natalie egleton program manager maximising your grant-making impact 2015 community foundations forum
TRANSCRIPT
We are a “philanthropic toothbrush” taking philanthropy to the hard to reach places. Established in 2000, distributed more than $60
millionMission: to champion the economic and social strength of Australia’s regional, rural & remote communities through partnerships with the private sector, philanthropy and government
• Only national Foundation dedicated to rural and regional Australia
Supports renewal of rural, regional and remote communities
Makes grants for charitable purposes2
Granting for impact is hard!
“Raising money is hard work, but giving it away wisely is even harder.” (Anon)
Your foundation’s strategy: role of grant-making?
What does impactful grant-making mean for your foundation?
How to maximise the impact of your grants programs
How and when do you know you are making a difference…or not?
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Strategy and grant-making
Oxford Dictionary definition of Strategya plan of action designed to achieve a long-term or overall aim:e.g.: "time to develop a coherent economic strategy"
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Grant-making as a tool for effecting change
Oxford Dictionary definition of Impact: have a strong effect on someone or something: affect; influence; have an effect on; make an impression on; hit, touch; change; alter; modify; transform; shape
What does impact mean for you as grant-makers?
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Getting clear on our own impact aspirations
What are the needs and priorities in your community?
How big/complex is the need?
What role does your foundation want to play?
What level of financial capacity does your foundation have or seek to have?
What other players are in the space?
What kinds of responses are going to help achieve the change in the most impactful way for your community?
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But hopefully you end up more like this!
Thankyou R. E. Ross Trust!
Mission
Defined impact areas
Clarity on your approach
Clear guiding principles & purposes
Tips for developing a grant-making strategy…
Understand the landscape, context and the need Build partnerships, research, talk to the community
Recognise that problems are highly complex
Not likely to be solved by grant-making alone
Stick to your organisation strategy
Be confident of the change you seek to influence but remain flexible
Evaluate – using different approaches and methodologies – doesn’t always have to be scientific
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Approaches for impact
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Impact Focus Philanthropic approaches
Specific issue, need or population group
Targeted partnerships, support of initiatives aligned to target group or issue (e.g. collective impact)
Broad community development
General community benefit grants
Funding for projects
Capacity building Leveraging of funds
Advocacy and partnerships
Supporting organisations as well as projects
Your foundation might use multiple approaches, or just one…they are all relevant and impactful
High impact grants: does size matter?
Small grants? Large grants? Multi-year grants?
Often determined by your financial base
But also – critically – by your strategy
A small grant can be the starting point, the leverage, the finishing off, the building of a track record
A large grant can be a community-wide initiative or one that addresses a fundamental gap
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High impact grants: due diligence
Partnerships and collaboration
Project place within the broader issue, problem, opportunity
Evidence base – community and stakeholder voice, data
Viability of the project, organisation, partnerships
Sustainability: will they be back year after year? – Can you support sustainability measures as part of the grant?
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Are you achieving impact?
1. Evaluate your own performance as a foundation
a. Accessibilityb. Transparency of processc. Clarity of guidelines d. Clarity of grantee obligations and reporting requirementse. Having the right strategy in the first place
2. Support your grantees to evaluate their projects to generate useful outcomes data
a. Strong grant applications with clear and realistic outcomesb. Method and scope for evaluation: what will be useful for
the group, community and foundation? c. Fund evaluation if you can – not many groups have
capacity to evaluate
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Evaluating your impact
It doesn’t have to be rocket science!
Group-based grantee reporting – Share lessons, challenges, achievements – facilitate
collaboration and networking
Visit projects, ask questions, talk to beneficiaries, take photos, video diaries
Grant acquittal reports usually tell only half the story
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Helpful resources
Grantmakers for Effective Organisations: www.geofunders.orgSmarter Grant-making Playbook is a great resource!
TCC Group: strategies for achieving social impact:http://www.tccgrp.com/pdfs/per_brief_impact.pdf
AIGM grant-making toolkit: http://www.ourcommunity.com.au/files/toolkitflyer.pdf
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