Everywhere we discuss innovations in giving, people ask for stories and advice on where to turn. In response, we decided to engage one of the best storytellers in the nonprofit world—Andy Goodman, who runs a public interest communications firm. Working with Andy, we selected several stories of people and institutions attempting to adapt to philanthropy’s new ecology, both to share the specific examples and to demonstrate an effective way to help people learn about innovation.
Philanthropy, as a field, has long operated as an oral culture—that’s how the craft has been learned. Although the industry has now become too large and varied for such informal mechanisms to work, there is still a need for more than case studies and how-to guides.
These stories focus on the need for new brokers to organize how philanthropic dollars can be used most effectively. Here you will learn:
- How one of the nation’s largest national foundations found new ways to connect with local partners (The Art of Seeing the Small Picture). The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s Local Initiative Funding Partners program has supported some 250 community-based health and healthcare projects, with the help of more than 1,200 grantmakers.
- How an unusual collaborative of foundations and nonprofits accomplished something together that none could have done alone (Lessons Along the Path of Most Resistance). The Keep Antibiotics Working Coalition has made great strides in protecting public health.
- How a philanthropic association took on a leadership position unusual for membership associations, and helped draw new resources to a growing area of need (HIP to the Gap). Hispanics in Philanthropy’s Funders’ Collaborative for Strong Latino Communities successfully raised money from national foundations as well as local matches to assist community organizations overlooked by existing philanthropy.
- How a group of regional funders have, in the past generation, built strong, creative partnerships that amplify their individual efforts (Playing Matchmaker For Grantmakers). The Council on Michigan Foundations has, for example, convinced the governor to create a formal staff position to coordinate efforts between state government and the philanthropic community.
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