2011 AR enpnou ra tl
A Community
of Possibilities
Grantmakers for Effective Organizations is a community of nearly 3,000 individuals representing more than 400 grantmakers that are challenging the status quo in philanthropy to help nonprofits achieve more.
Mission Understanding that grantmakers are successful only to the extent that their grantees achieve meaningful results, GEO promotes strategies and practices that contribute to grantee success.
This work by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available by contacting info@geofunders.org. This publication is available in electronic format at www.geofunders.org.
Table of Contents
1
Welcome Message
2
Learning Collectively
4
Collaboration in Action
6
Scaling Impact
8
Engaging for Results
9
GEO Board, Staff and Committees
10
Financial Statements
Message from GEO’s Board Chair and President and CEO Facing a changing world where the old rules of philanthropy no longer apply, grantmakers focused on results sought to make changes to the way they do business to create a stronger, more resilient nonprofit sector. At the same time, they came to a growing realization that no grantmaker alone has the resources and reach required to address our society’s most pressing and intractable problems.
Kathleen P. Enright President and CEO Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
As the philanthropic field looks for innovative answers to address complex social challenges, GEO members found ways to change how they invest in nonprofits to support effectiveness and ultimately increase their impact. In 2011, they came together to explore approaches for collective learning, to foster collaboration and support networks, and to connect on a deeper level with stakeholders. What they learned along the way are important lessons about how to work smarter to scale impact. In 2011, GEO also made some adjustments to how we support this thriving community of innovators within the broader field of philanthropy, as we began to execute against a new strategic business plan. The plan relies on our ability to navigate connections and foster dialogue that leads to greater innovation and the adoption of more effective practices.
Handy L. Lindsey, Jr. GEO Board Chair; President and CEO The Cameron Foundation
As evidenced by the results of our recent national field study of grantmaker practice, this focus on supporting a community of possibilities by deepening member engagement and expanding peer learning opportunities certainly paid off. GEO members continue to outpace the field when it comes to adopting the practices that research has shown contribute more to nonprofit success; GEO members are more likely to practice smarter grantmaking and, in some cases, they are two times more likely to exhibit certain behaviors that have a positive impact on grantees. This annual report features some of the breakthrough thinking and dialogue that took shape in the GEO community in 2011. We highlight the important contributions of GEO members as they shared their learning and experiences with their peers through GEO convenings, content resources and peer-learning exchanges. Thank you for your contributions to this growing community of grantmakers, and we look forward to your leadership in 2012 and beyond.
12
Looking Ahead
13
GEO Members
1 | G r a n t m a k e r s f o r e f f e c t i v e o r g a n i z at i o n s
The Learning Conference Planning Committee:
Learning Collectively
Beth Bruner (chair) Bruner Foundation
Grantmakers in the GEO community recognize that we can address complex challenges by learning collectively and aggressively sharing knowledge. GEO is committed to promoting a culture of continuous learning so that grantmakers and their partners can better use evaluation to make improvements to their work, and also contribute to collective knowledge about effective solutions.
Fatima Angeles The California Wellness Foundation Gale Berkowitz The MasterCard Foundation Ted Chen W.K. Kellogg Foundation Nancy Csuti The Colorado Trust
The Learning Conference 2011
Peter Laugharn Firelight Foundation
GEO brought together more than 200 grantmakers in Baltimore to explore collaborative approaches to improve learning and evaluation so that grantmakers and nonprofits alike have a better understanding of what works. Held in partnership with the Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers, the conference offered unparalleled opportunities for participants to network and converse about how to use learning to strengthen programs, make strategic decisions and, ultimately, increase impact.
Vivien Luk The Forbes Funds
In response to a post-conference survey:
Amanuel Melles United Way Toronto
394 3 percent of respondents were satisfied or highly satisfied with “the quality of peer-to-peer learning.”
Adam Donaldson Association of Baltimore Area Grantmakers Robert Hughes The Patterson Foundation Tom Kelly The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Jill Wohlford Lumina Foundation for Education, Inc.
396 3 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed the sessions were “relevant to issues I currently face in my work.” 387 3 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed the conference “deepened my understanding of the importance of evaluation as a tool for learning and internal improvement.”
We debriefed our staff about our experience at this conference and we all said the same thing: GEO consistently puts on some of the best conferences out there. High quality, thoughtful, smart. Well done! A Learning Conference Participant 2 | G r a n t m a k e r s f o r e f f e c t i v e o r g a n i z at i o n s
2011 National Study of Philanthropic Practice Every three years GEO conducts a survey of the attitudes and practices of staffed grantmaking foundations in the U.S. to examine trends in the key funding practices that we know can help bolster nonprofit performance. In 2011, 755 foundation leaders responded and shed light on the real effects of the economic downturn on the field of philanthropy since 2008. In the pages that follow, you will find survey results collected in 2011 compared to what grantmakers said in 2008. Visit www.geofunders.org to download the full report. Innovation Space GEO launched a new Innovation Space program in 2011 to create opportunities for members to come together for provocative conversations that will advance dialogue in the field about promising approaches to supporting nonprofit effectiveness. These calls allow members to discuss new ideas, experiences and emerging topics, and help GEO advance our thinking about potential topics for content or program offerings. One call hosted by Tym Rourke, from the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation, explored strategies and approaches that GEO members are considering in response to local or state government funding cuts. GEO President and CEO Kathleen Enright also moderated member-driven conversations exploring emerging thinking around the moral dimension of philanthropy and shared grantmaking challenges, allowing members to see how the collective GEO community can help them find answers.
GEO’s 2011 field study found that the majority of grantmakers evaluate their work to assess the results of their funding strategies. Most often, these grantmakers are using evaluation for accountability purposes and learning inside the foundation, and they are less focused on fostering learning with grantees or sharing the results of what they are learning with the field.
Trends in the Field
Evaluation remains focused on proof and accountability Seventy percent of grantmakers surveyed report that they evaluate their funded work, compared to 50 percent in 2008 that reported formally evaluating their funded work. It’s important to note that the 2011 survey question was worded differently than in 2008.
In 2011, grantmakers were less likely to identify strengthening future grantmaking as a very important reason for conducting evaluations, a significant decrease from 73 percent in 2008 to 62 percent in 2011.
While 90 percent of respondents used evaluation data to report to their boards, data were less frequently shared with grantees and stakeholders (47 percent and 37 percent, respectively).
The proportion of grantmakers supporting evaluation capacitybuilding activities among grantees remained stable: 37 percent of foundations supported some form of capacity building in 2011, compared to 38 percent in 2008.
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Collaboration in Action Networks Conference Planning Committee Members: Kathy Reich (chair) The David and Lucile Packard Foundation Warren Cook Maine Network Partners Roberto Cremonini Cremonini Consulting Network Annie Hernandez The Lumpkin Family Foundation Audrey Jordan The Annie E. Casey Foundation/ Lawrence CommunityWorks Robin Katcher Management Assistance Group Adene Sacks Jim Joseph Foundation Diana Scearce Monitor Institute Chris van Bergeijk Hawai’i Community Foundation Gayle Williams Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation
Grantmakers in the GEO community recognize that we can achieve better results by working together rather than acting alone. GEO supports these pioneering grantmakers by providing a place for conversations to take shape so that shared interests can be explored. GEO also supports grantmakers through their collaborations with peers and partners.
Growing Social Impact in a Networked World: A Grantmaker’s Gathering on Networks In the fall, GEO partnered with Monitor Institute to host an interactive convening in San Francisco for more than 135 philanthropic leaders focused on how to increase their impact by supporting networks and embracing more open and collaborative approaches to grantmaking. Participants explored concrete examples and tools for tapping the power of networks and increasing peer-to-peer learning among grantmakers who are experimenting with networks. Overall the conference garnered some of GEO’s highest satisfaction rates from a post-conference survey. Respondents overwhelmingly agreed that the conference deepened their understanding of the network mindset and how it will benefit their organizations, and included cutting-edge content in the field. A high majority of respondents said that they will make changes in their work because of the conference.
Trends in the Field The Network Funders Conference was one of the best convenings I ever attended. The mix of content and interaction — plus the speakers and the discussion — was the highest quality I’ve experienced in a long time. I left the session with so many new ideas and connections and, more importantly, inspiration overload!
GEO’s survey results show that more grantmakers are collaborating for greater impact.
More grantmakers are embracing Nearly 70 percent of respondents developed a strategic relationship with other grantmaking entities within the last two fiscal years, compared to 52 percent who reported in 2008 that it was very important to their foundation to achieve effectiveness by collaborating with external groups/organizations.
B eth Kanter Author of The Networked Nonprofit 4 | G r a n t m a k e r s f o r e f f e c t i v e o r g a n i z at i o n s
Among those who reported they collaborate, 95 percent developed strategic relationships with 501(c)3 foundations, 60 percent with private/ corporate philanthropies and 60 percent with government entities.
Catalyzing Networks for Social Change: A Funder’s Guide GEO partnered with Monitor Institute to release this guide to help grantmakers embrace a network mindset that is rooted in shared understanding and oriented toward engagement, and explore how to build the capacity of networks to help make faster progress on complex social problems. The guide identifies five approaches that are helping grantmakers and social change makers to harness the power of networks, including: weaving social ties, accessing new and diverse perspectives, openly building and sharing knowledge, creating infrastructure for widespread engagement and coordinating resources and action. In just 10 weeks the guide became GEO’s second highest downloaded publication, with more than 3,000 downloads.
works Catalyzing Net e ng for Social Cha ’s a funder
guide
Community of Practice Learning that leads to substantial changes in practice and better collaboration among grantmakers requires longer-term engagement and the opportunity to build relationships with colleagues. For that reason GEO launched a yearlong community of practice for public sector and private grantmakers at The Learning Conference in June 2011. The funders involved are exploring multisite place-based grantmaking strategies to catalyze long-term, large-scale community change. Conversation topics have included challenges and opportunities associated with evidence-based evaluation approaches, shared measurement systems, data collection systems and assessing civic engagement and advocacy.
collaborative problem-solving The desire to achieve greater impact drove virtually all of these relationships (99 percent responding “sometimes, often or always”), followed by tapping into the expertise of other grantmakers (89 percent), assessing community needs (76 percent) and minimizing burdens on grantees (71 percent).
More importantly, more than half of all foundations responded that they “sometimes, often or always” leveraged their own relationships with other funders to raise money so that grantees could expand their impact (69 percent) and funded costs associated with collaboration or managing partnerships among grantees (62 percent).
The face-to-face time permitted me to learn from colleagues I would never otherwise have the opportunity to connect with. And, the learnings and connections from the retreat expands beyond the specific purpose of the COP. Seeing GEO in action is impressive. Thank you for all the good work that you do. A Community of Practice Participant
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Scaling Impact Grantmakers in the GEO community recognize that we can grow our impact by driving resources toward what we know works. GEO seeks to amplify areas of philanthropic practice and lessons learned from the Social Innovation Fund to better equip grantmakers to help the nonprofit organizations they support to plan, adapt and grow their impact.
Here at the Annie E. Casey Foundation we shared What Do We Mean by Scale? as required reading for all staff in preparation of a week-long retreat on scale. The report helped staff gain a clearer understanding not only of the definitions and multiple pathways for scale, but also the internal capacity and challenges we need to address as a funder interested in scaling positive outcomes for children and families. Tom Kelly The Annie E. Casey Foundation, 2010 Social Innovation Fund intermediary collaborating funder
Reframing the Conversation: A GEO briefing Paper Series on Growing Social Impact Motivated by the desire to explore and expand upon current approaches to growing social impact, invite wider participation in the scaling conversation, and showcase practical examples and peer-to-peer advice, GEO’s Scaling What Works initiative developed a new briefing paper series. The growing collection of briefing papers released throughout 2011 pulls together the best thinking, research and actionable approaches to scaling impact and provides additional resources for grantmakers that want to dive deeper into paper concepts and questions. The briefing papers are available at www.scalingwhatworks.org. Skill-Building Traveling Workshop Series GEO’s Scaling What Works initiative continued a partnership with Nonprofit Finance Fund and also teamed up with Innovation Network to deliver a series of 16 skill-building workshops around the country on the topics of “Assessing and Supporting Nonprofit Financial Health” and “Building Capacity for Evaluation and Learning.” The workshops were designed to provide tools to guide grantmakers in their financial assessments of grantees, and explore how grantmakers can better support nonprofits in their efforts to evaluate, learn, improve and expand their impact. Including two workshops held in 2010, the series reached more than 400 participants in 12 cities. In response to a post-event survey: 3For 3 the financial health workshops, 95 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed that they have a deeper understanding of practices that sometimes hinder nonprofit financial health; 94 percent left the workshop with concrete ideas for how to assess and support the financial health of their organization’s grantees. 3For 3 attendees of the evaluation capacity-building workshops, 88 percent agreed or strongly agreed that the workshop deepened their understanding of the importance of evaluation, including the purposes, uses and benefits; 85 percent agreed or strongly agreed to make at least one change to their work as a result of attending the workshop.
6 | G r a n t m a k e r s f o r e f f e c t i v e o r g a n i z at i o n s
Lessons Learned Funder Guides GEO’s Scaling What Works initiative started a collection of funder guides to share lessons learned from the experiences of grantmakers participating in the Social Innovation Fund with the broader grantmaking community. This series offers advice from organizations already involved in the Social Innovation Fund for peers that might want to participate in the program or support scaling impact in other ways. The first completed guide, From Grantmaker to Federal Grantee: Risks and Rewards, was released in 2011. Guides are available at www.scalingwhatworks.org. Supporting Grantmakers to Grow Their Impact GEO’s Scaling What Works initiative provided on-going programming and resources for grantmakers involved in the Social Innovation Fund to support collaborative learning and make knowledge accessible to the broader philanthropic field. GEO hosted a teleconference on running an open and transparent subgrantee competition so that grantmakers selected in the 2011 round of the Social Innovation Fund could hear from and ask questions of the previous cohort of Social Innovation Fund participants. GEO also developed a companion site to the main GEO website, to aggregate resources about grantmaking practices that contribute to growing social impact and information about organizations receiving Social Innovation Fund grants. For more resources from Scaling What Works, visit www.scalingwhatworks.org.
Thanks again to GEO for this wonderful support. We’ve shared the news with a small group of funders and are experiencing a great deal of gratitude and excitement for this project’s potential to continue to galvanize community efforts to focus philanthropic resources on what works.
ike Baker, United Way of Greater Cincinnati, M 2010 Social Innovation Fund intermediary
Trends in the Field
For the first time in GEO’s field survey, we asked grantmakers about their practices related to scale.
Different approaches to scale
Funders can play a vital role in supporting grantee achievement and social impact by helping nonprofits expand, replicate and adapt effective programs, or by investing in the expansion of new ideas and innovation. However, less than half of foundations in this study provided these types of support on a regular basis in the past two years. Forty-one percent support the replication of projects in new locales, and 44 percent funded the dissemination of a new idea or innovation through communications, marketing and distribution.
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Engaging for Results Grantmakers in the GEO community recognize that we can build stronger, more effective solutions by connecting on a deeper level with key stakeholders. GEO provides grantmakers with the resources and framing to help them better incorporate nonprofit and community experience and perspective into their work.
Widespread Empathy: 5 Steps to Achieving Greater Impact in Philanthropy GEO partnered with Jump Associates to explore widespread empathy in philanthropy. GEO and Jump argue that empathy — the ability to reach outside of ourselves and connect with other people — can lead to more effective philanthropy as foundations base their decisions on an authentic, firsthand understanding of the perspectives of grantees, community members and other stakeholders. The guide also shares the stories of grantmakers that are moving from compassion to connection as they bring more empathy into their day-to-day work.
WIDESPREAD EMPATHY
Trends in the Field
According to GEO’s 2011 field study, the degree to which foundations engage stakeholders in decision making and strategy setting has remained at relatively low but stable levels since 2008.
Stakeholder engagement practices held steady In 2011, approximately half of respondents invited grantees to address their board members (53 percent, compared to 56 percent in 2008) and sought outside input on foundation strategies (51 percent) or grant proposals (49 percent, compared to 48 percent in 2008).
Fourty-two percent of respondents sought advice from a grantee advisory committee about policies, practices or program areas, compared to 39 percent in 2008.
Only a small portion (16 percent) of the respondents delegated funding decisionmaking power to recipient communities or grantees, compared to 15 percent in 2008.
On the bright side, more grantmakers solicited some form of feedback in 2011 (44 percent reported seeking anonymous and/or nonanonymous input) than in 2008 (36 percent).
There also appears to be a connection between stakeholder engagement practices and grantmakers that make smarter decisions about what to do with their funds to better support grantees. Grantmakers that listened to and learned with their grantees and other stakeholders were more likely to offer multiyear, general operating and capacity-building support — the kinds of support that enable nonprofits to address the deep-rooted problems in their communities.
8 | G r a n t m a k e r s f o r e f f e c t i v e o r g a n i z at i o n s
GEO Board of Directors, Staff and Committee Members Board of Directors
staff
Handy L. Lindsey, Jr. (chair) The Cameron Foundation
Laurel Ahrnsbrak Senior Membership Specialist
Albert Ruesga (vice chair) Greater New Orleans Foundation
Leonor Alfonso Senior Program Specialist
Mary Mountcastle (treasurer/ secretary) Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation
Alison Anderson Manager of Operations
Mae Hong (governance committee chair) Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Gregg Behr (immediate past chair) The Grable Foundation
Lissan Anfune Program Assistant Lori Bartczak Director of Programs and Communications Meghan Duffy Manager of Special Initiatives
Beth Bruner Bruner Foundation (term ended March 2012)
Kathleen P. Enright President and Chief Executive Officer
Tom Kelly The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Andy Freeze Development Specialist
Valerie S. Lies Donors Forum
Eunice Gambrah Operations Assistant
Grant Oliphant The Pittsburgh Foundation (term ended March 2012)
Kamasha Hendrickson Senior Events Specialist
LaTida Smith Saint Luke’s Foundation of Cleveland, Ohio Suzanne Walsh Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Gayle Williams Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation (term ended March 2012) Kathleen P. Enright (ex officio) Grantmakers for Effective Organizations
Jessica Maloney Membership Assistant J McCray Chief Operating Officer Heather Peeler Vice President of Programs Evan Trowbridge Communications and Media Assistant Jason Twiss Manager of Member Engagement Jessica Wechter Project Specialist for Scaling What Works Emily Wexler Project Specialist for Scaling What Works
Membership Committee
Scaling What Works Advisory Group
LaTida Smith (chair) Saint Luke’s Foundation of Cleveland, Ohio
Charles T. Harris III (chair) The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
Jennifer Acree BEST Nonprofit Project
Eugene W. Cochrane, Jr. (immediate past chair) The Duke Endowment
Catherine Brozowski Orfalea Fund (term ended Nov. 2011)
Carol Thompson Cole Venture Philanthropy Partners
Paul Connolly TCC Group
Mimi Clarke Corcoran Open Society Foundations
Kathleen Edwards Cedarmere Foundation
Anna Cowenhoven The Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Inc.
Una Flannery Kelley Nonprofit Finance Fund (term ended Dec. 2011) Lynda Frost Hogg Foundation for Mental Health Greg Gerhard Southeastern Council of Foundations Quynh-Anh McMahan Rockwell Fund, Inc. Yvonne Moore The Daphne Foundation Annemarie Riemer Hartford Foundation for Public Giving (term ended Feb. 2011) Cindy Rizzo Arcus Foundation
Ed Foster-Simeon U.S. Soccer Foundation Tom Kelly The Annie E. Casey Foundation Handy L. Lindsey, Jr. The Cameron Foundation (term ended Nov. 2011) Mary Mountcastle Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation Nancy Roob The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation (term ended Nov. 2011) Shirley Sagawa sagawa/jospin Susan G. Zepeda Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky Inc.
Tracey Rutnik The Aspen Institute Anne Vally The James Irvine Foundation Suzanne Walsh Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation Dan Wilson Ontario Trillium Foundation
Danielle Yates Manager of Marketing and Communications
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Financial Supporters
Financial Statements
$500K and above Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
statements of financial position
The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
December 31, 2011 and 2010
George Kaiser Family Foundation
2011
2010
Cash and cash equivalents
$962,629
$800,065
$250K – $499,999
1
Investments
3,425,386
2,997,229
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
Contributions receivable
1,040,455
1,963,855
The Atlantic Philanthropies
Membership dues receivable
27,207
12,643
The Duke Endowment
Prepaid expenses
37,273
20,742
Ford Foundation
Deposits
48,986
19,726
3,164
5,414
86,194
151,207
$5,631,294
$5,970,881
$210,926
$171,670
Accrued leave
32,389
23,027
Deferred membership dues
26,105
39,175
349,790
–
37,417
58,480
–
5,250
656,627
297,602
1,125,516
1,015,351
735,900
750,000
1,861,416
1,765,351
3,113,251
3,907,928
4,974,667
5,673,279
$5,631,294
$5,970,881
Open Society Foundations W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation $150K – $249,999
Assets
Other assets Property and equipment, net
Charles Stewart Mott Foundation The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Total assets
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation $50K – $149,999 The Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Inc. Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund The F.B. Heron Foundation The Kresge Foundation Lumina Foundation for Education, Inc. S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation Surdna Foundation $20K – $49,999 Blue Ridge Foundation New York
Liabilities and Net Assets
Liabilities Accounts payable and accrued expenses
Deferred conference registration
2
Deferred rent Other liabilities Total liabilities Net Assets Unrestricted:
Blue Shield of California Foundation
Undesignated
Bruner Foundation
Board designated
The Joyce Foundation New Profit Inc. SeaChange Capital Partners
Total unrestricted Temporarily restricted
3
Up to $19,999 Campion Foundation
Total net assets
Saint Luke’s Foundation of Cleveland, Ohio
Total liabilities and net assets
1 Investments are in government-backed securities. 2 2012 National Conference registration revenue was deferred in 2011. 3 Includes temporarily restricted assets for multiyear program support.
1 0 | G r a n t m a k e r s f o r e f f e c t i v e o r g a n i z at i o n s
The Learning Conference Supporters:
statementS of activities Years ended December 31, 2011 and 2010
The Annie E. Casey Foundation
2011
2010
$932,144
$845,190
Grants and contributions4
925,400
5,035,175
Conference sponsorship
273,100
19,500
Conference registration
223,013
446,633
Consulting
60,358
50,166
Investment income
38,112
22,136
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
Action learning
29,105
33,603
The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Sublease rent
14,000
42,000
Publications
1,622
1,763
Other income
7,456
1,850
2,504,310
6,498,016
$505,324
$313,655
Conferences
454,274
369,674
Research
397,278
–
Action learning
394,543
98,093
Special initiatives
391,932
493,995
Member programs
308,659
714,724
2,452,010
1,990,141
656,547
378,386
94,365
57,200
750,912
435,586
3,202,922
2,425,727
Change in net assets
(698,612)
4,072,289
Net assets, beginning of year
5,673,279
1,600,990
$4,974,667
$5,673,279
Revenue and Support
Membership fees
Total revenue and support
Bruner Foundation Lumina Foundation for Education, Inc. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Networks Conference Supporters:
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation Jim Joseph Foundation Silicon Valley Community Foundation Whitman Institute
Expenses
Program services: Communications
Total program services Supporting services: Management and general Fundraising Total supporting services Total expenses
Net assets, end of year
4 Includes temporarily restricted grants and contributions for multiyear program support.
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Looking Ahead Not surprisingly, the GEO community represents grantmakers who are far more likely to engage in practices linked to stronger nonprofits and better results.
Trends in the Field Notably, while the median proportion of funds going to general operating support stayed steady at 20 percent in the field at large, it jumped from 20 to 25 percent among GEO members. GEO members were also two times more likely than nonmembers to: • i ncrease the percentage paid out of their endowment (34 percent vs. 19 percent) • increase dollars for grantee capacity building (47 percent vs. 25 percent) • i ncrease dollars for grantee evaluation activities (21 percent vs. 11 percent) • i ncrease use of strategies to improve grantee cash flow (22 percent vs. 11 percent) •d elegate funding decision-making power to representatives of recipient communities or grantees sometimes, often or always (27 percent vs. 13 percent) •g ive multiyear grants sometimes, often or always (50 percent vs. 23 percent) • i ncrease dollars for multiyear grants in recent years (20 percent vs. 11 percent)
In 2012, GEO will bring members together through conferences, workshops, speaking engagements, publications, Action Learning groups, and more. By doing so, we encourage innovation, generate discussion and support grantmakers through the challenges of creating meaningful changes in practice. By the time of print, GEO held its seventh National Conference in Seattle in March 2012 for more than 650 philanthropic leaders. The program featured dozens of interactive sessions designed by thought leaders in the field and focusing on four key areas for smarter grantmaking: supporting effectiveness, scaling impact, evaluation and learning, and collaborative problem-solving. Many participants reported that they enjoyed their experience and would like to continue the conversations around smarter grantmaking for stronger nonprofits and better results. GEO’s Innovation Space and R&D work will focus on what’s next for capacity building and collaborative problem-solving, with an eye toward building out our programming on these and other emerging topics in 2013. To encourage greater peer learning and support for behavior change, we will pilot a remote learning series, host two Action Learning groups, convene two Engage for Results workshops, develop more robust webinar offerings and organize a series of member calls as part of our Innovation Space. Through the Scaling What Works initiative, GEO will conduct research on the grantmaker’s role in supporting nonprofits to scale their impact and will use this research to help guide our work. We will also continue to provide learning opportunities for the philanthropic field in the form of lessons learned guides, skill-building workshops, webinars and a fall convening on co-funding. Also included in our plans is a biennial member satisfaction survey to learn about overall impact and the relative effectiveness of our programs and services, and to obtain anonymous feedback from members to help strengthen our performance and guide future program decisions. Following the success of The Learning Conference in 2011, we plan to release a publication in 2012 that dives deeper into the four essentials for evaluation, especially how to make learning and evaluation work for grantmakers and their stakeholders. Throughout all of these programs and convenings, we remain committed to promoting smarter grantmaking for stronger nonprofits and better results within our community of possibilities and beyond.
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A Community of Possibilities The GEO community is where members can interact with and learn from other innovators. It can also be a place to come to stay energized as grantmakers work to implement new practices. We strive to be increasingly intentional and systematic about how we nurture and grow the GEO network in ways that are even more supportive of the people and organizations within the community.
Snapshot of GEO Members BY ASSET SIZE*
5% 6%
13%
Government Grantmakers More than $2b
BY TYPE OF GRANTMAKER*
5%
Operating Foundations/CapacityBuilding Programs
5%
Government Grantmakers
5%
Corporate Foundations
8%
Donor Advised Funds, Philanthropic Advisors, Workplace Giving, other
$250m - $1.9b
12% 28%
INDIVIDUALS
NEW MEMBERS BY GEOGRAPHIC REGION
6%
International
12%
South
18%
Midwest
30%
Pacific/Mountain (includes HI)
33%
Mid-Atlantic and New England
Community Foundations
$50m - $249m
65% 48%
MEMBER ORGANIZATIONS
Private, Family or Healthcare Conversion Foundations
Under $49m
* These numbers do not reflect the 31 GEO members that are not grantmaking institutions, which includes academic institutions and philanthropy infrastructure groups. 2 0 1 1 a n n u a l r e p o r t: A c o m m u n i t y o f p o s s i b i l i t i e s | 1 3
GEO Members AIDS United
Building Changes
Akonadi Foundation
The C. E. and S. Foundation, Inc.
Alberta Ecotrust Foundation
California Dental Association Foundation
Alberta Real Estate Foundation
The California HealthCare Foundation
Allegany Franciscan Ministries, Inc.
The California Wellness Foundation
The Aloha Foundation
The Cameron Foundation
American Jewish World Service
Campion Foundation
Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County
American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals
The Case Foundation
Community Foundation of South Jersey
CCI
Community Foundation Sonoma County
Cedarmere Foundation
Community Memorial Foundation
Center for Effective Philanthropy
Compton Foundation
The Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society, Duke University
Cone Health Foundation
Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy, University of Southern California
Corporation for National and Community Service
Charles and Lynn Schusterman Family Foundation
Council of Michigan Foundations
The Andrea and Charles Bronfman Philanthropies The Annenberg Foundation The Annie E. Casey Foundation Arcus Foundation Arts Midwest ASB Community Trust The Aspen Institute The Assisi Foundation of Memphis, Inc. Associated Grant Makers AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation The Atlanta Women’s Foundation Ausherman Family Foundation The AVI CHAI Foundation The Bank of America Charitable Foundation, Inc.
Charles E. Benidt Foundation Charles Stewart Mott Foundation Cherokee Preservation Foundation Chesapeake Bay Trust The Chicago Bar Foundation The Chicago Community Trust The Christensen Fund City of Vancouver
Community Foundation for Greater New Haven Community Foundation for Monterey County The Community Foundation of Herkimer & Oneida Counties
Consumer Health Foundation
Council on Foundations Craigslist Foundation Cream City Foundation The Cricket Island Foundation Cuyahoga Arts and Culture D5 Coalition Daisy Marquis Jones Foundation The Daphne Foundation The David and Lucile Packard Foundation
Bank of America Philanthropic Solutions
Claneil Foundation, Inc.
Barr Foundation
Clarence E. Heller Charitable Foundation
DC Children & Youth Investment Trust Corporation
Basin Electric Power Cooperative
The Clark Foundation
Deaconess Community Foundation
Bayview Hunters Point Community Fund
The Cleveland Foundation
Deaconess Foundation
Bertelsmann Stiftung
The Clowes Fund, Inc.
Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation
BEST Project
CME Group Foundation
Delaware Valley Grantmakers
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
The Coleman Foundation, Inc.
Donors Forum
BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina Foundation
Color of Democracy Fund
Donors Forum of Wisconsin
The Colorado Health Foundation
Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
The Colorado Trust
The Duke Endowment
Common Good Ventures
The Durfee Foundation
Commonweal Foundation, Inc.
The Dyson Foundation
The Community Foundation for Greater Atlanta
The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation
Blue Ridge Foundation New York Blue Shield of California Foundation The Boston Foundation The Brico Fund, LLC Bruner Foundation
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EducationMatters
The ELMA Philanthropies
Greenlee Family Foundation
The Leighty Foundation
Empire Health Foundation
GreenLight Fund
Lloyd A. Fry Foundation
Endowment for Health
Harold K.L. Castle Foundation
The Lodestar Foundation
The Ettinger Foundation
Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
Lone Pine Foundation
The Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation
The Harvest Foundation
Lotte & John Hecht Memorial Foundation
Hawai’i Community Foundation
Lucile Packard Foundation for Children’s Health
Eurasia Foundation Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund
The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts
The F.B. Heron Foundation
The Henry P. Kendall Foundation
The Lumpkin Family Foundation
Fairfield County Community Foundation
Herbalife Family Foundation
Maine Community Foundation
The Fetzer Institute
Hogg Foundation for Mental Health
Maine Health Access Foundation
The Fieldstone Foundation
Houston Arts Alliance
Management Assistance Group
Firelight Foundation
Howard County Department of Citizen Services
Marcled Foundation
First 5 Butte County First 5 LA First 5 Solano County First 5 Sonoma County FISA Foundation Fleishhacker Foundation The Forbes Funds Ford Foundation Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers Foundation Center Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky Inc. Foundations of East Chicago French American Charitable Trust
Huey & Angelina Wilson Foundation The Hyams Foundation, Inc. Incourage Community Foundation Initiative Foundation International Development Research Centre Iowa West Foundation Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation Irene S. Scully Family Foundation The J.W. McConnell Family Foundation The Jacob & Valeria Langeloth Foundation The James Irvine Foundation Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation
Lumina Foundation for Education, Inc.
Marguerite Casey Foundation Marin Community Foundation The Marion I. & Henry J. Knott Foundation Mary Black Foundation Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation Massachusetts Cultural Council The MasterCard Foundation Mathile Family Foundation McAuley Ministries McCormick Foundation The McKay Foundation McKesson Foundation, Inc. Mead Family Foundation Medina Foundation
Gap Foundation
Jewish Community Federation of San Francisco, the Peninsula, Marin and Sonoma Counties
Gateway Center for Giving
Jewish Funders Network
George Cedric Metcalf Charitable Foundation
MetroWest Health Foundation
Jim Joseph Foundation
Meyer Memorial Trust
George Kaiser Family Foundation
John Muir/Mt. Diablo Community Health Fund
Mile High United Way, Inc.
GHR Foundation
The John R. Oishei Foundation
The Gifford Foundation
Milton A. & Charlotte R. Kramer Charitable Foundation
John Rex Endowment
The Global Fund for Children
Minnesota Council on Foundations
John S. and James L. Knight Foundation
GMA Foundations
Monitor Institute
John T. Vucurevich Foundation
Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation
JVA Consulting, LLC
The Morris & Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation
The Grable Foundation
Kalamazoo Community Foundation
Ms. Foundation for Women
Grand Rapids Community Foundation
Kansas Health Foundation
Napa Valley Community Foundation
Grand Victoria Foundation
The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust
National Arts Strategies
Grantmakers for Education
KDK-Harman Foundation
Grantmakers in Health
Keith and Judy Swayne Family Foundation
National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy
Grantmakers of Oregon and Southwest Washington
Kenneth A. Picerne Foundation
The Frist Foundation
The Grantmaking School The Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation Greater New Orleans Foundation Greater Worcester Community Foundation
KPMG Foundation
The Melville Charitable Trust
NCB Capital Impact The Needmor Fund NeighborWorks America
The Kresge Foundation
Nellie Mae Education Foundation
Laidlaw Foundation Lancaster County Community Foundation Legacy Foundation
The Mel and Grace McLean Foundation
New Hampshire Charitable Foundation New Profit Inc. New Venture Fund
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New York Life Foundation
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
Surdna Foundation
New York State Health Foundation
Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation, Inc.
Taproot Foundation
Nokomis Foundation
Richmond Memorial Health Foundation
TCC Group
Nonprofit Finance Fund
Rita Allen Foundation
Telstra Foundation
Nonprofit Management Fund
The Robert G. Cabell III and Maude Morgan Cabell Foundation
Third Sector New England
Northern California Grantmakers Northwest Area Foundation Northwest Health Foundation The Oak Foundation OMG Center for Collaborative Learning Omidyar Network OneStar Foundation Ontario Trillium Foundation Open Society Foundations Orfalea Fund Otto Bremer Foundation Panasonic Foundation Panta Rhea Foundation Partnership for Excellence in Jewish Education Partnership for Nonprofit Excellence The Patricia D. & William B. Smullin Foundation The Patterson Foundation The Paul J. Aicher Foundation Pennsylvania Humanities Council The Pew Charitable Trusts The Philanthropic Initiative Philanthropy New York Philanthropy New Zealand Philanthropy Northwest Pierce Family Foundation The Pittsburgh Foundation The Pride Foundation Program to Aid Citizen Enterprise The Prudential Foundation PSEG Foundation Public Interest Projects Quantum Foundation Quixote Foundation, Inc. The Rapides Foundation Rappahannock United Way The Raymond John Wean Foundation REACH Healthcare Foundation REDF The Regence Foundation The Retirement Research Foundation RGK Foundation
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Robin Hood Robins Foundation The Rockefeller Foundation Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors Rockwell Fund, Inc. Root Cause Ruth Mott Foundation S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation Saint Luke’s Foundation of Cleveland, Ohio The Salem Health & Wellness Foundation, Inc. Salesforce.com Foundation The San Diego Foundation San Diego Grantmakers San Luis Obispo County Community Foundation Santa Barbara Foundation Saxon Family Fund Sea Change Foundation SeaChange Capital Partners The Seattle Foundation Sherwood Trust Siebert Lutheran Foundation, Inc. Sisters of Charity Foundation of Canton Sisters of Charity Foundation of Cleveland The Skillman Foundation Skoll Foundation Skoll Global Threats Fund Sobrato Family Foundation Social Venture Partners International Social Venture Partners Seattle Southeastern Council of Foundations Southern California Grantmakers The Sprout Fund St. Louis County Children’s Service Fund Stella and Charles Guttman Foundation Stuart Foundation Stupski Foundation Sunflower Foundation Support Center for Nonprofit Management
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Third Wave Foundation Tides Foundation Toledo Community Foundation The Tony R. Wells Foundation, Inc. The Tow Foundation U.S. Soccer Foundation United Way Centraide Canada United Way of Greater Rochester United Way of Winnipeg United Way Toronto Vancity Community Foundation Vancouver Foundation Venture Philanthropy Partners Virginia Foundation for Healthy Youth Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust The W. Clement & Jessie V. Stone Foundation W.K. Kellogg Foundation The Wallace Alexander Gerbode Foundation Walter & Elise Haas Fund Washington Women’s Foundation Weingart Foundation Wells Fargo Regional Foundation Wellspring Advisors, LLC Whatcom Community Foundation The Whitman Institute Wilburforce Foundation The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund William Penn Foundation Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation The Women’s Foundation of California Y & H Soda Foundation Youth, I.N.C. Z. Smith Reynolds Foundation ZeroDivide
Vision GEO envisions a future in which: • Grantmakers embrace strategies and practices that are supportive of nonprofit performance and abandon those that detract from nonprofit success. • In common trust, grantmakers and grantees communicate promptly and candidly to define and assess success, share learning and accelerate progress. • Grantmakers and grantees exchange financial resources and knowledge efficiently and effectively. • Nonprofits have the leadership, systems and working capital they need to be potent agents of social change and public benefit. • United by a common purpose, grantmakers and nonprofits are mutually supportive and accountable partners in creating social change and public benefit.
Assumptions and Core Beliefs • The status quo in philanthropy is unacceptable; change is imperative. • Change is driven by both individual and collective action: – All individuals in philanthropy can play powerful roles in bringing about significant changes in grantmaker practice, and – Collective action can speed the pace of innovation into mainstream practice. • Successful change efforts require more than just knowledge and awareness — they require a high degree of motivation and support, backed by the right incentives. • Effective philanthropy requires engaging a broad range of historically disenfranchised people meaningfully in both developing and executing strategy. • Incorporating feedback from grantees and other stakeholders is crucial to grantmakers’ effectiveness. • Given the range of organizations in the field, no one approach will work.
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