Grantmaking Trends in Health Advocacy

1
Grantmaking Trends in Health Advocacy

• Health Action 2007
• Annual Grassroots Conference
• January 26, 2007
• Anne L. Schwartz, Ph.D.
• Grantmakers In Health

2
What is a Foundation?

• A foundation is an entity that is established
  as a nonprofit corporation or a charitable trust,
  with a principal purpose of making grants to
  unrelated organizations or institutions or to
  individuals for scientific, educational,
  cultural, religious, or other charitable
  purposes.
• Source Foundation Center, http//foundationcente
  r.org/getstarted/faqs/html/foundfun.html

3
The Diverse Field of Philanthropy

• Foundation type
• Size (assets, staff)
• Age
• Source of funds
• Geographic area served

• Mission
• Focus of grantmaking
• Priorities
• Strategies
• Flexibility

4
Conversion Foundations

• Foundations created when a nonprofit health care
  organization (hospital, health system, health
  plan) is sold, merges with, or enters into a
  joint venture with a for-profit organization
• Phenomenon began around 1980
• ? 170 foundations with assets gt 18 billion

5
Philanthropic Trends

• Resources on the increase
• Health and education account for almost half of
  foundation grant dollars
• Share going to health is growing
• Small percentage of national spending on health
  care

Source The Foundation Center, Foundation Giving
Trends Preview, 2005. Based on a sample of 1,172
larger foundations.
6
What Do Health Funders Do?

• Support direct services
• Provide a voice for vulnerable groups
• Improve public understanding of health issues
• Educate policymakers and the press
• Fund research
• Shape policy development and implementation
• Convene stakeholders
• Support capacity building
• Donate meeting space
• Make introductions, connections

7
Policy Funding Trends, 1995 to 2002

• The number of foundations making health policy
  grants increased by more than half
• Grant dollars targeting health policy activities
  more than tripled

Source The Foundation Center, Update on
Foundation Health Policy Grantmaking, March 2004.

8
Health Policy Giving, 2002
Other Special Topics 11
Health Care Cost, Quality, and Reform 22.7
Reproductive Health 6.2
Smoking Prevention/ Tobacco Addiction 7.8
Mental Health/ Substance Abuse 9.9
Health Care Access 19.4
General 10.5
TOTAL DOLLARS 358.6 million
Research/Training 12.5
Source The Foundation Center, Update on
Foundation Health Policy Grantmaking, March 2004.

9
Public Policy Continuum
Source Grantmakers In Health, Funding Health
Advocacy (Washington, DC 2005).
10
Why Fund Health Policy?

• Shrinking public budgets
• Limited foundation assets
• Complement to direct service grants

11
Foundation Challenges

• Legal concerns
• Board support
• Inherent conflict and uncertainty
• Long-term nature of policy work
• Evaluation

12
Misperceptions

• Experience with one foundation is all it takes.
• Any foundation funding in health should care
  about my issue.
• Foundations are glorified checkbooks
• Foundations will step in when government funding
  goes down.

13
Before You Ask for

• Research the foundations specific mission,
  programming areas, geographic restrictions on
  funding
• Start building personal relationships
• Think about where you are headed

14
Resources

• www.gih.org
• www.fdncenter.org