 The poem below is thanks to Vu Le who writes an insightful and often funny blog about managing a nonprofit organization called Nonprofit and Friends (formerly Nonprofit With Balls).
Here is his latest: I can write the saddest grant proposal tonight Write, for example, the night is cold, And a family shivers, huddled in the darkness, An old keyboard rattles under fingertips and sings I can write the saddest grant proposal tonight I loved you, and yesterday you loved my org too On a night like this, I held your award letter, Reading it again and again under the infinite sky You loved us at times, and at times we loved you too I can write the saddest grant proposal tonight To think we have failed, to feel we have lost To see the immense hole in the budget, immenser without you And the outcomes fall to the page like hummus to a plate. What does it matter that we are an existing program? What does it matter the illusion of sustainability? In the distance, a program director weeps. In the distance. The night is cold, and my soul is not content. My eyes, exhausted, scan your website My heart, drained and battered, continues hoping. I love you, yet I hate you, yet I love you, yet I hate you. Grants are so small, and the restrictions so large Another. You will fund another. Like you funded us before. Maybe our logic model was not strong enough? Our Appendix A? On a night like this, I think of what we could have done. The night is cold, and my soul is not content Though I wish this be the last pain you make me suffer, I know this will not be the last of your RFPs I’ll respond to.
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 By mid-September 2013, So You Want to Be a Philanthropist will be available on Amazon. This lively, jam-packed book will allow those thinking about setting up a family foundation to ask the questions they should — before they do. And for those with a foundation that isn't functioning as they'd hoped, this book can help get you back on the right track.
I'm excited about your reactions and look forward to hearing what you think! — Julia  "We've been 'friends' for a long time. We call. You return our call a few weeks later." So starts a short, sharp letter entitled "Dear Foundation People" from Nancy Lublin, CEO of Do Something Inc. and founder of Dress for Success. It makes you laugh, it makes you cry. OK, maybe it won't do either of those things, but it sure cracked a wry smile from me.
—Julia  In the arguments about nonprofits operating more like business, I sometimes find my feathers ruffled by the limitations of this seemingly black and white debate. There are differences between not and for-profit entities so not all typical business practice translates successfully into the nonprofit world, but there are business strategies that do help nonprofits be more successful. One of the proponents of nonprofits running like businesses, Dan Pallotta, wrote a piece I agree with on his “Free the Nonprofits” Blog at Harvard Business Publishing. Here he talks about “getting to scale” (another buzz phrase used a lot these days). It is not, as many seem to think, getting a nonprofit to the point of self-sustainability.
Instead, Pallotta defines scale as responding to the big problems with responses as large as what they need. “What good is it to have a bunch of nonprofits that are able to sustain themselves, if they are only large enough to address .001% of the problem?”, he asks. A big, hairy audacious goal and organizations large enough to achieve those goals in ten, twenty years, are needed to address big, hairy problems like homelessness, hunger, racism, healthcare, poverty, and education. Getting to scale means changing the nonprofit community significantly, but changemakers are what both funders and nonprofit leaders should be. —Julia  One of my favorite philanthropy blogs is Albert Ruesga’s White Courtesy Telephone: News, Opinions and Commentary from Inside the Third Sector. My commitment to this blog may be partially due to the fact that I’ve known Albert for many years (currently he is President & CEO of the Greater New Orleans Community Foundation), but mostly it’s because I appreciate his sense of humor and his insights. An entry about social justice philanthropy (“what’s your favorite shade of pinko?”) has a short paragraph describing how social justice philanthropy can vary:
“Our work in social justice philanthropy will differ primarily along five axes: (1) our definition of social justice, (2) our goals, (3) our analysis of the problem we choose to address, (4) our choice of strategy and tactics, and (5) the values that animate our work.” This list of five axes could apply to grantmaking about any issue or from any construct. As a grantmaker, you should ask yourself if you have thoroughly thought out:
—Julia |
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Julia Kittross | Philanthropy Sherpas
Julia@PhilanthropySherpas.com | www.PhilanthropySherpas.com | 206.334.7995
Julia@PhilanthropySherpas.com | www.PhilanthropySherpas.com | 206.334.7995