A group of three dozen foundations have pledged to temporarily loosen grant-making restrictions to help the nonprofits they support remain financially viable and concentrate on the services they provide.
For philanthropy, which has a reputation for a plodding decision-making process, the coalition came together quickly. The idea was floated a week ago by the Ford Foundation and a group of grant makers that practice “trust-based” philanthropy. As of Thursday, the group included large national grant makers like the Hewlett, JPB, and Packard foundations and regional grant makers, including the Albuquerque and Kalamazoo community foundations and the Seattle Foundation.
The pledge, called A Call to Action: Philanthropy’s Commitment During Covid-19, consists of eight promises to:
- Eliminate restrictions on current grants, including turning project-based grants to unrestricted support, accelerating payment schedules, and not holding grantees liable for missed deadlines or canceled events.
- Make new grants “as unrestricted as possible” and support organizations led by groups of people who are most affected.
- Reduce required site visits and postpone reporting requirements.
- Contribute to community-based response funds that support the health and economic well-being of people most affected.
- Communicate “proactively and regularly” with grantees about the foundation’s decision-making process.
- Listen to the “communities least heard” and help lessons from those conversations inform the public discourse.
- Support grantees that engage in public-policy advocacy “as appropriate” to ensure an equitable response to the coronavirus, including efforts to expand paid sick leave and rental assistance.
- Share what is learned from instituting the practices on an emergency basis so permanent changes can be considered during more stable times.
Power Shift
Ford instituted the emergency changes last week. They are based on its Build portfolio of grants, which extends multiyear, general operating grants to nonprofits. Hilary Pennington, Ford’s executive vice president for programs, was in a meeting with leaders from the Headwaters and Robert Sterling Clark foundations — proponents of “trust-based philanthropy” — on Friday when the idea of a pledge came up.
Many of the pledge’s commitments reflect the trust-based approach, which is an attempt by philanthropy to recognize the power imbalance between grant makers and the groups they support and give grantees more of a say in how grants are used.
“There’s a sticking point on every single one” of the pledge’s commitments, Pennington said. Some foundations, for instance, are not comfortable supporting nonprofits that advocate for policy changes. Others may have given grants to specific academic centers and don’t want those funds to be used to support other aspects of a school’s mission. And some may have little experience working with groups that are likely to be most affected, which are often small nonprofits led by people of color.
The pledge is open-ended, meaning grant makers have not committed to making the changes for a specified time period.
Long-Term Goals
Pennington said she is “cautiously optimistic and passionately committed” to spreading the practices to a wider swath of foundations once the crisis surrounding the coronavirus dies down. She said she and her staff had reached out to about 50 foundations over the past week. More than two dozen of them have either not responded or have indicated that their board of directors needs time to weigh in on any changes.
“Not everybody is going to move at the same pace and in the same way,” Pennington said.
On March 26, the Council on Foundations will host a webinar to introduce the grant-making approach.
Adopting the practices outlined in the pledge, especially incorporating the perspectives of beneficiaries in grant-making strategy, could help build public trust in philanthropy, said Kathleen Enright, the council’s president.
By adhering to the pledge, Enright said, foundations can assist nonprofits working directly with people who are in dire need of help.
“The practices that are in the pledge are always important,” she said. “At this point, I don’t think it’s hyperbolic to say they can save lives.”
