It's springtime with NNCG! We're excited about the amazing webinar series that we kicked off in January with consultants from Philanthropy Northwest's Giving Practice and its work on Reflective Practice. If you haven't caught our webinars in real-time, remember that webinar recordings are available as part of the membership package for NNCG members.
We've had a great mix of learning opportunities for philanthropy consultants and foundations, including webinars on managing family philanthropy dynamics, helping foundations develop robust internal equity practices, and engaging in effective consultant/foundation partnerships. Look out for upcoming offerings, including our May webinar with Riki Wilchins on Gender Norms and Philanthropy. We've provided additional information below.
Our Fundraising and Communications Task Force, chaired by Erica Ekwurzel, has done a great job to help us meet the last leg of our Challenge Grant by the June 30, 2019 deadline. Thanks to our members and partners, we are so close to reaching $20,000. To date, we have raised $16,220 to meet the challenge of our anonymous donor. That leaves just $3,780 to go. If you are able to lean in to help us close the gap, click here to donate.
NNCG expects to be at the United Philanthropy Forum's Annual Conference this year in Cleveland, Ohio, from July 15-17. If you are in the area or plan to attend the conference, we hope that you'll take the time to join us for a casual meet-up among NNCG members and partners. We'll send more details closer to time.
We also have plans to be at the annual conference of Southeastern Council of Foundations (SECF) in Atlanta, Georgia, from November 13-15, 2019. We'll make sure to send additional details regarding our session at the conference and opportunities to connect with NNCG members and partners soon.
Until then, we hope you enjoy the spring edition of our newsletter. We look forward to staying in conversation!
Mary Phillips
Chair, NNCG Steering Committee
Challenge Grant Updates
Thank you to all who have generously donated to our Challenge Grant!
We have a two-part deadline for the challenge grant, and we are well on our way to raising an additional $10,000 to meet the challenge by June 30, 2019.
The challenge grant will match contributions as follows:
From NNCG members, over and above their current or renewal membership fees
From increased NNCG memberships when an individual or firm moves from associate to full member and a member moves from individual to firm membership
From new grants and sponsorships provided by our foundation members and other funders.
Thank You to Our Donors!
Advocacy & Communications
CivicAim
Clohesy Consulting
Cole Wilbur
Amy Main Morgenstern
David Maurrasse
Donnell Snite Mersereau
Engage R&D
Jara Dean-Coffey
Kris Putnam Walkerly
Learning for Action
Lee Draper
Sky(lark) Strategies
Sharmila Thakkar
TPI - The Philanthropic Initiative
Your Philanthropy
Gender Norms, Race & Class: An Intersectional Approach to DEI & Grantmaking
May 7, 1p ET
Join Riki Wilchins, Executive Director at TrueChild, for this interactive, open discussion about the terms, ideas, and findings behind "intersectional" approaches to working with youth that reconnect race, class, and gender. Gender impacts every issue funders and grantees address; the arts, immigration, STEM, and juvenile justice. But programs either don't address gender norms, silo them as an LGBTQ issue, or disconnect them from factors like race and class. Registration and Complete Details.
Engaging the Diversity of Family Foundations and High Net Worth Individuals: Considerations for Philanthropy Consultants
Presented by Dawn Franks and
July 9, 12p ET
A Better Understanding of what Community Engagement is and How it Can Inform and Add Value to Philanthropy
Presented in Partnership with the Southeastern Council of Foundations.
Susan DeVenny, President/CEO,
J. Marion Sims Foundation
and NNCG member firm Advocacy & Communication Solutions, LLC
September 4, 12p ET
Reminder! NNCG Members can view a recorded webinar at any time by logging in to the members-only section of our website. Once logged in, select the Archived Webinars page to see all of our past programming. We encourage our members to participate in the live sessions, but realize this is not always possible. Enjoy!
Call for Book Nominations
Call for Nominations: 2019 Terry McAdam Book Award
Nominations Due Wednesday, May 15, 2019
Each year, the Alliance for Nonprofit Management reviews books published in the nonprofit sector and awards the Terry McAdam Book Award. The Alliance Book Award Committee is seeking nominations of the most inspirational and useful new books that bridge research and practice and make a substantial contribution to the nonprofit field.
The award was created to commemorate Terry McAdam, who devoted his life to improving the nonprofit management field and urged us all to write about the sector so that we may better understand it. Mr. McAdam was a board member of the Nonprofit Management Association (which later became part of the Alliance) and vice president of New York Community Trust.
Through the Terry McAdam Book Award, thousands of capacity builders, and hundreds of thousands of nonprofit staff and board members, benefit from the very best thinking and ideas in nonprofit management and governance.
In order to submit a nomination, please complete the nominations form by clicking here.
Finalists will be notified in August and invited to be present for the award ceremony at the national conference of the Alliance for Nonprofit Management, October 23-25, in St. Louis, Missouri.
Welcome New and Renewing Members!
Giannina Fehler-Cabral
Leslie Gross-Davis
Jessica Hembree
Belinda Lyons-Newman
Pilar Mendoza
RENEWING MEMBERS
Thomas Backer
Stephanie Clohesy
Kristen Donovan
Cristina Gallegos
Linda Marshall
Ruth Masterson
Engage R &D
NNCG Now!
Be sure to check out recent blog posts by our members and friends - New Philanthropic Model in The Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) Philanthropy Framework; From Imagine Philanthropy to Changemaker Strategies by Tuti Scott; and On Relationships: Recalling the Heart & Mind of Philanthropy by Sharmila Rao Thakkar.
Featured Post:
Facilitating Dominant Personalities
by NNCG Member Ruth Masterson
Facilitation is such a great opportunity to nurture honest communication among different personalities to find both common and uncommon ground.
As I was talking with one client about her goals for an upcoming meeting of a diverse group of board members from different organizations, she happened to let drop that one of them was known to take over meetings, talking over others and too long. Apparently, at a recent City Council meeting, he had talked most of the hour and a half - in the face of many distressed faces looking back at him.
Yikes! It was tempting to fear the worst for my upcoming facilitation gig. This fellow had the potential to derail the entire project. I had some strategies but worried that maybe I was missing something.
Crowdsourcing can be a fun way to get some tips and fresh ideas, so I decided to reach out. I turned to the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers (NNCG) email list as well as another consultant's email list and a facebook group of consultants. I asked the wise people in each of these groups for great strategies to limit dominant personalities' air time - while still hearing what they have to say AND encouraging quieter folks to also pitch in their thoughts and ideas.
Responses were prolific! Apparently, I'd hit on something that people had experienced and were eager to say something about.
NNCG Members in Action
Justin Goldbach of Social Strategy Associates is spearheading the third cycle of the J.M.K. Innovation Prize, a program of the J.M. Kaplan Fund, a NY-based family foundation, that seeks to identify, support, and elevate innovators who are spearheading transformative early-stage projects in the field of the environment, heritage conservation, and social justice. This year, the Prize will award ten $175,000 awards. Applications are due by April 30.
Clare Nolan of E ngage R+D will be presenting a session at the GEO Learning Conference. In her session, Co-Designing and Measuring Systems Change with and for Communities, you will explore new approaches for working collaboratively with communities to design and measure systems change.
Administrative data, or data collected by public agencies, is a powerful but underutilized tool for improving the lives of vulnerable children and families. VIVA Strategy & Communications was funded by the Heising-Simons Foundation to conduct a scan of innovative administrative data use, as well as a landscape analysis of how philanthropy has supported administrative data integration and led to improved social sector outcomes. Download both reports here.
Tony Macklin is writing a family philanthropy case study for the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy program and presenting it at the 2019 Advisors in Philanthropy conference
with Phil Cubeta from The American College and Jennie Zioncheck from The Pittsburgh Foundation.
NNCG member Sharmila Rao Thakkar shares this publication that documents the Siragusa Family Foundation's story of professionalization, operations, grantmaking, board development & next gen engagement through several critical leadership changes. This work and this family having helped shape much of her professional & personal journey in philanthropy, the meaningful experiences continue to guide her work today.
Thomas Scanlon of Benchmarks, Inc. recently launched a new website. Check it out!
Cause Communications is growing and offering even more free communications tools to nonprofit and foundation partners. Vanessa Schnaidt, recently promoted to Vice President, will lead the expansion of communications capacity building trainings and resources, including the Communications Toolkit (coming soon!). Click here to find resources for social impact communicators.
About NNCG
The National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers is dedicated to elevating, expanding and improving philanthropy. It's the only organization that brings together high-quality consultants to support the work of grantmakers while advancing quality and ethical standards in the practice of philanthropy consulting. NNCG's distinguished and diverse membership represents experienced and carefully vetted practitioners and thought leaders in the philanthropic field.
Learn more at NNCG.org.