Removing restrictions will validate their expertise, and It will be a first step in strengthening trust.” Once the board approved the shift, I waited. I told them: “If we go in this direction, you will feel more connected to our partners and the impact of their missions. Each were components of good projects, and I believe it’s possible to have both: deep connection to giving while releasing control of the funds. ![]() They felt connected to grant applications for reading mentors, court advocates and school gardens. They also voiced concerns about what nonprofits, particularly the smaller nonprofits in the rural parts of the states where we work need. They had a history and traditions around grant making that deepened their relationship to one another. From both extensive industry research on what aids nonprofit sustainability and personal experience with numerous tales of cartoon checks, promotion demands of funders and incredibly long applications for modest grants, I knew the best action we could take was the shift to unrestricted dollars.Īs with all change, there was some resistance from the board initially. As such, it felt like the clear first step – or tear – was to shift our funding, 100% of it, to unrestricted grants. I firmly believe foundations exist to support nonprofits, to follow their lead, not the other way around. Yet, on the other hand, I believe philanthropy is in many ways broken and despite good intentions of those in seats of power, the sector is at a transition point that requires each one of us to examine our practices and evolve. They were, and continue to be, a truly heart-based group who care deeply about others. ![]() On one hand I wanted to tread carefully out of respect for the decades-long history of the board and team at the foundation. ![]() Being offered the opportunity to rip that process up was very appealing. The founder – who built the endowment from the proceeds of several businesses he built such as Kettle Chips, Kona Brewing Company and Sequential Biofuels – leaned into his entrepreneurial mindset and drive for innovation when he gave me my first task: “Rip it up.”įor years as a nonprofit team member I experienced how secretive, complicated and unnecessarily restrictive seeking funding is. The bulk of my career has been in nonprofits, and this is my first role on the funder side, and my hiring as Executive Director of the Healy Foundation was timed with a planned influx of funding. Suzanne Geary, Executive Director, Healy Foundation
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