past program materials and media recordings that are available for viewing/downloading on our website. To access the current programs noted:
- Access the member media button in the members-only section of the SDG website
- Enter SDG Username (SDGmember) and Password (2001)
- Click on the program you would like to view/hear
If you have questions about this or any other SDG member benefit, just let us know. |
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COF Family Philanthropy Conference Coming to San Diego
The Council on Foundations (COF) will hold its Family Philanthropy conference in San Diego early next year: January 31-February 2, 2010, at the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel. This will be a great opportunity for San Diego grantmakers to meet counterparts from across the country without leaving our city! Mark your calendars, and click here for more information.
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Operating Support in the News
The idea that grantmakers should provide operating support to nonprofits has made several headlines recently. Check out these articles--and if you're interested in discussing the case for providing general operating support with experts and colleagues, attend the SDG conference session on the topic!
"For too long, donors have looked at nonprofit financial statements and believed that as much money as possible should be spent on programs and as little as possible should be spent on the organization itself. This logic is fundamentally flawed because, no matter how great a program is, only a high-performance organization can deliver, expand, and improve effective programs."
Stanford Social Innovation Review: "The Nonprofit Starvation Cycle"
Organizations that build robust infrastructure-which includes sturdy information technology systems, financial systems, skills training, fundraising processes, and other essential overhead-are more likely to succeed than those that do not. This is not news, and nonprofits are no exception to the rule.
Harvard Business Publishing Blog: Dan Pallotta, "Letting Non-Profits Act Like Businesses: One Foundation's Brave Act of Leadership"
"Yesterday the Boston Foundation unveiled major changes in its grantmaking strategy and announced that "the most dramatic change is a shift of emphasis to unrestricted operating support." You're not hallucinating, and it's not a typo. As if the emphasis on operating support were not jaw-dropping enough, it's going to be unrestricted." |
Philanthropic Headlines
"In light of the rapidly changing demographics of American society, grantmakers should fund programs that cut across age divisions and look at the social and economic needs of society as a whole, pooling resources to improve outcomes for multiple generations, a new report from Generations United finds."
"These exceptional donors-whether foundations, corporations, or individuals-do not write the largest checks, but they do act differently from other donors. They have expanded the toolkit of strategic philanthropy beyond even the most recent thinking of venture philanthropists and social entrepreneurs, creating a new approach to bringing about social change that I call 'catalytic philanthropy.'"
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Resources
On the Money: A Review of Key Financial Challenges Facing Nonprofits Today - and How Grantmakers Can Help
This GEO report is by Nancy Burd, who will be speaking at the SDG Annual Conference on October 29. The report identifies systemic fiscal problems facing nonprofits and presents activities that grantmakers can undertake to ensure that nonprofits have the resources they need to succeed.
Growth Philanthropy Network: Scaling Social Impact
Top-performing nonprofit programs rarely spread widely from their originating sites to other communities that need them. To address this problem, the Growth Philanthropy Network is creating a national capital marketplace that provides funding and management assistance to help exceptional nonprofit organizations and programs expand regionally and nationally.
Book: Billions of Drops in Millions of Buckets
In Steven Goldberg's recent book, Billions of Drops in Millions of Buckets: Why Philanthropy Doesn't Advance Social Progress, he argues that "big donors should be more willing to concentrate massive resources in single approaches over the long haul to take promising programs to scale." On her Non-Profit Marketing blog, Katya Andresen agrees that donors should invest more in programs that work, but says Goldberg's call "for centralized giving goes too far and neglects...local groups." You can also read a review of the book by William Schambra, director of the Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal.
For Your Grantees: Community Relief Fund, and Free Local Conference
In response to the economic crisis and the impact it is having on front-line human service organizations, The Kresge Foundation has established a 24- to 36-month, interest-free program-related investment fund offering bridge loans to high-performance organizations so that they may be better able to meet the ever- increasing demand for their services.
Also, California Volunteers is hosting a free one-day conference in San Diego on October 21 that will provide nonprofits access to key training and resources to help them effectively manage - and THRIVE - during the economic downturn. Click here for more info.
Working Wikily A recent paper from the Monitor Institute, Working Wikily 2.0: Social Change with a Network Mindset, examines how grantmakers and nonprofits can advance social change by embracing principles such as openness, transparency, decentralized decision-making and distributed action. The authors explore when to 'work wikily,' what types of networks to use and eight lessons to help you start networking in order to achieve your goals.
Stimulus and Poverty: A Role for Foundations in Seizing the Moment
The Urban Institute suggests five strategic investments foundations can make to sustain the economic stimulus package's positive outcomes for low-income families. |
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Upcoming SDG Programs
Feeding the Hungry in San Diego
A Report from the Jewish Community Foundation: Gaps and Solutions
November 19, 2009, 12:00-2:00pm
Location TBA
SDG Open House
December 2, 2009, 4:00-6:00pm
SDG, 5060 Shoreham Place, Ste 350, San Diego 92122
Click here for a complete list of SDG programs and working group meetings. To RSVP, please call (858) 875-3333 or email programs@sdgrantmakers.org (include your full name and organizational affiliation with your response, please).
Reminder: SDG programs are open only to member grantmakers and nonmember grantmakers as invited. | |
| 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, 858/875.3333 or nancy@sdgrantmakers.org to suggest article ideas or submit news items. | |
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