Philanthropy New York Currents July 2012

Dear Members,

Earlier this year, I wrote about the social media platforms that are increasing our connections to each other and enabling us to share information quickly and more comprehensively than ever before. To see the impact of social media on our organization, look no further than our Learning Services department.

Many of the programs we have developed over the past year have had some sort of multimedia component—live webstreams enabling you to watch the program from your office (or across the country), up-to-the minute posts on Twitter from participants, and recaps from presenters and attendees on Smart Assets.

More and more, the conversations and knowledge-sharing aren't limited to just the people in the room.

Not every program, though, is meant to be a completely open forum for any audience. Our members often appreciate the opportunity to share confidential information with each other, work out sensitive issues in a private space, or have conversations where questions and concerns can be shared "off the record."

In acknowledgement of this, we have devised a series of standards for our programs, where participants and presenters can know just how open to social media and other forms of communication the conversation will be, and what measure of privacy they can expect.

These new Program Openness Scales are now available on our website, and will be available at the sign-in desk for our programs going forward. While there are three general categories, these scales can also be modified on a case-by-case basis to fit the particular needs of any session.

Openness, transparency and access are important values to our sector and to our society—but these always need to be balanced with the security that comes from privacy and confidentiality. We look forward to your input as we navigate this balance to bring you the best programming and learning opportunities possible.

Best regards,

Ronna Brown
President, Philanthropy New York

Philanthropists Talk About Joining Together

More and more grantmakers are recognizing the importance of working together, building collaborations, addressing public policies that hinder social change efforts and utilizing funder networks to increase effectiveness.

We recently captured some of our members' thinking on these topics and put them together in a 3.5 minute video. Check out what your colleagues have to say!

Social Impact Exchange Seeks High-Impact Nonprofits for Online Investment Platform

The Contribution Center, an initiative of the Social Impact Exchange, is a unique online platform that allows donors to support the highest-performing nonprofits—those that have evidence of their success and are growing to spread their impact—in the issues that they are passionate about.

The Exchange is looking to significantly boost the number of scale-ready nonprofits on its radar that meet the following criteria:

• are working in the United States on education, health care, poverty alleviation or youth development;
• have annual operating budgets of at least $1 million and have been in operation for at least 3 years;
• have third-party evaluation data documenting the results of their work;
• have begun to think about scaling their impact in a systematic way and have a strategic growth plan or business plan; and
• are replicating program models or disseminating a direct service.

Funders are encouraged to submit nonprofit candidates for the Contribution Center review process; you can send candidate information (including a contact name for the CEO or ED, phone number or email address) to Tamara Schweitzer Raben at tschweitzer@growthphilanthropy.org.

Learn more about the Social Impact Exchange's Contribution Center.

30 Years of Giving While Living: The Atlantic Philanthropies' Final Chapter

In a new letter on The Atlantic Philanthropies' website, President and CEO Christopher G. Oechsli talks about the foundation's 30th anniversary and the approaching end of its grantmaking in 2016.

"Our work is rooted in the amalgam of the interests and initiatives of our founder, Charles F. Feeney; our Board's efforts to frame these strategically; the contributions of successive management and programme leaders; and, very importantly, what we have learned from our grantees and their impact," Oechsli writes.

As he continues, Oechsli describes the work of the foundation's grantees, who have over the past 30 years received over $6 billion in grants around the world, and discusses the foundation's key priorities going forward, some of the details for how Atlantic will complete its grantmaking and their plans for sharing the lessons learned from the spend-down process.

"For all its diverse sources and evolutionary character, Atlantic's work has reflected a consistency of values and subject matter," says Oechsli. "We have been, and remain today, focused on a desire to build opportunity for those who have had limited access to it, or whose contributions have been undervalued—to make lasting changes in the lives of disadvantaged and vulnerable people....at the heart of our work are the values of opportunity, equity and dignity."

Read more of Christopher Oechsli's letter.

The William T. Grant Foundation Distinguished Fellows Awards

The William T. Grant Distinguished Fellows Program was created to increase the connections between research, policy and practice. The Fellowship is open to mid-career professionals who are influential in their fields. Fellows spend at least six months (and up to two years) at their Fellowship sites; researchers are immersed in policy or practice settings, and policymakers and practitioners in research settings.

Through these experiences, Fellows gain first-hand knowledge about the needs and challenges of those working in the Fellowship environments and, ideally, use the knowledge to help bridge the gaps that exist between the research, policy and practice communities.

The ultimate goal of the Fellows program is to facilitate the production and use of relevant, high-quality research to improve the lives of youth.

The 2012-2013 Distinguished Fellows Application Guide (which includes instructions for submission, eligibility guidelines and profiles of a current and a former Fellow) is now available.

Letters of inquiry are accepted three times per year, in January, April, and August. The next deadline is August 1, 2012.

Learn more about the William T. Grant Distinguished Fellows Program.

Meet the 2012 American Express NGen Leadership Award Finalists

The American Express NGen Leadership Award honors an accomplished nonprofit leader age 40 or under who has already demonstrated significant impact in addressing society's critical needs.

In addition, the recipient of the award must also display a proven ability to collaborate in innovative, inclusive ways; show how they identify needs, generates solutions and assesses progress toward goals; and model leadership presence. 

This award extends Independent Sector's commitment to and support of emerging leaders. The Award will be presented at the John W. Gardner Leadership Dinner on November 12 at Independent Sector's Annual Conference. The winner will receive a $3,000 leadership scholarship to further develop their leadership skills and strategies, as well as other benefits.

Learn more about the NGen Leadership Award finalists.

Congratulations

• Rahsaan K. Harris has been selected as the Executive Director of Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP). Harris is a doctoral candidate in Public and Urban Policy at the New School University in New York City. His dissertation examines the philanthropic influences and interests of African-Americans. Harris holds a Master's degree in Management from NYU and a Master's in Education from Columbia University. He attended Princeton University, and served as a Peace Corps Volunteer in Uruguay. A member of EPIP since 2009, Harris serves as Board Chair of the Foundation for Research on Sexually Transmitted Diseases, is a member of the Council on Foundations Professional Development Committee, and has been a Connecting Leaders Fellow with the Association of Black Foundation Executives (ABFE) and an American Express NGen Fellow at Independent Sector. Harris also led diversity and racial equity initiatives as a Program Executive at The Atlantic Philanthropies; during his seven years at Atlantic, he managed the foundation's response to the Haitian earthquake; oversaw grants to community groups in Bermuda; and supported the CEO on spend-down planning, discretionary grantmaking and high-engagement grantmaking practices.
• The Liz Claiborne Foundation, which was established in 1981, has officially changed its name to the Fifth & Pacific Foundation. The Foundation believes every woman should have access to the training and tools necessary to achieve economic independence and pursues this mission by supporting multi-dimensional programs that offer essential job readiness training that assist women, in particular those affected by domestic violence, transition from poverty into successful independent living.

(View a full text, PDF version of Philanthropy New York Currents, July 2012.)