GrantCraft Newsletter: Responsive Grantmaking

The following is my letter that appeared in this month's newsletter. To subscribe to the newsletter, please register on this website here.

I had the pleasure of attending the James Beard Foundation’s Food Conference a few weeks ago, where a speaker shared, “If it is to be, it is up to us. Ten powerful two-letter words.” We tweeted and heard collective cheers (well, retweets) from funders and saw funder heads vigorously nodding in the room. This simple statement rings very true for philanthropy, and so this newsletter’s content is devoted to the notion that funders can act when others may not be able to, and that they have power to convert an ideal or opportunity to tangible reality. Read on to learn about the funder response to Ebola, how changing a relationship can improve field effectiveness, and how sometimes that gut feeling that a funder has can spark new partnerships and innovative work. 

Last week, my colleague Amanda Dillon and I released Foundation Center’s report on the landscape of youth grantmaking. In conducting this scan and writing the report, those 10 two-letter words couldn’t ring truer. There are youth around the world using philanthropy to effect change in their communities in big ways, and I very much hope that you’ll all join me in empowering youth to give by providing opportunities and helping to elevate their stories. (There’s a discussion item below where you can weigh in on this topic, too.)

All the best,

Jen Bokoff
Director of GrantCraft, Foundation Center

About the author(s)

Director of Stakeholder Engagement
Candid