Why Crowdsourcing the Grantmaking Process Is a Better Way to GIve
Guest Commentary: A Improve Manner to Give
How the Philadelphia Foundation'south crowdsourcing the honour of a $200,000 grant fabricated i charity empathise itself better
Sep. 04, 2019
Philanthropy is one of America's long-standing and beloved traditions. In an idyllic sense, it goes mitt in mitt with the democratic ideals of this land, championing the welfare of all citizens and distributing private resource for the greater societal proficient. Of course, like so many traditions—I'grand looking at y'all, Thanksgiving Dinner—philanthropy in practice often times falls short of philanthropy idealized.
One shortcoming of the more institutional dimensions of philanthropy, the grantmaking activities of private foundations, stems from the assumption that professionalized staff and lath members are best equipped to appraise how and where to distribute funds to have impact in the community. Information technology is rare for foundations—family, corporate, or community-based—to provide a seat at the tabular array for the beneficiaries of any grantmaking process, namely the people who are direct afflicted by the issue or problem being addressed.
While the work of foundation decision-makers is both noble and well-intentioned, information technology tin be informed by a perspective wholly different from the one shared by the customs members that the program or initiative will engage. A litany of professional degrees and decades of nonprofit experience are valuable tools in the funding toolbox, only of equal value is the input of those from the afflicted communities. When those almost securely continued to an issue are afforded an agile role in addressing that issue, but then tin real change be achieved and sustained.
This past yr, the Philadelphia Foundation unveiled its Key to Community Grants initiative, a $1 one thousand thousand first-of-its-kind grantmaking effort designed with that principle of customs participation in heed. The initiative, launched in January 2019, opted for an open awarding process that generated hundreds of messages of intent from nonprofit organizations throughout Greater Philadelphia. The Philadelphia Foundation program team practical a set of merit-based criteria to determine which of the applicants would proceed to the next phase of submitting a total proposal. Subsequently another layer of review, a pocket-size cohort of applicants were invited to nowadays the essence of their respective proposals before a review panel comprised of Philadelphia Foundation staff, representatives from the grants' co-presenters, and independent experts in the fields of philanthropy and community solutions. That review panel selected xv finalists, five from each of 3 categories: Economical Prosperity, The Opportunity Separate and Community & Civic Date. This rigorous process leveraged the collective expertise assembled past the Foundation to ensure a potent set of finalists with impactful solutions and the proven ability to execute.
The last phase, yet, shifted the power to the hands of the public.
'[B]ecause we wanted to spread the word about top-tier nonprofit programs and have everyone experience the responsibility and satisfaction of philanthropy," said Pedro Ramos, president and CEO of the Philadelphia Foundation, "We asked the public to vote among [the] 15 finalists."
Permit that notion—a novel one in philanthropic giving—sink in for a moment. The Philadelphia Foundation, which adult the Primal to Community Grants initiative equally a means of celebrating its centennial, placed the power to distribute $i million in funding direct in the hands of the general public. The century-former customs foundation did more requite the community a seat: it actively stepped away from the table.
"Equally the region's oldest and largest community foundation, finding means to expand philanthropy and generate support from the public for great organizations and programs is who nosotros are," Ramos explains. "Connecting with people to change what needs to be stock-still now, to support what needs to endure and to improve conditions for the side by side generation is what we do. In short, our piece of work and our partners are Key to Community."
Naturally, this bold and innovative foray into the democratization of grantmaking engendered both applause and critique. The critics expressed displeasure that these organizations engaged in of import borough work were forced to compete confronting one another for online votes. Further, the competition may have advantaged organizations with larger networks that could be more readily activated. Others felt that the three-week voting period was also drawn out, forcing nonprofits to focus on bombarding their networks for 18 days at the expense of prioritizing other, more pressing organizational piece of work.
But for us at Philadelphia Youth Basketball game (PYB), the last voting phase was an epiphanic feel. In the quest to get out the vote and win a substantial grant in the Customs & Civic Appointment category, nosotros realized how much the democratized concluding stage played to our strengths. Operating as a decentralized community organization with simply over iv years of operating experience under our belts, the voting procedure forced our organizational values of distributive leadership, community participation, and the sharing of ability into activeness. This voting phase was an exercise in grassroots mobilization, base of operations-building, and community empowerment—tactics that fall squarely into our wheelhouse.
Every touchpoint of PYB was activated throughout those 18 days. Our program communities—members of the Middle Schoolhouse Partnership Program, Collegiate Summer Camp Series, and HoopHers—joined in the effort, from family unit and friends of our student-athletes to faculty and staff at our partner schools. Friends and advocates in the Harold O. Davis Memorial Baptist Church building circulated voting information throughout their congregation. Fellow member organizations of the Philadelphia Youth Sports Collaborative (PYSC) distributed voting prompts to their networks via electronic mail and social media throughout the campaign. Our summertime interns spread the give-and-take to their collegiate communities, educatee groups, and across.
In the days and weeks since we were awarded first place in our category, the PYB customs has been buzzing most the energy of the campaign. We have received our fair share of congratulatory notes and comments for which we are grateful. In the same thankful jiff, however, we remind anybody that we did not attain success with support from the customs. Rather, nosotros achieved success with and through the community—through the advocacy of our volunteers, supporters, and most importantly, of the people and the communities whom our programming is designed to uplift. There is no 'we' and 'them' regarding Philadelphia Youth Basketball game and our community. There is a collective 'us,' inclusive of the communities which nosotros serve and without regard to the lines that typically divide people – lines of race and ethnicity, economic circumstance, faith, and neighborhood.
It was inspiring to come across the collective level of advocacy and mobilization achieved during the final stage, particularly when asking for a vote rather than money. Taking thirty seconds each day to vote and ask friends, family, colleagues, and strangers to exercise the same created a bridge for relationship-building: it emboldened existing ones, awakened dormant ones, and sparked new ones. Surely, the $200,000 grant to back up the doubling of our program reach and the cosmos of a leadership immersion for loftier-potential staff members and partners from the same communities as our young people is of tremendous value. But, the other tangible organization-edifice benefits are besides substantial. Nosotros expect to see the benefits of the Key to Customs Grants initiative continue to reveal themselves for years to come up.
We commend the Philadelphia Foundation and are thankful for their innovative grantmaking. The fresh approach to seek a more democratized grantmaking process resonated throughout our organization. It gave our customs an opportunity to appoint in the amazing responsibility of philanthropic fundraising and share in the success of those efforts, a powerful shared experience fabricated possible by the nature of the public voting process. If this approach is the next evolution of community grantmaking, giving a greater vox to the communities we serve, then Philadelphia Youth Basketball is excited for what tomorrow brings. Each and every one of us.
Kenny Holdsman is CEO, president and co-founder of Philadelphia Youth Basketball; Pat McGuire is PYB's marketing & special events manager.
Source: https://thephiladelphiacitizen.org/crowdsourcing-grantmaking-process/
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