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PEAK Grantmaking

Four Thoughts for a New Year

The first thing I see each day when I enter my office is a saying that reads: Start each day with a grateful heart. As we enter into a new year, I must begin by expressing gratitude for a role I love, a growing team of amazing colleagues, an activated board, dedicated volunteers and thought partners who want to positively contribute to PEAK’s mission, our financial supporters who continue to say “yes” to PEAK, and our members who are actively engaged with us. My heart is full!

I have faith that 2023 will bring us closer to realizing the full potential of philanthropy to drive equity and opportunity. And I believe deeply that PEAK can be an agile partner to help foundations, corporate grantmakers, academic institutions, and government agencies shift toward creating rightsized processes built on principled, equitable grantmaking practices.

Knowing that we can only realize this and our collective visions for transformative change together, I have four ideas that will guide my actions, and I hope they spark some inspiration as you set your own intentions for the year.

Transformation is a group exercise 

For any change to stick, there must be agreement and reinforcement and many hands and ideas are often needed to create good formulas for sustaining change. And that goes beyond philanthropy. Families. Neighborhoods. Businesses. Communities.

A groundswell of collective action is needed to normalize equitable practices, and I believe that PEAK is uniquely positioned to help funders center equity via more principled, responsive, and flexible funding practices. Whatever we have been doing up to now is not working. That does not mean the sector has not put amazing efforts and ideas into the ecosystem. But, for those most marginalized and in need, are they better off?

We need more funders and nonprofits working from the same playbook to fully operationalize equity-centered grantmaking approaches while also ensuring that funding institutions and the nonprofits they support are safe, accessible, and equitable places of business. When the sector is healthier, it can lead as an example to governments and corporations—whose resources so far exceed what philanthropy is contributing to the social sector—that being equitable and accountable matters.

The “how” matters 

How funds are administered can have a significant impact on the impression any donor or funder leaves when they exit the room and the reputation of one carries across how this sector is perceived.

A peer recently quipped that some funders endeavoring to center racial equity fail to realize that their efforts can be undermined by a lack of transparency, weak communication channels, and outmoded grant practices. That hit home.

Whether your organization focuses on small grants, multiyear funding initiatives, or program-related investments, you must always consider if your grant practices are lifting or eroding your intentions and your rhetoric. Many of our members have used our Principles to uncover that it’s not that nonprofits  are unable to meet the rigors of applying or reporting impact that’s slowing down the process, but rather, the barriers funders have created throughout the grant lifecycle. And like any wall, they can be taken down. Now.

Purpose, processes, and tools need to better lean toward equitable practices, which requires flexibility.

Just as funders want to provide all they can to support mission-related work, and nonprofits want to ensure those they serve get the support they need efficiently and effectively. Purpose, processes, and tools need to better lean toward equitable practices, which requires flexibility. Why? Because the most that Harvard University and a small nonprofit in Nubian Square share are a tax designation and geography. That’s it. The ability of each to respond to an invitation to apply for funding—or provide feedback, report on impact, or support a site visit from your board—is different. Making both undergo a one-size-fits-all process benefits the funder alone at the expense of being responsive to grantee needs.

Thankfully, funders have the expertise and resources to make the shifts needed. And PEAK’s network of more than 7,000 grant professionals—that’s you—are well positioned to advocate for dismantling old ways of doing business that no longer serve our sector.

Contribution should be enough

The problems funders seek to address are complex and institutionally embedded, and it takes the sustained investments of many funders over time to contribute to shifting conditions on the ground. And remember that while funding is highly valued and needed, it is only part of the solution. Most nonprofits are not yet resourced enough to go without the volunteered assets of time, talent, and ideas from individual contributors to fulfill their most basic priorities.

Seeking credit for work that has been supported on so many fronts seems disingenuous and can undermine the relationships and trust that nonprofits seek to have with funders. Whether through traditional reporting or alternative means, pressure test what you’re asking each grantee to report back on after one year of fractional support. Furthermore, because no one foundation can do it alone, PEAK encourages funders to seek more ways to support pooled funds and collective giving efforts, tackling what feels like a surmountable task of ensuring nonprofits are well-resourced to meet their missions. Then, with respect, feel good about the contribution your organization has made, and make space for nonprofit staff to focus on the work.

Advancing equity starts with you (and me)

The words equity and inclusion must be understood as urgent and powerful calls to action that ignite a commitment to continuous learning, introspection, and a deep curiosity for understanding differences. When you make this commitment, you become an invaluable accountability partner in bringing hard truths to light and righting longstanding wrongs. I hope you can see the shifts in me and our staff as we work to be a vehicle for racial healing, equity, and inclusion—and that as others see your commitment to your own equity journey, they too might feel moved to action.

The words equity and inclusion must be understood as urgent and powerful calls to action that ignite a commitment to continuous learning, introspection, and a deep curiosity for understanding differences.

I know I said I’d share four ideas, but I cannot miss this moment to urge us to not abandon practices that worked well as we sought to respond to the pandemic, climate disasters, and community unraveling. Funding can be deployed responsively, responsibly, and in a matter of minutes. Every day, there are people and communities in crisis and funders have nothing at stake by deploying resources more rapidly and with greater flexibility. (Thanks for your grace in letting me get that out of my head.)

I am forever grateful to this network, and I hope you are inspired as a change agent for transformation in our sector. When PEAK’s advocacy efforts, resources, coaching, and movement building are successful, funders do better, but nonprofits and the communities they serve are better off.

Together, let’s shake things up for good in 2023!

Satonya Fair
President and CEO