Is philanthropy streamlining yet?

Over the last few years, WRAG has worked with Project Streamline to explore ways that funders can improve their application and processes to reduce the burden on grantees. Project Streamline, which is led by the Grants Managers Network, is now five years old. Their new report, Practices That Matter, looks at how far the sector has come – and how much further it needs to go – in the streamlining process.

Related in the Daily:
- WRAG members continue to streamline (April, 2013)
- Project Streamline: The Moriah Fund (June, 2011)
- Paperwork vs. progress: the case for streamlining (Sept, 2010)
- Scaling up vs. scaling back (Feb, 2010)

CHANGE | Most of you know Margaret O’Bryon, former CEO of the Consumer Health Foundation, for her commitment to social equity and her expansive thinking. In today’s Daily, she writes about one of the theories of social change that has greatly influenced her thinking. It is called Presencing (or Theory U). Look to hear more from Margaret as she takes on her latest role as the Nielsen Chair of Philanthropy at the Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership and the Public Policy Institute at Georgetown University. (Daily, 5/22)

COMMUNITY | As part of its documentary festival this year, the AFI will screen Herblock: The Black & the White. It showcases the life and work of former Washington Post cartoonist Herb Block, whose successful career lead to the creation of The Herb Block Foundation. (CP, 5/22)

DEVELOPMENT | The Coalition for Smarter Growth’s Cheryl Cort writes about a report from the Prince George’s County Planning Board that says the county is at a crossroads. It can either “push for more transit-oriented development and walkable communities, or ‘be resigned to business as usual.’” (GGW, 5/22)

Related: Here’s a step in the right direction! The county’s Gateway Arts District received a big grant from ArtPlace America, which funds projects that generate economic development through the arts. (WBJ, 5/22)

EDUCATION | Here’s a look at per pupil school spending in our region. At a state level, the District is second to only New York. On a local level, the data show that Alexandria was the only school district in our region to increase spending from the previous year. (Examiner, 5/22)

PHILANTHROPY | Local philanthropist David Rubenstein talks about using more than just his money to achieve the social impact that he seeks. (GiveSmart, 5/22)

LOCAL | A sinkhole opened up just two blocks east of the White House yesterday. Fortunately, the only victim that it claimed was our sense of pedestrian safety. (WaPo, 5/22)

We’ll be much safer when we can get around like this. In the meantime, we have to live with the fact that, at any moment, we might just be swallowed into the swampy depths of D.C.


Finally, the list you’ve all been waiting for! The Eight Largest Zoos in the world (excluding Times Square)! Now I finally have an excuse to visit Nebraska.

Also, for some reason, today feels like a day for The Clash. How about Train in Vain or Police and Thieves?

Maximizing your impact through mission investing

By Gretchen Greiner-Lott
Vice President
Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers

Do you want to maximize your foundation’s impact? Are you willing to go beyond grantmaking to make a real difference in the community you serve? Consider mission investing.

Mission investing is the use of assets to make strategic investments that support the social mission of your foundation. Mission investing is a tool that has been available to foundations for over 40 years but has not yet become a standard practice. However, it has the potential to drive new capital into areas of need while providing financial returns to your foundation. What mission investing allows organizations to achieve is a double bottom line – both financial and social returns.

One type of mission investment is a mission-related investment (MRI). Basically, MRIs are investments in for-profit businesses that relate directly to a foundation’s mission. As Tamara wrote about last week, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation invested in “Acelero Learning, a for-profit company focused on efficiency and greater impact for Head Start, to support higher salaries for teachers.” Businesses like this, and the investments made in them, will have a positive social impact. However, MRIs are still a financial investment that must be made from the foundation’s corpus.

Program-related investments (PRIs), on the other hand, are investments that are consistent with a foundation’s charitable purpose but do not seek a market rate return. PRIs are treated much like grants for tax purposes and are typically counted toward a foundation’s minimum payout requirement. One of the great things about PRIs is that the money earned on the investment goes back to the foundation and can be reused, unlike a grant. Locally, the Consumer Health Foundation has been engaging in mission investing for over a decade. The foundation has used PRIs through an intermediary to support the growth and development of high quality nonprofit health care clinics in connection with the DC Primary Care Association’s Medical Homes DC Initiative, a clinic-based quality and capital improvement project.

Yanique Redwood, CEO of the Consumer Health Foundation, says, “As a small foundation, we’re constantly looking for ways to extend our reach. [PRIs were] one way for us to do that. The funds are being used to advance our mission, and we receive a below market rate return on the investment. We are now trying to figure out how to bring together mission investing and market rate returns. We’re learning from our peers here and around the country that this is entirely possible.”

Not everyone can or should invest $100 million or 100 percent of their assets in mission investing. However, it is important to note that you don’t have to work at these levels to get started and make a real difference with your investments. Even doing something as simple as banking with a community development financial institution (CDFI) can be a step in the right direction.

WRAG members gathered together recently for a Member to Member Learning Exchange on mission investing. What they learned, ultimately, is that mission investing has the potential to not only maximize their missions but to drive new sources of capital into areas of need. That’s the real bottom line.

Huge changes in suburban poverty

As The Atlantic points out, the word “suburb” brings to mind a stereotype of cheery prosperity. Whatever truth might have once inspired that image is now colliding with major demographic shifts. New research from the Brookings Institution finds that over the last decade, poverty in American suburbs has overtaken cities (Atlantic, 5/20):

Between 2000 and 2011, the population living in American cities below the poverty line increased by 29 percent. During that same time, across the country in the suburbs of metropolitan areas as diverse as Atlanta and Detroit and Salt Lake City, the ranks of the poor grew by 64 percent. Today, more poor people live in the suburbs (16.4 million of them) than in U.S. cities (13.4 million), despite the perception that poverty remains a uniquely urban problem.

The research includes profiles of metropolitan areas across the country. The Greater Washington region’s profile finds the poverty rate still lower in suburbs, but the number of suburban poor has increased 55 percent. Read more about what is driving our local changes – and what the implications are for our region.

Related: Here’s a look at how nonprofits in Montgomery County are struggling to address the increase in suburban poverty. (WAMU, 5/20)

EDUCATION
- Studies have shown that the achievement gap between high and low-income children can begin forming as early as nine months old. Home visits from family support workers might be one way of preventing the gap from forming. (WaPo, 5/20)

- Montgomery County has an increasing trend of students failing math tests. What is causing the trend? Theories abound. (WaPo, 5/20)

Maybe students are stuck in a vortex of chaos and confusion due to the fact that the school system imposes a failing grade of “E” rather than the traditional “F.” E is for “Excellent!” F is for “Fail!”

NONPROFITS | NPR ran an interesting news segment on the work of Dan Pallotta, who argues in favor of a paradigm shift that would financially incentivize working in the nonprofit sector. Click the “Listen to the Story” box to hear it. (NPR, 5/17) Thanks very much to Nick Geisinger – founder of the Daily! – for passing this along.

HOUSING
- Opinion: To Curb Domestic Violence, Start With Housing by Terri Ludwig, President and CEO of Enterprise Community Partners (HuffPo, 5/9)

- Major Campaign Donors Score Hefty City Subsidies (WAMU, 5/20) For the second time in a week…Steve Urkel!

TRANSIT | Maryland has announced plans to run MARC train service between D.C. and Baltimore on the weekends! At the moment, the only easy option for getting between the two is Amtrak, which is unreasonably expensive. (WAMU, 5/17)

Related: Columbia, Maryland, was originally designed to be a connection point that would bridge the geographic gap between Baltimore and D.C. It didn’t quite work, but its story is fascinating.


I hope everyone had a nice weekend, even though none of us won Powerball…unless the winner from Florida is a Daily reader?! Anyhow, my weekend was glorious, mostly because my girlfriend and I ran into Arnold Schwarzenegger at Georgetown’s graduation ceremony. We didn’t talk to him, but I assume that when he saw us, he thought, “Who is dis lovely couple dat I get to share da sidewalk with?” Life changing moment.

On a completely unrelated note, I’ve had Dusty Springfield’s Son of a Preacher Man stuck in my head. Great tune!

The Kellogg Foundation and Mission-Driven Investing

By Tamara Copeland
President, Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers

A few years ago, W.K. Kellogg Foundation program officer Tom Reis came to CEO Sterling Speirn with a double bottom line idea.

Rather than just pursuing the foundation’s mission through traditional grantmaking, Reis proposed using foundation assets to invest in for-profit businesses that related directly to Kellogg’s mission. He wanted to make what Kellogg came to call mission-driven investments. His plea was impassioned and it was research-based. The Board agreed and committed $100 million.

The outcomes have been impressive. They’ve generated an unexpected triple bottom line. The Kellogg Foundation has received a financial return on its investment, a social return through positive change on the problems it cares about, as well as what Speirn calls a learning return.

In eight months, Kellogg received a 26% return on their investment in Wireless Generation, a technology company that creates tools for personalized learning and teaching. Through the foundation’s investment in Revolution Foods, 200,000 healthy meals are being delivered to school children in nine states and the foundation has learned that school kitchens are often designed to re-heat frozen food, not to cook fresh food. And, through their investment in Acelero Learning, a for-profit company focused on efficiency and greater impact for Head Start, Kellogg is supporting higher salaries for teachers – an intervention that works to ensure retention of teachers while also obtaining better educational outcomes for children and economic security for families.

Last month, Speirn explored this model with WRAG CEOs. He acknowledged that every foundation doesn’t have what Kellogg did when it agreed to this work – an asset base in the billions, a broad mission statement that allows for an expansive determination of which businesses might help them further that mission, and a board and staff leadership team that was open to out-of-the-box thinking.

But he continued on to advise that the approach is flexible and can work at many levels, based on the given circumstances for each foundation. As he urged the WRAG CEOS to explore mission-driven investing, he poignantly noted, “We don’t always know the cost of success. We only know the cost of failure.”

For more information on mission related investing, visit:

- W.K. Kellogg Foundation – Mission Driven Investing
- Mission Investing Glossary
- Tools to get you started
Confluence Philanthropy

Mission Investors Exchange

School closures mostly impact primarily-minority neighborhoods

EDUCATION | City Paper’s Aaron Weiner writes about the planned DCPS school closures,  all but two of which are in majority black/Hispanic neighborhoods. The other two schools have student populations that are majority black/Hispanic. However, there is a reasonable explanation (CP, 5/15):

Parents in the poorer, eastern neighborhoods of the city—which tend to be overwhelmingly black—are more likely to want to send their kids to charter or out-of-boundary schools, to get them away from rougher schools or rougher streets on the way to school or both. This doesn’t happen as much at schools in richer parts of town…So schools in poorer (and, yes, blacker and more Hispanic) neighborhoods get depopulated and close down.

While the explanation makes sense, it also implies a self-perpetuating cycle of disadvantage. Students have to commute further. Parents face the added stress of seeking out less convenient education options for their kids. And neighborhoods become less attractive to prospective residents. Not good.

LOCAL | DCist mapped out public sector employment in the Greater Washington region by neighborhood. The results are interesting and give us a really great sense of the employment diversity in our region. (DCist, 5/15)

HOUSING | The Nonprofit Roundtable retweeted an interesting report that asks a great question – are student loans causing home and auto sales to decline? (Federal Reserve, 4/17) Yes, they are. Believe you me.

Related: Young Americans are driving less and buying fewer cars. (NYT, 5/14)

Event: This Saturday, the Communications Action Network (CAN), is sponsoring its Parade of Homes. The event features open houses at 20 affordable housing communities across the region. It’s a great opportunity to see the many types of local affordable housing options and how they are impacting the region. [Learn more.]

WORKFORCE | A proposal in front of the D.C. Council would require “big box” stores to set a higher minimum wage ($11.25 hr) than other local businesses. (WAMU, 5/14)

Here are couple of thoughts on this. The minimum wage should be higher across the board. Singling out one type of business over another seems unfair and arbitrary. And “higher” and “hire” are homophones.

PHILANTHROPY | Charities Want More Insight Into Grant-Making Decisions, Says Study (Chronicle, 5/15)

DEMOCRACY | In hopes of building the levels of civic engagement, Takoma Park will now allow most 16 and 17 year-olds to vote in local elections. (WAMU, 5/15) One might argue that a 16 year-old isn’t informed enough to vote. I would respond by laughing heartily and pointing out that many adults aren’t either.


Imagine looking up on a sunny day and seeing this! That’s pretty darn funny.

Also, here’s a fun comparison – biopic actors and the real people they play. Part one and part two.

Getting creative to support the arts

By Rebekah Seder, Program Manager

Without a doubt, one of the greatest aspects of our region is the rich and diverse nonprofit arts sector. A recent discussion among WRAG members who fund in the arts and humanities sphere really drove this home. But, as vibrant as this sector is, and as much as it contributes to our quality of life, the recession has had a significant impact on the philanthropic dollars flowing to these organizations.

Funders in our community are committed to supporting, and advocating for the sector, and there were several ideas that came out of this conversation that we thought were worth sharing.

Find creative ways to leverage funding: In our region there is great wealth, and a great number of small, locally focused nonprofit arts organizations. Being home to some of the country’s premier cultural institutions,   however, can make it hard for local groups to compete for philanthropic dollars. Locally- focused funders can find ways to leverage their own grantmaking by helping their grantees build relationships in the donor community, or by getting creative in their grantmaking with strategies like matching grants that encourage organizations to seek individual donations.

Make the economic case: It’s a given in the urban planning field that a vibrant arts scene can help spur economic growth and neighborhood revitalization. Advocates and funders of the arts need to hammer this idea home, especially to policymakers controlling government purse strings. With the rapid growth and expansion of the Cultural Data Project – the D.C. version of which a number of WRAG members helped launch in 2011 – researchers have access to a vast trove of data to help advocates make the case for greater arts funding.

Work at the intersections: While funding art “for arts sake” is always important, taking a cross-sector approach can help break down silos between different kinds of funders.  Recent research has highlighted the benefits of incorporating the arts into health programs and services for older adults. Likewise, arts education is essential for all young people, and there are any number of innovative programs that engage at-risk youth through the arts. Highlighting the impact of the arts and humanities on the full spectrum of life can help bring different, and perhaps unexpected, funders to the table.

A small group of WRAG members plan to meet to strategize ways to more deeply engage the funding community around the arts and humanities in our region. WRAG members: if you’re interested in getting involved in this effort, contact Rebekah Seder.

Using technology to combat senior isolation

People often lament the fact that technology is deteriorating human relationships. But for seniors, the opposite might be true. A new pilot program funded by the AARP Foundation is building technological connections for seniors as a way of combating isolation. The program provides iPads to seniors, as well as classes on how to use the Internet, social media, Skype, and more (WaPo, 5/9):

In the District, the program selected low-income seniors at high risk of being disconnected from friends and family, said Najeeb Uddin, the AARP Foundation’s vice president of technology.

“We’re targeting people on the verge of being isolated and depressed. Their spouse might have passed away,” he said. “It’s about connecting to the community. It just happens to be that we’re using technology to do it.”

YOUTH | The Children’s Law Center has released its 2013 Children’s Mental Health Report Card. This year’s marks for the District are mixed, but hopeful (WAMU, 5/9):

Judith Sandalow is the executive director of Children’s Law Center, a nonprofit in D.C. She says there are “promising beginnings” when it comes to how the District serves children with mental health needs.

But Sandalow says there is still a long way to go. She says there are too many agencies involved leading to what she calls “bureaucratic fragmentation.” And Sandalow says how soon a child gets treatment is also a problem.

Read the report here.

Related: Pushing for More Progress in the District’s Children’s Mental Health System (HuffPo, 5/9)

HEALTH | Jacqueline Bowens has been named to succeed Sharon Baskerville as the CEO of the D.C. Primary Care Coalition. (WBJ, 5/9)

Related: The D.C. Primary Care Coalition is one of the key players in our Beyond Dollars story on expanding the health care safety net. You can check out the report here.

EDUCATION
- The District is set to open a “hybrid traditional-charter” school in Southeast. Chancellor Kaya Henderson says, “It’s an animal that we’ve never seen before.” (WaPo, 5/9) Is it a unicorn? I bet it’s a unicorn. I knew they existed!

- Putting Inner City Students on a Path to High-Paying Jobs, For Real (Atlantic, 5/9)

HOUSING
- In case the economic collapse didn’t do it already, Richard Florida has deflated the American dream of homeownership. He digs into a report about the relationship between unemployment and homeownership and says, “Higher rates of homeownership lead to higher rates of unemployment.” (Atlantic, 5/9)

Related: Florida discusses the relationship between housing and commuting. We looked at the same issue in our recent report on housing affordability.

- Greater Greater Washington’s Dave Aplert explains how the increased production of high-end rental units in our region could trigger drops in rent through a process called “filtering.” (GGW, 5/9) Contrary to my initial expectation, this does not mean refraining from swearing at leasing agents to get better rates.

LOCAL
- Arlington’s population is expected to continue booming, thanks especially to the Columbia Pike Neighborhoods Plan. (WTOP, 5/9)

- Robert McCartney writes about how impressed he is about regional collaboration to clean sewage. (WaPo, 5/9)

- Lots of great stuff from The Atlantic today. Here’s a look at how highway construction ruined Southwest D.C. – and how new development could resurrect it. (Atlantic, 5/9)


I forgot to post this yesterday, but Jimmy Fallon and John Krasinski (from The Office) had a hilarious lip syncing competition. It’s pretty funny. (Note: I downgraded my sentiment and didn’t even notice when I published.)

And, here’s an amusing connection between autocomplete and the platypus.

Celebrating the successful transition of the Freddie Mac Foundation

By Tamara Copeland
President, Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers

Today, the Freddie Mac Foundation announced its plan to continue giving in our region through 2016. Is this a success? Yes, it sure is!

In September 2008, we didn’t know what the future might hold for the Freddie Mac Foundation. An announcement had been made by the federal government that the Federal Housing Finance Agency (the “conservator”) would control how Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac operated and how they spent their resources. At risk was $47M that was invested by these two entities in about 400 nonprofit organizations across our region. If those investments were discontinued, people were going to suffer.

The announcement about the conservator was made on a Sunday. By Friday of that same week, the 8 Neighbors group was born. 8 Neighbors was, and is, a partnership of eight regional organizations: the Center for Nonprofit Advancement, the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region, the Greater Washington Board of Trade, Leadership Greater Washington, the Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments, the Nonprofit Roundtable, the United Way of the National Capital Area and the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers, all committed to improving the lives of people who live in our region.

This group developed a media strategy, a legislative strategy, and a community engagement strategy. Over the next couple of months, our advocacy contributed to an announcement in December 2008 that both Freddie and Fannie would continue their philanthropic investments in the region. We celebrated, though we also knew that impending structural changes to both organizations would permanently impact their giving in the future.

In 2011, the Freddie Mac Foundation announced that like its sister organization, the Fannie Mae Foundation, it would be closing its doors. They slated 2014 as an endpoint. Following the announcement, 8 Neighbors continued behind the scenes outreach to the leaders of the Freddie Mac Foundation to offer perspectives on how the foundation’s plans to spend down would impact our region.

Today, the foundation announced how it will manage its closure – with a plan that carefully winds down giving to soften the impact on its grantees. Beginning next year and lasting through 2016, the Community Foundation for the National Capital Region will administer remaining grants. Would we have wanted the foundation to continue in perpetuity? Of course. But given the current reality, this is a successful outcome.

Our hats are off to the leaders of the Freddie Mac Foundation for all that they have done for the region over their decades-long existence and for their strategy for the near future.

Related information:
- Mortgage Giants’ Fall May Hurt Nonprofits (WaPo, Sept. 2008)

- Who will step up to fill Freddie’s and Fannie’s pullback on giving? by Tamara Copeland and Chuck Bean (WaPo, Sept. 2011)

- New report from 8 Neighbors on the future of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s giving in the Greater Washington region (Daily, Oct. 2011)

A progress report on philanthropy and big change

A lot can change in a few years. That’s why WRAG is excited to release Beyond Dollars: Philanthropy and BIG Change in the Greater Washington Region. The new release is a 2013 progress report on our earlier publication, Beyond Dollars: Investing in BIG Change from 2009.

The earlier report chronicled and celebrated the unrecognized benefits of philanthropy in our region while also elevating what we saw as the common elements that led to change of great magnitude. Now, almost five years later, we want to check in on this work. Is the change lasting? If so, what factors have been critical? If not, what lessons have been learned?

The impact of philanthropy is especially important to consider in light of potential changes to the charitable deduction. As Beyond Dollars shows, philanthropic investments continue to make an important difference in our region.

HOMELESSNESS | The Senate has approved legislation for an Internet sales tax. It might not make it through the House, but if it does, D.C. Councilmembers Jim Graham and Mary Cheh think that the new revenue could end homelessness. As Aaron Wiener points out, this idealism is rooted in the belief that we could beat homelessness if we just had the money. (CP, 5/7)

If they really believe this, then it’s unsettling that better attempts haven’t been made to secure the necessary funds in the past.

HOUSING | ElevationDC interviews Michael Diamond, director of the Harrison Institute for Housing and Community Development, about affordable housing, gentrification, and policy solutions in our region. (Elevation, 5/7)

WORKFORCE | Over the weekend, New York Times bureau chief Dave Leonhardt wrote about the very high nonemployment rates of 25 to 34 year old Americans and the “grim shift” that has landed our country in a much worse position than most of Europe.

In a follow up, Leonhardt looks at the geography of the problem. Fortunately, our region is one of three spots in the country bucking the trend. (NYT, 5/7) Leonhardt is a great writer – very literary. The opening paragraph of the first article is fantastic.

HEALTH | Slowdown in Health Costs’ Rise May Last as Economy Revives (NYT, 5/6) Well, that’s a confusing headline.


Have you ever wondered what the subjects of abstract paintings might look like if they were real people? Me neither – but I found out the answer anyway. Meanwhile, on the other side of the Internet, somebody updated famous portraits for modern times.

And since there’s so much rain, how about the Belle Stars’ version of Iko Iko from Rain Man? If ever there was a movie that needed a music video…this was definitely not it. Good song though!

Beyond Dollars: A 2013 Progress Report


A lot can change in a few years.

That’s why the Washington Regional Association of Grantmakers (WRAG) is excited to release Beyond Dollars: Philanthropy and BIG Change in the Greater Washington Region. The new release is a 2013 progress report on our earlier publication, Beyond Dollars: Investing in BIG Change from 2009.

When the original report was released, our goal was twofold. We wanted to chronicle and celebrate the unrecognized benefits of philanthropy in our region while also elevating what we saw as the common elements that led to change of great magnitude. Now, almost five years later, we want to check in on this work. Is the change lasting? If so, what factors have been critical? If not, what lessons have been learned?

Our nation’s policymakers are once again debating the charitable deduction. WRAG’s 2013 version of Beyond Dollars demonstrates that the deduction, which is a critical tool for philanthropy and not a mechanism of fiscal selfishness as some politicians suggest, has lead to sound philanthropic investments that have continued to make an important difference in the lives of people who live in the District of Columbia, suburban Maryland, and Northern Virginia.

Today we’re sharing that message with our local Members of Congress. We want them to fully understand the impact that philanthropic investments make on the lives of people who live in our region.


Note: As of this publishing, the House Ways and Means Committee’s Tax Reform Working Group has released a report to the full committee on the issue. The Committee has announced it’s intention to “dig into the details over the coming weeks.” It’s worth noting that no one from our region serves on the House Ways and Means Committee.

You can follow the progress of the issue on the Committee’s website, and we’ll report on key developments in the Daily.

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