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PEAK Grantmaking

Weekly Reads – February 26, 2020

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A roundup of timely insight from the grantmaking community and beyond.

“Keeping in mind the emphasis on collaboration and open dialogue, the [Packard Foundation’s] process of refining the new GES involved significant and repeated outreach to grantee partners for feedback. We attempted to balance the risk of burdening our grantee partners with a genuine desire to be inclusive, ultimately surveying multiple staff from a balanced sample of grantees with current or recently closed grants so we could hear from organizations at different stages of the grant lifecycle.” [more]
– Meredith Blair Pearlman, The David & Lucile Packard Foundation

“Government agencies have the scope, reach, and longevity to change the daily lives of millions. The end user—that is, the individual who most needs opportunity and support—is almost always going to interact with the public system before a privately funded alternative. For those living in poverty or facing the social challenges that philanthropy seeks to solve, interaction with government agencies is unavoidable. Instead of giving up and acting outside the public system, philanthropy can catalyze government to fulfill its mandates more effectively.” [more]
– Rebecca Silbert, Corrections to College; and Debbie Mukamal, Stanford Criminal Justice Center, in SSIR

“At times our partners may not have the time, capacity, or funding to develop strategies, build internal systems, cultivate good governance, and foster leadership – all of which are critical to creating impact on ground. Restrictive funding practices that limit non-programmatic or core support also contribute to this problem.” [more]
– Vimmi Malhotra and Hisham Mundolm, Children’s Investment Fund Foundation (CIFF), on CEP blog