Community Foundation for Palm Beach and Martin Counties

With the summer in full swing, the pace of work has gratefully slowed, allowing more time to catch up on the thinking, reflecting and planning that are prologue to many of the activities pending for the Community Foundation in the coming months.  This summer ritual is taken to heart more broadly by those engaged in charitable giving around the state, too. The Florida Philanthropic Network (FPN), a membership organization of grantmakers, takes advantage of the seasonal lull and for the second year, it has convened “leadership conversations” around the state for those who are engaged in philanthropy. These collegial discussions are an opportunity to gather region by region to discuss some of the key questions bubbling up for grantmakers about how the business, policy and practice of charitable giving is being transformed by present day circumstances. Given the infrequency with which grantmakers hit the pause button, this opportunity to levitate and soar above the day-to-day is a touchstone to sustaining perspective around the broader themes that connect philanthropy as a whole. It is an opportunity to listen to and learn from peers and colleagues deeply engaged in philanthropy in local communities other than our own.

 

Those who attend represent an important slice of the layers that make up the foundation universe in Florida.  Participants include donors, CEOs, board members, program officers, development directors, communications staff -- seasoned volunteers and professionals all -- but you will also find present young men and women, all new to the sector, with fresh ideas and faces. These gatherings are inclusive of the diversity within family, private, corporate and community foundations, too.  With the challenges still fresh in our memories from months now passed, and with our gaze fixed upon the horizon in the not-so-distant future, grantmakers seek affirmation of what’s working and are sensitive to the need for course correction, given that the expanse of uncertainties is unprecedented.  Most would agree that, these days, having a compass that points to true north is a rare find. Access to and conversations with the hearts and heads that share common vision, values and purpose is a strong suit to hold against, what seems, at times, a stacked deck against success in a troubled world.  The forums were well attended.

 

The Community Foundation hosted a forum in West Palm Beach. It was attended by some of our region’s leading grantmakers.  This has been a tough year for any grantmaker intent on scoring some modest victories, measured not by the dollars that went out the door but by the results of positive change the dollars were invested to support. There is much agreement in the observation that everyone is doing more with less. Of necessity, the charitable sector is becoming more sharply focused -- and whatever “sharply focused” means in the circumstance of individual funders is going to require innovative thinking, with tough choices as a side.

 

Leaders in philanthropy have a lot on their minds.  It is not an uncommon experience for grantmakers to have been shaken by a quiet spasm of disbelief that what is happening to the American dream, is happening right here in the midst of shocking abundance.  The recession continues to pound the most vulnerable within our society. The disintegration of the social safety net seems inevitable as the downsizing of government is in an unrestrained freefall, with no end in sight.  Grantmakers are hearing choruses of lament emanating from health clinics, social services agencies, homeless shelters, employment agencies, food pantries and soup kitchens. Those many voices contain stark revelations about the human toll being extracted as the Great Recession runs its course. Whether by objective or by default, this rearranging of the economy and its consequence to the quality of community for many is disastrous.   So it’s no wonder that the FPN forums have tapped into a collective concern across the state on how philanthropy can and should respond.  

 

There is some consensus emerging that the full measure of philanthropic leadership will, in the future, be determined by the extent to which foundations individually and together leverage all the assets available to them in order to succeed in making change in this new environment. This means tapping tools and taking on roles that go beyond grantmaking.  No one doubts, in this view, that charitable giving is needed or less important, only that the use of grantmaking as a singular tool is largely insufficient in the context of present day challenges. We always suspected as much. Now we have proof of concept.