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Supporting nonprofits in their pursuit of positive change in the world is at the core of philanthropy. Yet, as organizations, foundations are not always open to embracing change and tend to approach it with much caution and deliberation. Why?
Earlier this year, we had the opportunity to engage a group of more than 60 nonprofit leaders to explore this topic during a session at PEAK2022 Online. Here are a few takeaways.
Where do funders tend to innovate or change?
We began by asking participants to provide examples of new ideas or changes they had implemented or tried to implement at their foundations in the last year. Most answers related to streamlining processes (e.g., simplifying grantee reporting, cutting steps in the grantmaking process, adopting delegated authority so that not all grants have to be approved by the board, and reducing paperwork when processing grant agreements or payments). Immediately following were new initiatives focused on relationship or network building for collaboration and knowledge sharing. A few mentioned the development of new grantmaking approaches and practices (e.g., participatory grantmaking and increased support for grassroots and Black- Indigenous-, and people-of-color-led or serving organizations). Very few shared examples related to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI), perhaps because the work is still so focused on collecting data and deciding what to collect rather than on the innovative use of DEI data to produce impactful results.
What are the key barriers to innovation and change?
We came into the session with a strong bias that people would mention the usual suspects: lack of time and resources, fear of failure, and lack of trust. They did, and there’s a reason for that. As humans, we are wired to resist change and disruption. We form habits and mental models of how things work and how we should work. Vu Le calls them, “The unconscious agenda we hold in our head.” And we also know that, as funders, we fear failure because of the strong sense of responsibility we have. The stakes are higher when we are engaged in social change. Failing implies not only wasting resources or reputational damage but also the possibility of losing ground and negatively impacting lives.
But then came a surprise. Someone mentioned perfectionism and almost everybody quickly endorsed the idea as the number-one barrier to making change happen in foundations. In retrospect, it does make sense. Anyone who has worked in philanthropy knows how preoccupied people are with getting everything right and ensuring all questions are answered and all things considered before declaring something done or even taking the next step. So how can we avoid getting stuck? How can we break free from the perfectionist trap?
What are the key enablers of innovation and change?
This question drew more consideration from the participants. First people focused on an important lesson that we all learned the hard way during the pandemic: urgency is a catalyst for change. So much change happened so quickly between March and May 2020 when foundations had to adapt to the new reality of working from home while having to make speedy decisions about the best way to support the most impacted communities and nonprofits struggling for survival.
Then came the suggestion that, in less dramatic circumstances, staff changes can present a huge opportunity to try something new. We are not just referring to new leadership, when change is often part of their mandate, but also to new staff, bringing in new perspectives and experiences. Reaching out to external colleagues who have successfully implemented the change we seek is an alternative.
So finally, we asked again. How can we break free from the perfectionist trap? And passionate answers began pouring in. At the top was the willingness to embrace experimentation and failure as stepping stones to future successes. It’s ok to make mistakes. We learn from them, adapt, and move on. Fail early and fail often because you miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.
Moving forward with guidance from a scientist
To see innovation thrive in philanthropy, there is no doubt that every foundation needs to examine how staffing, project management, and a lack of trust affect the ability to innovate, but we clearly also need to examine how we demand perfection from ourselves and others and give each other space to experiment and fail. In her autobiography In Praise of Imperfection, the late Italian Nobel laureate Rita Levi Montalcini observed how imperfection can become a powerful tool for achieving goals, overcoming obstacles, and improving the world. She acknowledges that had it not been for her imperfections both as a human and a scientist, she would have never been able to arrive at her scientific discoveries. Progress arises from the moment when people recognize their mistakes, understand them, study them, admit them without modesty, and perhaps solve them. In other words, imperfection is an obligatory step to reaching our goals.
We know philanthropy is not neuroscience, but there is still a lot that we can learn and achieve if we only accept the idea that perfection does not exist and welcome imperfection as its indispensable substitute and our incentive always to do better. Yes, why not?
Photo by JESHOOTS.COM on Unsplash
