To be honest, being helpful to people was always a passion of mine but never a skill developed through study.
"Giving Money Away" or "Grant Making 101" was not covered in my science major in college. Left to my own devices, I had an unorganized approach to trying to help people that, undoubtedly, would have left a wake of destruction and broken relationships behind me. I credit my father and our long Wednesday conversations as the guiding force behind how I learned to do this thing called "Philanthropy". And somehow, miraculously, our guiding values and convictions end up indirectly being affirmed in the fancy Chronicle of Philanthropy. I chuckle and ask myself, "How did that happen? How did we stumble around being generous and then inadvertently do something that was encouraging and not terribly damaging to nonprofits here and abroad?" Honestly, I only have guesses. And it has a lot to do with listening and putting myself in someone else's shoes (and I'm incredibly grateful that other people in fancy, high profile magazines are writing about this!).
“My motivation in sharing our core values is to shine a light on the tremendous frustration among nonprofits having to make concessions, in so many ways, in their work because of pressures from donors.”
I'm watching countless great nonprofits attempt to clear enormous hurdles to appease donors with things like 80 page grant applications!! They are forced to jump through unreasonable hoops to acquire funds (looking at you US government grants!) Hoops and hurdles are NOT the things that should occupy large chunks of a nonprofit leader's time. They have bigger issues to conquer - they're trying to save the world, after all!
Below are the approaches that our grant recipients have told us "have been a blessing to them" and have made our relationships with these hard working folks so special.
1) Spend time with them.
Obviously something drew you to their work. Maybe volunteer in their organization (especially before they know you are a grant maker). Ask people in the community how the work of this organization is impacting them. THIS will tell you the most about the effectiveness of their work and can not be validated by more paperwork. 5 years of Profits and Loss Statements can be valuable (kind of...) but should not determine whether they are worthy of your support.
2) Invest in leadership.
We all know great nonprofit leaders. Find out what they need to keep doing what they've been doing. Here are some non-traditional ways we've invested in nonprofit leaders:
funds for an assistant for leader of non-profit
prayer
board training
staff retreats
matching grants (and training on how to raise funds)
sharing a retreat home with leaders in order to refresh, equip and encourage them to keep doing what they are doing! It's usually the burnout of a leader that destroys a great nonprofit.
3) Give to General Operating Support (Unrestricted Grants)
"Project funding" is the easy way to give. We get a false sense of control and have results at the end of our grant period. BUT do we really know what that leader had to do to keep those funds for that project? Maybe an employee didn't get paid or bills are now a month behind just to make sure that project was completed how the donor wanted it to be. If you truly trust the leader, let them decide how to use their funds. He/she knows the field far better than we do. Unrestricted funding for operations gives the leader that valuable freedom.
4) Invest LONG term and tell them you’re doing so
This in no way gives them a "free pass" to accountability. But what a blessing when they consider us to be a reliable source of income they can rely on for 5-10 years. (Can you hear them exhaling?) Don't misunderstand, we still hold them to a renewal of their financial documents and a meeting once a year (and maybe even site visits) but we let them know we are there to work THROUGH their challenges with them, not cut them off as struggles arise. After all, we want their success because we are deeply concerned about their area of influence in our community and our world, so we pray for their success and work with them in honest dialogue.
5) Minimize the application process
We request about 10 items in our application process that should already exist in some form within their organization. We discuss, meet and ask questions. We visit, participate and volunteer. This is how we get to know them. The paperwork part is straightforward and uncomplicated. We also ask for a nonprofit's opinion of our grant making process. Was it too challenging? Why? What information do YOU think we should know about your organization? By all means, share it with us!
6) Don't unknowingly manipulate the funding relationship
Sometimes the fear is not created by a donor, but is a fear of the nonprofit: that they will lose the funding if they don't accommodate the needs of the donor. For instance, I heard a story of an inner city ministry supported by a large church. The large church organized a team of volunteers for a day to help with their mission. One volunteer commented to me, "It felt like they didn't even want us there. They clearly have a system and it seemed like we were making them nervous just being there." What that volunteer perceived was probably true! The organization was probably afraid to say "No, please don't come but we appreciate your financial donations". Create a relationship where the nonprofit leader is safe to honestly express the best interests of the organization without concern of displeasing and losing a large donor.
I hope that something above will be used to encourage relational, long term and collaborative giving along with real, authentic support to organizations that are choosing the hard road of forging social progress. Philanthropic allies are vital to their journey and we are dedicated to being just that with our nonprofit partners. We are so grateful for you!