Note to Readers

This special supplement covers additional news from the May 2006 annual conference of the Council on Foundations beyond the items already referenced in the main APL Report #139 that was issued last month. We decided to issue a rare special supplement for purely editorial reasons: this particular conference included many interesting sessions, more than we could cover in the main APL. All of the ideas shared in this supplement derived from select concurrent sessions at the three-day conference. Audio recordings of these sessions are now available for purchase through the Council on Foundations by using a special order form

1. FOUNDATIONS CALLED ON TO NURTURE NONPROFIT LEADERS, OFFERING SABBATICALS, AND NEW THINKERS, ACTING AS CATALYSTS FOR CHANGE

At a session, "Philanthropy for an Uncertain World: Responding in Times of Disaster," at the May 2006 annual meeting of the Council on Foundations, James Joseph, who is currently serving as chairman of the board of the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation, stressed that foundations need to improve the nonprofit sector's leadership. Leadership failed at all levels, including among nonprofits, Joseph concluded. And Joseph said there's a real problem of leadership burnout after a disaster, when leaders are so committed they overwork themselves and don't take time to relax. Foundations should support extended work breaks, such as sabbaticals, to help nonprofit leaders avoid burnout and to enable them to "stop and sharpen the soul," Joseph suggested.

At a session about conservative vs. liberal public policy, "Leading Philanthropic Change: A Debate," presenters said that foundations should be more open to funding bold thinkers and radical ideas and not just rely on their own staff and their usual grantees for fresh thinking. Deepak Bhargava of the Center for Community Change suggested that a John Maynard Keynes, the late British economist whose ideas helped to shape modern economic theory, would be dismissed as too radical and rejected for funding by most large foundations today. Today's foundations are reluctant to have real and open discussion about ideas across – and even on just one side of – the political spectrum. Foundations should invest in more marginal and younger voices. And Gara LaMarche of the Open Society Institute said progressives should be more proactive and bolder, thinking about long-term efforts to bring about the world they want to live in instead of being reactive and fighting battles started by conservatives. LaMarche said that foundations should remind themselves that they can't create change themselves, but can act as catalysts and help people who are already making change.

2. FOUNDATIONS CALLED ON TO ASSIST IN POST-DISASTER REBUILDING, AND TO HELP NEWS MEDIA FOCUS ON THIS CIVIL SOCIETY STAGE

Foundations are most helpful and can have the greatest impact at the third stage following a disaster: after immediate relief efforts and initial recovery, when the focus turns to rebuilding the disaster-stricken area. That's according to James Joseph of the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation at the session on disaster relief (see item #1 above). Further, foundations should help the news media do a better job of focusing on the needs at this longer-lasting, civil-society focused stage, after the initial rash of media coverage of relief and recovery activities, panelists at the session agreed. For example, the Ford Foundation's Susan Berresford said that, nine months after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, too much news coverage is focusing on how well the GulfCoastarea has recovered, based solely on the fact that the tourism and other business sectors are getting back to normal.

One way to inform the work of journalists and others, Berresford suggested, is to help disseminate documents such as the one recently published by the New York Regional Association of Grantmakers. Donor's Guide to Gulf Coast Relief & Recovery provides contact information for selected nonprofits working with populations affected by the hurricanes, grouped in grantmaking focus areas such as advocacy, animal rights, the arts, and historic preservation. It also offers specific examples of foundation funding of these nonprofits, as well as guidance to help more foundations justify supporting GulfCoastrelief efforts. This guidance describes ways to provide support even if a foundation's geographic-specific focus does not include the GulfCoastarea and identifies data to help persuade reluctant foundation board members that support to the region would be beneficial.

3. FOUNDATIONS CALLED ON TO WORK WITH GOVERNMENT AND BUSINESS SECTORS TO DEVELOP POLICIES FOR RESPONDING TO FUTURE DISASTERS

At the disaster-relief session (see items #1 and #2 above), the Ford Foundation's Susan Berresford stressed the importance of foundations and the nonprofit sector working with the government and business sectors in disaster-relief work – "we all function better together." In particular, foundations should help governments and businesses develop disaster-related policies, such as temporarily simplifying legal and administrative practices. Those sectors are not thinking about disaster-relief work between disasters, Berresford said. But also, more foundations should develop their own internal policies for responding to disasters. By a show of hands at the packed session, which seemed to consist largely of representatives from foundations that have given money to respond to recent disasters, very few had any official policies in place addressing future responses.

4. FOUNDATIONS SHOULD ENGAGE IN, PROMOTE ADVOCACY TO HELP NONPROFITS CONFRONT FEDERAL BUDGET CUTS

Do foundations have an ethical responsibility to engage in advocacy, especially at a time when decreasing federal funds are forcing some nonprofits to confront difficult challenges, even organizational survival? Karl Stauber of the Northwest Area Foundation posed this question as the moderator of the session, "The Federal Budget and You: A Conversation on Foundation-Government Relations." Based on research from the Aspen Institute, the session explored foundations' role in addressing the impact on the nonprofit sector, in terms of increased demand and reduced revenue, of proposed federal budget cuts. Since private philanthropy isn't likely to make up for these cuts monetarily, participants at the session seemed to agree that funding for research and advocacy was key to helping the sector. Alan Abramson of the Aspen Institute (and editor of this newsletter) said that more research is needed that provides concrete examples of the community impacts of federal budget cuts, since that can help persuade policymakers to rethink their budgetary practices. Meanwhile, Dave Beckwith of the Needmor Fund said that foundations should encourage their grantees to use all of their allowable amounts of funding for advocacy. If foundations simply ask about advocacy, grantees would feel they have permission to engage in the practice, Beckwith said.

5. FOUNDATIONS CAN HAVE MORE IMPACT ON STATE VS. FEDERAL PUBLIC POLICY; LEADERS SAY COMMITMENT, LOW PROFILE CRUCIAL

Several foundation leaders offered advice to their colleagues at a session focused on engaging in public policy at the state level. In "Facilitating Public Engagement in State Policy," Sherry Magill of the Jesse Ball duPont Fund said that foundations can have more impact by funding at the state rather than federal level. But it's crucial for foundations to stay in close touch with practitioners and allow them to guide the foundations to what they need. It's also important for foundations to make a long-term commitment to public policy, according to Magill: Funding for public policy efforts "is not a grant, it's a body of work," or should be considered a whole program area by itself, she said. It's also helpful to collaborate with other funders, something that Magill said her foundation needs to work on doing more.

Meanwhile, Sybil Jordan Hampton of the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation stressed at this session that foundations should work to fill in the gaps of what's missing in data or understanding. It's also crucial to keep a low profile in doing this work, letting real actors take the limelight, Hamptonsaid.