Insights on the Grantmaking Lifecycle

In these highlights from our Insights library, contributed by PEAK members, you’ll find inspiration, confidence, and guidance to help you use an equity lens to examine the various stages, process, and procedures of grantmaking—from the application process to decision-making and evaluation. Want more? Click here to access the compete Insights collection on the topic of the grantmaking lifecycle.

CONNECTing on Flexibility Across the Grantmaking Lifecycle

This post shows how the PEAK community comes together on our CONNECT online community to help one another navigate the thorniest grantmaking questions that can arise. Here, we explore several threads that examine how to embed flexibility across the grantmaking lifecycle and uplift equity. “Flexibility is an overarching theme in PEAK’s Principles for effective and efficient grantmaking,” former PEAK Community Knowledge Manager Chantias Ford writes. “It is exciting to see PEAK peers sharing practices and procedures they have put in place in their grantmaking institutions to be adaptable and agile.” READ MORE

#FixTheForm. You Don’t Need Permission to Be Revolutionary.

Making technical fixes to grant application forms is but one way grants management professionals can lead the shift to more equitable practices. Here, GrantAdisor.org’s Kari Aanestad takes a deep dive into the key takeaways from the 100 Forms in 100 Days campaign. “The 100 Forms in 100 Days campaign demonstrates the immense collective power we hold when nonprofits offer honest feedback, and grants operations managers at foundations respond,” she writes. “Seemingly small changes are having a big impact, and there’s more work for us to do together.” READ MORE

Three Steps to Improving Evaluation in the Philanthropic Sector

Redefining what success looks like starts by asking a simple question: Who decides what matters? Authors Laura Leeson, Mara Steinhaus, Andrea Tock suggest three ways to improve your evaluations and create better outcomes for communities, grantee organizations, and funders. “In traditional philanthropic evaluation, funders are the most powerful actors in the system. This means change should start with them.” READ MORE

Indirect Cost Coverage in Project Grants: An equity issue

BDO FMA’s John Summers and Rodney Christopher show how indirect cost rate policies for project grants are often untapped opportunities to drive equity using demographic data. “The philanthropic sector has recently made a notable shift toward factoring equity into its grantmaking, considering big questions of historic and ongoing differentials in access to resources based on race and other dimensions of power and privilege,” they write. “In this context, indirect cost rate policies for project grants may seem like a neutral, technical, and even outmoded concern. But here lies an overlooked and often untapped opportunity to drive equity using demographic data.” READ MORE

Packard’s Personal, Ongoing “Grantsformation”

“As Packard Foundation’s director of grant process management, I continually assess and balance our needs as an effective grantmaking institution in ways that prioritize our grantee partners’ time and effort,” says Packard’s Jennifer Adams. “In May 2022, we reached an important milestone in this work when we completed a three-year “grantsformation” that assessed and improved our end-to-end grantmaking process. Based on grantee feedback, we wanted to get money out faster, be more efficient, and reduce grantee burden. To succeed in this effort, we worked to better understand how our grantee partners experience our processes in the context of their work.” READ MORE

How California Wellness Reenvisioned its Grantmaking Processes

In this highlight from PEAK2023, Jamie Fawcett and Amber López share how The California Wellness Foundation and Grantbook partnered to implement change management processes that reach every corner of the operation. “We’re trying to build a culture of service, of strategic partnership, especially in grants management,” said López. “This is also a way of us developing relationships, developing trust, and really growing that partnership.” READ MORE