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| San Diego Grantmakers Update | |
"Never do anything about me, without me."-grandmother of Marisa Quiroz (TSDF): click here for how this quote impacted the Social Justice Philanthropy Collaborative Pre-Conference at COF. |
February 2010 | |
SDG is Hiring!
To better serve our members, SDG is seeking applicants for a new position: Director of Communications. Please share the job description (pdf) with any qualified candidates. We are accepting applications until March 1, 2010. | |
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SDG Program Announcements
March 16, 2010, 12:00-2:00pm (Lunch served)
SDG, 5060 Shoreham Pl, Suite 350, San Diego 92122
Speakers:
Linda Wood, Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund
John Fanestil, Foundation for Change
Hamse Warfa, Alliance Healthcare Foundation
"Capacity-building" is an oft-used phrase in grantmaking, but it is talked about more than it is practiced. What does it really take to build up organizations with true, on-the-ground connections to communities in need? San Diego is home to many small nonprofits with committed leaders and big dreams, but nowhere near the "bandwidth" to readily meet their missions. Prudent investments in the leadership, governance and core operations of these under-resourced groups can dramatically increase their impact, producing exactly the kind of transformational work that grantmakers seek.
Speaker: David Greco, Nonprofit Finance Fund
Today's uncertain economic environment requires funders to REALLY know where an organization stands financially. To make good decisions, funders not only need accurate financial information, but also the ability to interpret and use this information to plan and manage their grantmaking. SDG invites you to an interactive workshop presented by one of the premier experts in all things nonprofit and financial -- the Nonprofit Finance Fund is coming to town!
NEW! Taking Employee Engagement to New Heights
April 22, 2010, 8:30-10:30am
SDG, 5060 Shoreham Pl, Suite 350, San Diego 92122
Speaker: DeShele Dorsey, Changing Our World
Limited financial resources coupled with the renewed energy on national service create an opportunity for companies to rethink and re-imagine volunteerism. What's next on the horizon for employee engagement? Join this interactive discussion to discover how you can leverage your company's unique assets and shape the next evolution of employee engagement to make a difference in the community.
Click here for a complete list of SDG programs and working group meetings. | |
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.
Cox Communications announced their 2010 Black History Month Honorees: Makeda Dread Cheatom, Executive Director & Founder, World Beat Center; Michael Love, Math Teacher, Mount Miguel High School; and Shirley Weber, PhD, Professor, San Diego State University.
EPIP San Diego (Emerging Practicioners in Philanthropy) is organizing an outing to the March 4 performance of Culture Clash in America at the Lyceum Theater downtown. Email epipsd@gmail.com for more information.
The Irvine Foundation has awarded $1 million to 7 nonprofits to help them adapt to the economic downturn and build their long-term financial health: one of the grantees is the Balboa Park Cultural Partnership. In a separate initiative Irvine awarded a grant to The San Diego Foundation for its San Diego Emerging Leaders of Arts and Culture program.
WebMD Health Foundation (check out their new website!) is being honored on March 2 by CancerCare, an organization they've supported since 1997 for direct financial assistance to people with cancer and their families living in San Diego and Imperial Counties. |
Operating in Uncertain Times: Program Report
On January 22, SDG members gathered for a special research briefing about how economic conditions have affected San Diego County's nonprofit and philanthropic sectors. The USD Caster Family Center for Nonprofit Research conducted a study with nonprofit and philanthropy executives to examine this issue. Did you miss the event? Check out these related resources:
- USD's report (pdf)
- Presentation (pdf) about the report
- Union-Tribune article about the report, quoting Christy Wilson of the Rancho Santa Fe Foundation.
There was rich discussion about what grantmakers could do to support their nonprofit partners during this recession. Here are some highlights:
- Grantmakers can support nonprofits in some of these key areas:
- Learning how to win federal grants and recovery money
- Helping nonprofits with financial management: operating reserves, endowments, investment policy, in-kind and earned income, professional advisors, compensation.
- Partnering in and supporting outreach to policy makers and advocacy.
- Funders can support the nonprofit infrastructure in San Diego by sustaining professional and reasonably-priced sources of capacity building, learning and technical assistance (e.g. Nonprofit Management Solutions, Volunteer San Diego)
- As a community, we need to focus on increasing individual giving because it is the largest source of future philanthropy in San Diego due to our relatively small foundation and corporate giving community.
- Funders can examine ways to help nonprofits have shared back offices for economies of scale.
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Economic Self-Sufficiency and Security of Women in San Diego: Program Report
On February 11, SDG members gathered to discuss the findings of a report commissioned by WomenGive San Diego, a new donor circle of the Women's Foundation of California founded by Jan Tuttleman, Linda Katz, and Gayle Tauber. The report describes extensive research on the economic conditions of women and girls in our region. For those of you unable to attend, you can read the presentation (pdf), peruse the complete report (pdf), and review a list of providers (pdf) of economic services to women and girls in our community. |
The Story of Stuff: Program Report
Over 90 people ventured out in January 21's storms to attend this exciting program with Annie Leonard, made possible by the Leichtag Family Foundation and SDG Environment Funders working group. Annie explored how grantmakers and environmental advocates can play a defining role in transforming our environments, communities and economies to become truly sustainable and ultimately, change the story of our stuff. Check out The Story of Stuff website to view the 20-minute original film and several others. There is also a book coming out on March 9. |
Philanthropic Headlines
The once-booming nonprofit sector is in the midst of a shakeout, leaving many Americans without services and culling weak groups from the strong. Hit by a drop in donations and government funding in the wake of a deep recession, nonprofits-from arts councils to food banks-are undergoing a painful restructuring, including mergers, acquisitions, collaborations, cutbacks and closings.
In the face of the economic downturn, education funders in the U.S. are adjusting their operations, with many sharpening their focus as they cut back on grantmaking, a new [Grantmakers for Education] report (pdf) says.
Chronicle: "White House Aide Urges Foundation Leaders to Take More Risks"
Sonal Shah, head of the White House's Office of Social Innovation and Civic Participation, urged foundations to take greater risks, saying one of the lessons she learned in her first year is that the federal government is not easily able to finance experiments with new efforts to treat social problems. Note: Ms. Shah was speaking at a conference that SDGers Nancy Jamison, Valerie Jacobs, Julie Bronstein, and Jennifer Vanica attended.
Chronicle opinion: "Philanthropy Needs a Major Overhaul to Serve the Common Good"
Philanthropy as we know it now is based on a strange assumption: Let's develop a hugely costly and divisive system for creating wealth and then hope that those who benefit most will give some back to solve problems that they have helped to cause. [The author says]
That's probably the least efficient way possible to tackle social problems-and the reason why it's time to replace noblesse oblige with citizen-centered philanthropy that helps to revive activism across our society.
With less money to dole out, foundations have become more strategic in their giving, targeting fewer areas with larger grants to organizations that fit the bill.
Total assets in donor-advised funds fell 2.4 percent in 2008 to $28.7 billion, but grants paid out from the funds totaled $6.7 billion, an increase of 19.4 percent, says the study from the National Philanthropic Trust. |
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Resources
Foundation Center: Glasspockets
The Foundation Center has launched a new webportal called Glasspockets to increase and promote foundation transparency. Glasspockets contains basic facts about the nearly 97,000 foundations in the United States, illustrations of philanthropy's impact on the issues that people care about, and information on the many ways in which foundations are striving to become more transparent. Click here for an introduction to the project.
Project Streamline: 2 New Guides Available
Project Streamline has released two guides (Relieving the Burden, and Right Size Grant Requirements) organized around the principles highlighted in Drowning in Paperwork, Distracted from Purpose (pdf). The online resources feature recommendations for funders to reduce paperwork in the grants process developed by a series of workgroups convened by Project Streamline, case studies, advice for grantseekers and a framework to help grantmakers think about building support for change with their organization.
Guide on Nonprofit Collaboration
The Tides Foundation recently released a new services guide to for nonprofits aimed an increasing organizational efficiency despite tight budgets in our current economy. "Shared Services: A Guide to Creating Collaborative Solutions for Nonprofits" encourages collaboration between multiple organizations and nonprofit leaders.
For grantmakers, networks present an exciting vehicle for increased social impact. However, most foundations are oriented toward funding single organizations, and the practice of supporting networks requires charting new territory. How can a foundation catalyze networks? A new report (pdf) from the Monitor Institute addresses questions grantmakers are asking themselves as they experiment with supporting and participating in social change networks.
Tactical Philanthropy Forum Video In late January, Tactical Philanthropy held a forum on "Unconstrained Philanthropy" that you can watch online. Should donors and funders see their role as one of correcting and optimizing existing social systems or do they have an opportunity to remake the social fabric?
Speakers included William Schambra of the Hudson Institute's Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal, Bill Somerville of the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation and Paul Shoemaker of Social Venture Partners, with
Sean Stannard-Stockton, Tactical Philanthropy moderating. | |
| 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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