Whats Our Job

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Whats Our Job? Donor Accountability
February 2009
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Questions

• What are you doing to make sure your
  philanthropic investments are wisely targeted and
  effectively used?
• Grade yourself on a scale of A to E. How well
  are you holding your giving program accountable
  for positive results?
• Identify one major thing you could do to improve
  your efforts.

3
Overview

• Strategic philanthropy
• Developing a strategic plan
• Evaluating grantees
• Assessing ourselves

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• We live in a moment in history when our success
  on this planet depends more on the independent
  sector than ever before. Our childrens future
  will be shaped more than at any time in the past
  by what cannot be done by the market or the
  state, but what can only be invented, risked,
  dared by non-profit and non-governmental
  organizations and by strategic, compassionate
  philanthropy.
• Peter Goldmark

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Philanthropys Traditions

• Charity
• Patronage
• Strategic philanthropy
• Paul Ylvisaker

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Why Philanthropy?

• Contribution to civil society - relative to
  market and public domains
• independence
• experimentation and innovation
• decentralization/flexibility
• participation and engagement

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Philanthropys Contributions Great Grants

• Public libraries - Andrew Carnegie
• Eradication of yellow fever - Rockefeller
• Rural public schools/racism - Rosenwald
• Sesame Street - Carnegie Corporation
• Emergency 911 - Robert Wood Johnson
• The Pap Smear - The Commonwealth Fund

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Roles for Foundations?

• Community builder
• Capacity builder
• Innovator/incubator
• Bridge, connector, convener
• Change agent, catalyst
• Leadership developer
• Conscience and critic

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Strategic PhilanthropyExemplary Practices

• Values, vision and mission driven
• Proactive and focused
• Research and reality based
• Results oriented, but with a long view
• Resourced by , time, position, connection
• Intentional about roles and strategies
• Collaborative, co-invested and leveraged

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Some Critical Issues Trends

• Accountability, transparency regulation
• Measurement, evaluation effectiveness
• Technology connections, transactions,
  information and control
• Sectoral blurring, partnerships and repositioning
• Intergenerational transfer of wealth, demographic
  shifts and the new donor.

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Corporate Strategic PhilanthropyBroader Goals

• Enhance and differentiate company reputation
• Increase employee morale and retention
• Develop employee skills
• Attract investors
• Increase customer goodwill and loyalty
• Improve community relationships
• Strengthen community in which company, employees
  and customers reside

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Corporate Strategic PhilanthropyResources for
Leverage

• Volunteerism
• In-kind and pro-bono resources products,
  expertise, services, skill, etc.
• Communications opportunities
• Other??

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Corporate Strategic PhilanthropyPromising
Practices

• Part of a CSR strategy not stand alone
• Top down commitment, bottom up involvement
• Focus matters identity, manageability, impact
• Visibility matters but impact, not PR needs,
  should drive it
• Alignment with corporate DNA

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Strategic PhilanthropySteps in the Process

• Early Stage Big Picture
• Identify stakeholders and develop process to
  include their voices
• Clarify values and vision
• Determine ambition, mission and focus areas

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Strategic PhilanthropySteps in the Process

• Programmatic Strategic Planning
• Define goals and desired outcomes
• Gain in-depth understanding of issues (gaps
  needs, trends, players)
• Identify potential financial and non-financial
  resources
• Develop and assess ideas and options
• Understand risk profile
• Define value-added roles

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Strategic PhilanthropySteps in the Process

• Effective Implementation
• Structure staffing
• Timeline and key milestones
• Budgets, resources partners
• Remaining opportunistic
• Leveraging strategies
• Communication strategies
• Assessment and learning strategies

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Framework forHigh Impact Philanthropy

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Strategic PhilanthropyThe Opportunity

• Leveraged impact
• Leading and anticipating trends vs. following
• Enduring relationships and networks
• Deeper personal satisfaction
• Unanticipated benefits..

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Strategic PhilanthropyKey Challenges

• Limited time, staff and other resources for
  implementation
• Limited attention spans
• Hubris and control
• The fuzzy art of evaluation assessment
• Can the unaccountable hold others accountable?

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Why Evaluate?

• Ensure that grantees are accountable
• Help grantees improve or make mid-course
  corrections
• Build the capacity of grantees to self-assess
• Improve your future grantmaking
• Test assumptions and hypotheses

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Why Evaluate?

• Increase the level of knowledge in your field of
  interest
• Make yourself more accountable
• Feel more satisfied with your giving
• Learn!
• Other?

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• Supposing is good.
• Finding out is better
• Mark Twain

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Holding Grantees Accountable

• Monitoring vs. Evaluation
• What happened?
• So what? What difference did it make?
• What did we learn?

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Holding Grantees Accountable

• Tools
• Pre-grant agreements
• Progress reports
• Site visits
• Self-assessment templates
• Peer evaluation
• Independent evaluations

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Assessment Challenges

• Challenge of quantification
• Long time horizons
• Measuring causality
• Imbalanced power relationship
• Reluctance to accept failure

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Funder Accountability to Whom?

• Private foundations
• The public trust the IRS?
• Field standards COF?
• Governing board - self assessment?
• Grantees/applicants - assessment?
• Corporate giving programs
• Other stakeholders employees, customers,
  vendors, communities?

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Holding Ourselves Accountable

• Board self-assessment e.g.
• Understanding of roles- in/out
• Strategy development
• Fiscal oversight
• Assessment of foundation impact
• Ethical conduct
• Tools e.g. BoardSource, Center for Effective
  Philanthropy, other

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Holding Ourselves Accountable

• Grantee assessment e.g.
• Foundation communications
• Grant selection process
• Non-monetary support from foundation
• Grant reporting
• Impact on community, field
• Center on Philanthropy Grantee Perception Reports

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Holding Ourselves Accountable

• Corporations - other stakeholders
• Shareholders
• Employees
• Customers

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Risks - Not Holding Ourselves Accountable

• Wasted resources
• Opportunity costs
• Cynicism
• Government regulation

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Opportunities - Holding Ourselves Accountable

• Strategic approach
• Leveraged resources
• Improved grantee performance
• Influence on the field
• Greater satisfaction
• Less regulation
• Better outcomes

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Questions

• What are you doing to make sure your
  philanthropic investments are wisely targeted and
  effectively used?
• Grade yourself on a scale of A to E. How well
  are you holding your giving program accountable
  for positive results?
• Identify one major thing you could do to improve
  your efforts.

33

• Questions or comments
• Ellen Remmer
• President CEO
• The Philanthropic Initiative
• 160 Federal Street
• Boston, MA 02130
• 617 338 2590
• eremmer_at_tpi.org