By Zeke Spier
Executive Director
Social Justice Fund

and

Dionna Anderson
Program Assistant
Philanthropy Northwest

A new report, Diminishing Dollars: The Impact of the 2008 Financial Crisis on the Field of Social Justice Philanthropy, from the Foundation Center shows that social justice philanthropy has been disproportionately affected by the economy.  Social justice philanthropy “often [serves] a unique and critical role in local communities with grassroots efforts and an on-the-ground presence,” said Sara K. Gould, the Foundation Center’s Atlantic Philanthropies senior fellow and author of the report. 

Philanthropy Northwest’s Dionna Anderson asked Zeke Spier, executive director of Social Justice Fund, to comment on the report and share his perspective.

Philanthropy Northwest: What was your reaction to the Foundation Center’s report?

Zeke: It is disappointing that there are fewer dollars available to the social justice organizations that are needed more than ever as local, state and federal budgets face further cuts. These organizations are able to build local leadership to influence policy and create solutions that create a more just and equitable world.

A study by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy looked at 20 social justice organizations in the Northwest and showed that for every dollar invested they generated a $150 return – much of which did not come from government spending. These organizations need increased support to help all of us get out of this economic crisis.

Philanthropy Northwest: What were some of the key findings that stood out the most to you?

Zeke: What stood out the most is that small foundations will struggle the most to recover. Large foundations support some great work, but they inevitably struggle with maintaining relationships at the local level. Small foundations are better positioned to support small-scale, grassroots organizing and advocacy groups – those that have the biggest impact for the investment. Organizations like Social Justice Fund can help larger foundations identify and fund this local work, but a resource gap will remain until more foundations prioritize social justice.

Philanthropy Northwest: How has the Social Justice Fund granting process changed over the last few years?

Zeke: Social Justice Fund has a long history of participatory, democratic grantmaking. Over the past few years, we’ve taken the next step by engaging our members in a deeper process of community building, education, fundraising, and making funding decisions. Through our Giving Projects, we bring together cross-class/cross-race groups of around 20 people over 6-7 months to explore their individual and collective identities as philanthropists. Our five Giving Projects this year raised more than $375,000 from over 400 donors.

Philanthropy Northwest: Can you talk about your relationship with your grantees and how that has changed over the years?

Zeke: We are in an ongoing learning process to build better relationships with our grantees. Through our new model, we invite staff, board, and volunteers from current, past, and prospective grantees to participate as equal members of our Giving Projects. This perspective is invaluable as we make difficult funding decisions, and our conflict of interest policy is something we use to help prevent any confusion.

Philanthropy Northwest: There are a limited number of funders that fund in Social Justice Philanthropy, why do you think that is and what would you like to see change in the future?

Zeke: Although there is increasing evidence of the impact of social justice philanthropy, many funders are uncomfortable with the long-term and sometimes indirect outcomes of this work. Funding social change requires building relationships based on trust and openness to other’s ideas about both strategy and goals. True social justice philanthropy requires sharing power by opening up decision-making processes to those most directly impacted by the issue – this can be an intimidating process, but it leads to truly meaningful change in ourselves and the world.

Almost none of our philanthropic goals can be achieved without a strong, diverse civil society, and social justice organizations are vital to making this a reality. Whether foundations focus on education, the environment or the arts, we should all be investing in community-led efforts for justice and equality (and having those efforts influence the rest of our work). And no one needs to do this alone – Social Justice Fund is always open to conversations and collaborations to bring more resources to our amazing social justice organizations in the Northwest.

Courtney Oyler
Student
The University of Montana

Philanthropy Northwest is pleased to share this blog post from The University of Montana’s philanthropy class student, Courtney Oyler. Several students from the class joined the opening lunch and keynote at the 2011 Annual Conference.

A regional gathering of foundations is a wonderful opportunity for folks involved in nonprofit management and philanthropy in any form to meet and have discussions about their field. Philanthropy is an ever-evolving field and practice. In a world where new technological advances are made on a daily basis, it is vital for people working in the same field to stay connected on a human level, having face-to-face conversations about their successes, failures and other observations.

Several benefits might come from these types of conferences. Attending the Philanthropy Northwest Conference, I realized first-hand how many intelligent and motivated individuals are involved in the field of philanthropy. That in itself serves as encouragement to continue pursuing a career related to philanthropy. Also, each of the people in attendance had varying backgrounds and became involved in philanthropy for different reasons. Hearing a variety of views and experiences from these individuals in an essential part of growing and learning about the field.

Networking is also a substantial benefit resulting from the conference. Many of the folks at this conference certainly have access to knowledge, ideas and other resources that could be helpful to one, if not all of the other folks in attendance. Also, it is important to discuss the future of the field, and brainstorm about the ways we will all have to adapt to the future that philanthropy faces.

Lyn Hunter
Senior Program Manager, Philanthropy Northwest
Co-Chair, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy, Puget Sound Chapter

From top left: Richard Woo, The Russell Family Foundation; Dean Allen, McKinstry; Sue Taoka, Shorebank Enterprise Cascadia; Martha Choe, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation; Carol Lewis, Philanthropy Northwest; Neelima Shah, The Bullitt Foundation; Erika Orsulak, Sustainable Path Foundation; Shyla Miller, The Boeing Company; Amy Solomon, The Bullitt Foundation; Chris Lu, Assistant to the President and Cabinet Secretary

I recently celebrated my fifth anniversary here at Philanthropy Northwest. And in those years it’s become clear to me that Philanthropy Northwest is very much “a network of networks,” as our Board has so appropriately identified. Last week was a good example of that.

On Thursday, we welcomed the White House Initiative on Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders (WHIAAPI) and Chris Lu, President Obama’s Assistant and Cabinet Secretary. And just to make a point, the “royal” we was a collaboration of the President’s Commission on API Affairs, Philanthropy Northwest, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP), Northwest Environmental Grantmakers (NWEG), McKinstry, JP Morgan Chase and leaders in the Asian Pacific Islander (API) community. 

Together, we gathered not as individual groups with our own agendas but as a community with a vested stake in sustainability issues particularly in the API community. How can we promote sustainable communities? How do we encourage innovation and support economic growth? According to the WHIAAPI blog, the AAPI population grew faster than any other race in this country over the last 10 years – a whopping 43 percent. This population explosion creates an urgent need to get AAPIs to the table and engage them in the national conversation.

As Martha Choe, Chief Administrative Officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (and former Chair of the White House Commission on Asian American and Pacific Islanders…  and Philanthropy Northwest member… and AAPIP member) remarked, it’s through these kind of convenings with the private sector, elected and public officials, community members and philanthropy that we can continue to have civil dialogues about topics like sustainability that affect all of us.

Engaging and convening these kinds of multi-stakeholder discussions is one way that Philanthropy Northwest and our members can contribute to help decipher the daunting and complex issues facing our communities today. 

I’m looking forward to the next five years and the collaborations that it will bring.

Laura Sager
Communications & Corporate Services Program Manager
Philanthropy Northwest

Since starting my new job at Philanthropy Northwest, one of the ways I am learning about the field is through reading books and articles, following several bloggers, subscribing to feeds, and bookmarking the websites of important institutions that lead the field with data, analysis and insights. I have quickly learned, however, that the subject of philanthropy isn’t a beat that most reporters cover. So when I saw the lengthy June 8 article from Fortune at CNNMoney, What does it take for philanthropy to deliver results?, I was eager to read it. Consultants Leslie Crutchfield, John Kania and Mark Kramer are listed as guest contributors and have recently co-authored a book.

The article wasn’t as long or comprehensive as I hoped and it is written for a very general audience, with a sub-headline that reads:  “Donors large and small often think that they can simply throw money at a problem and hope for the best. Successful giving requires more involvement than that.” Still, they provided some very good stories from the Jacobs Family Foundation and from the Mars, Inc., maker of chocolates and many other products. (And I didn’t know that Mars began in Tacoma, WA until today!) And they avoided lingo, which is also refreshing.

Here’s my favorite line in the piece:  “The most effective philanthropists use several tools to tackle problems, applying non-financial assets such as their business know-how, networks, and influence to advance causes. They also don’t exclusively focus on supporting nonprofits. Top donors support for-profit businesses and advocate for government policy reform to further amplify results.”

Did you read it? If you could have contributed to this article, what would you have included?

By Kayla Tiscornia
Administrative Assistant
The Moyer Foundation

Launched in June 2010, The GIG (“Get Into Giving”) Network is a young professionals group created by The Moyer Foundation in support of Camp Erin. The mission of GIG is to turn interest into action by engaging men & women early in their careers in the powerful world of philanthropy. GIG provides exciting and unique opportunities to network, exchange business contacts, share ideas and have fun at some of Seattle’s greatest venues. Most importantly, GIG allows its members to share their time, treasures and talent by becoming involved in philanthropic causes that are close to their hearts, including helping children in distress through The Moyer Foundation’s Camp Erin.

Camp Erin, created and funded by The Moyer Foundation, is the largest nationwide network of bereavement camps for children and teens who have experienced the death of someone close to them. At Camp Erin, children are comforted knowing that there are other children who understand exactly what they are feeling and experiencing, and have the opportunity to address their feelings and memorialize their loved ones. They are provided with tools and resources for use during and after camp, including memories and friendships that last long after camp is complete.

One of the goals of GIG is to let people know that you don’t have to write a big check to be a philanthropist – there are many ways to “Get Into Giving.” Members of GIG not only make it possible for kids to go to camp, they help provide meaningful support gifts including bears, blankets, journals and art supplies. GIG events include happy hours at local hotspots, sporting events, professional development speaking series, and much more.

Our 2011 kickoff event is January 20, from 5:30 p.m. -  7:30 p.m. at the Ballroom in Fremont. It is a great opportunity to connect with current members, learn about the exciting events planned for 2011 and how to get involved with GIG and Camp Erin. A huge thank you to our sponsor Nology Media for all their support of these events.

Please contact me for more information on the event.

By Mindie Reule
Program Manager, Public Policy
Philanthropy Northwest

I just returned from a trip to Butte, Montana, for the Montana Economic Development Summit, a two-day event hosted by Senator Max Baucus and Montana Tech, focused on bringing businesses, community leaders, elected officials and nonprofits together to discuss solutions for creating jobs in Montana.

Philanthropy Northwest and its public policy committee have a goal of building and strengthening relationships with elected officials; in particular, ensuring that elected officials have an increased understanding and appreciation of the role of philanthropy. The Summit provided a perfect opportunity to discuss the role of foundations and nonprofits among key Montana leaders and stakeholders.

I worked with Mike Halligan, executive director of the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation and chair of the Philanthropy Northwest government relations subcommittee, to design a session featuring Philanthropy Northwest member Karla Miller of the Northwest Area Foundation and speakers from the Montana Nonprofit Association, Montana Community Development Corporation, NeighborWorks Montana and Rural Dynamics, Inc.

Mike moderated a great discussion that illustrated the impact of nonprofits and philanthropy in Montana. In 2008, foundations gave $65 million to Montana nonprofits, and 60% of that amount went to rural communities. The nonprofit sector in Montana is the 3rd largest employer in the state, after government and the service industry.

Just before our session, I attended another breakout session called, “Regional Development Opportunities and Challenges for Montana Communities,” during which a representative from the USDA talked about the community roundtables he’d done in six rural Montana communities. In all six communities, residents identified scarcity of workforce training, affordable housing and community development as the main obstacles to economic development. These are some of the top issues being addressed by the foundations and nonprofits on our panel.

Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer was a keynote speaker at the Summit, and a session on technology access featured Philanthropy Northwest member Akhtar Badshah, senior director of Global Community Affairs at Microsoft. Akhtar presented the Elevate America program, which provides no-cost vouchers for Microsoft e-learning and certification. Over 4,000 Montanans have completed or are in the process of completing an Elevate America training program. Look for another blog post from me next week focused on Elevate America.

On the “strengthening relationships with policymakers front,” I was honored to hear Senator Baucus thank me for Philanthropy Northwest’s contribution to the conference, and had a great discussion with Governor Schweitzer’s education staffer about the Philanthropy Northwest Early Childhood Learning Affinity Group, now co-chaired by Stacy Black from First Interstate Foundation.

Thanks to the Dennis and Phyllis Washington Foundation for helping to make my participation in the summit possible. It was a great trip!

By Mindie Reule
Program Manager, Public Policy
Philanthropy Northwest

On June 1, Governor Chris Gregoire officially announced that Washington state submitted its application for the U.S. Department of Education’s Race to the Top competition. Philanthropy Northwest would like to take this opportunity to recognize the philanthropy community’s contributions to this effort. A group of Washington funders—including corporate giving programs, family foundations and a community foundation—came together to make Washington’s Race to the Top application a reality.

There was no requirement that the state seek support from private funders, but Bezos Family Foundation, the Boeing Company, JP Morgan Chase, the Laird Norton Company, Microsoft Corporation, Nesholm Family Foundation, Raikes Family Foundation, and the Seattle Foundation saw Race to the Top as an opportunity for education leaders in Washington to join forces to augment the education reform process. These funders pooled their resources to support Washington’s Race to the Top application efforts by making a grant to the Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction (OSPI). This grant allowed OSPI to a hire professional consultant to help the cash-strapped state government agency complete the application.

This effort is a perfect example of the role foundations can play in education reform. No foundation in the world has enough resources to fund the cost of public education, but foundations can fund smaller projects—like this grant to OSPI—that will potentially leverage more federal dollars for education.

The collaboration of government agencies, nonprofit organizations, school districts, labor unions and funders that went into putting this application together was remarkable and the process itself was good for Washington. Even if Washington doesn’t get funding, this group has a detailed plan to continue to address education reform in Washington and going through this process has only made those efforts stronger. We hope that funders across the region will continue to push the envelope for continued improvements in our public education system.

You can view the full application that was submitted to the Department of Education here.

By David Landers
Deputy Director
Philanthropy Northwest

Next week, a public discussion about the civic health of Seattle will be held at Town Hall, and we hope that our members and the Seattle philanthropic community will participate in this special discussion. Panelists will examine how philanthropy fits in with other components of a civil society and just how Seattle measures up to that concept. More information is below and can also be found here.

Seattle: Common Ground In Polarized Times?
7:30 pm, Wednesday, June 16, 2010.
Town Hall, 1119 8th Avenue, use the Seneca Street entrance

Seattle has an image of itself as a “healthy community.” In a lively conversation with a panel of civic leaders, Bruce Sievers, a visiting scholar at Stanford and author of the recently published, Civil Society, Philanthropy, and the Fate of the Commons, will help us examine the accuracy and relevance of this self-image.

Sievers will be joined by David Brewster, founder and publisher of the online news service Crosscut.com; Richard Conlin, Seattle City Council President; Diane Douglas, executive director of CityClub; and Eric Liu, founder of the Guiding Lights Network, a mentoring advocacy organization.

The discussion will articulate a framework for civil society—the rule of law, philanthropy, private associations, the free press and media, and commitments to the common good, individual rights, and tolerance.  It is designed to encourage hard questions about the social fabric of our city.

Tickets are $5 at www.brownpapertickets.com or 800-838-3006, and at the door beginning at 6:30 pm.  Town Hall members receive priority seating.

By Suzanne Perry
Reporter
Chronicle of Philanthropy*

Alliance for Justice, a coalition of advocacy groups, has published a chart outlining how the recent U.S. Supreme Court decision on corporate campaign spending affects nonprofit groups.

The ruling in Citizens United v. Federal Election Commission allows corporations — including nonprofit advocacy groups covered by section 501(c)4 of the federal tax code — to use money from their general treasuries to promote the election or defeat of political candidates, without having to set up separate political-action committees.

Previously, only 501(c)4 groups meeting certain criteria, such as accepting no business or labor contributions, had the right to make such “independent expenditures” — that is, spending that is not coordinated with political candidates or campaigns.

The chart notes that tax-exempt groups must still comply with Internal Revenue Service rules, for example those that prohibit 501(c)4 groups from undertaking partisan political work as their “primary activity.”

The ruling does not remove the ban on partisan political activity that applies to charities covered by section 501(c)3 of the tax code, although some legal experts have speculated that the court’s rationale could prompt a legal challenge to that restriction.

The chart also discusses the ruling’s impact on labor unions, trade associations, and political-action committees.

*Originally published January 29, 2010 in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Re-posted with permission.

Arabella Philanthropic Advisors has posted thoughtful advice for grantmakers interested in making grants to support mid- and long-term recovery efforts:

“Most donors will see the stirring images from Haiti and react today, donating dollars that are allocated for emergency humanitarian relief. Relief activities are obviously critical, but they do not address the need for longer-term recovery, which will require even more dollars and receive far less attention. Donors should consider making longer-term investments. They should also consider making their investments more strategic by following the Hurricane Katrina response mantra, “Build it Better.” In Haiti, donors can provide financial support to improve the water and sanitation infrastructure, education system, housing stock, access to healthcare, and more.”

The Chronicle of Philanthropy has an update on what’s happening with relief and aid organizations who were already in Haiti when the earthquake struck.

Please keep leaving your thoughts and recommendations in the comments!