Innovation in Philanthropy

This morning was the local Chamber of Commerce Board meeting.  We had a guest presenter come in and speak on the topics of legislative and educational affairs that affect the district and region.  Specifically at the tail end of the summary, weight was given to children in poverty and graduation rates.  The message was to continue making strides in closing the gap for college preparedness, which opened the floor for conversation about alternative tracks and trade industries.

What I thought was interesting was the baseline for success.  That the only measure was contingent upon moving the needle in one specific area of percentage of attainment.  I made a few comments to point out that in the suburbs of the Austin area, the poor population has grown by 162%.  How over the last 20 years, those considered as "poor" were centralized in Austin, and the population has expanded over much of the Austin MSA.  Specifically, and what I didn't have in front of me, was that the rate for children in poverty has grown 142% in the region.  So my question becomes, in the case where the bottom drops out from under you for what used to be considered "baseline" you have to account for that in what success truly looks like.

What was increasingly interesting was this guest presenter's response to my questions- he points to the social sector and accountability in reporting metrics.

(Enter the zone of ambiguity).

So to clarify, I'm asking who is this "external agent" who will drive consistency in effort for nonprofit collaborations (in this case specifically speaking the example was in the schools).  He commented that he had once seen a United Way attempt to play that role, but something happened and scared them off of driving forward.

I can see why.  The United Way, while maintaining the label of funder, often times is still considered familial in the world of nonprofits.  Whoever wants their brother or sister setting the tone for house rules?

So I pushed the guest speaker, and he said what I already knew- so I'll put it here succinctly- the funders have to drive innovation.

I currently work for a foundation.  We're a complex model if there ever was one, building in a family of agencies and more political sensitivities to carefully navigate in honoring the intent of each board that resides in our nonprofit corporate structure.

Yesterday, I was able to work through some of our own strategic planning processes to encourage our board to look at the allocation of funding they currently provide and consider usage.  The current practice is largely general operations.  Working in the nonprofit sector, and knowing the true value of the funded general operation dollar, what I did next may seem to some as if I'm shooting myself in the foot, but I encouraged our board to look at best practice, be willing to recommend a percentage of operations based on budget that they would be willing to fund, but then also set aside funding for R&D.  Specifically for opportunities that provide innovation or expansion.  We'll see what makes it actually into the written plan, but it's pushing the philanthropic envelope to not only fund, but engage innovative philanthropy.

This mornings board meeting was held in the offices of a local multi billion dollar company.  We as board members were escorted on a tour of their newest office addition.  As the company shared about their current operations, I had about a dozen light bulb moments, flashing with every key word that casually rolled out of his mouth about their day to day operations.

I approached them afterwards, knowing their want for community engagement, their want for partnership in meaningful ways, and ways that could use their skills in another setting.  I proposed that they could provide business accumen for nonprofits as a way of giving back.  To do something strategic, that in the long run, may make more help than a momentary monetary gift.

Course, the money has to be the carrot.  Most nonprofits are too busy killing the snake that's closest to them to take time to invest in business philosophy.  But if foundations, and specifically corporate foundations took the time to be as strategic with their philanthropy as they are with their business models, I think we'd see real change.

My contact at this business asked me to gather a team, and he would gather his leadership to talk about the idea further. So I guess you'll just have to stay tuned to see how all that turns out...

That, and I have to run to the next thing...