Connected Philanthropy

This episode centers around the importance and variety of methods for performing nonprofit due diligence in grantmaking. Every foundation is different when it comes to types of documents they collect and how they use the data. Listen to this group discussion to learn what documents your peers are collecting and how they’re using them to better their grantmaking!

Topics:

• What are your foundation’s required due diligence practices?
• Do you use any innovative or unusually revealing methods when researching nonprofits?
• How does this process influence you/your committee’s decision on which organizations receive what type of funding?

Want to see additional resources? Visit resources.foundant.com

Connect with other members of the philanthropic community at Community.foundant.com

Picture this – you were hired to do one job only to find out later that you also have many unexpected "other duties as assigned". What do you do when you are expected to manage tasks and team members in a deadline and priority-driven environment, yet many other tasks and meetings continue to creep up on your calendar?

In this session, we discuss key strategies, tools, and tricks to help you feel more in control of your time so you can manage your projects and programs more effectively. You will walk away with tools and techniques you can use immediately so that your project management role is contributing 100% to your mission.

Topics:

• Identifying internal and external factors that impact our completion of key deliverables
• Strategies to reduce surprises, and maintain greater work efficiencies
• Ideas to balance and prioritize what is currently on your plate with new and unexpected changes
• Tips you can use immediately to take better charge of your time

Speakers:

Linda Howard, PMP, CMC | Founder, Howard Consulting, LLC

Linda helps nonprofit leaders who want to improve the performance of their projects and teams so they can have greater mission impact. Linda is also a Project Management Professional, a Certified Management Consultant, and an Everything DiSC and 5 Behaviors of a Cohesive Team facilitator. On a personal note, Linda is absolutely in love with the outdoors and can often be found wandering in the woods, kayaking on a lazy river, or searching for a quiet place to enjoy the next sunset.

Rachel Werner | CEO, RBW Strategy, LLC

Rachel provides grants and project management consulting support to nonprofits, government and business entities. If you are interested in learning how RBW Strategy can maintain and build your organization’s charitable investments through fundraising or project management, please contact us at [email protected] or check out our website.

Want to see additional resources? Visit resources.foundant.com

Connect with other members of the philanthropic community at Community.foundant.com

How does your organization identify and secure resources - cash and in-kind donations - from your community? Perhaps you’ve identified local business support as an untapped source for funding your cause.

Topics:

• Understand the current trends in corporate giving
• Apply these trends to your advantage at the local level
• Assess your internal needs before you begin solicitations
• Implement helpful guidelines when making the ‘ask’
• Utilize the 4 key steps to building a strong corporate solicitation program

Speaker:

Cynthia Adams, Grantstation Founder

Cynthia has been dedicated to helping nonprofit organizations identify and secure the funding they need to do their good work for well over 40 years. She founded GrantStation because she believes that grantseeking requires a thorough understanding of the funders and sound knowledge of the philanthropic playing field. Her life's work has been to level that playing field, creating opportunities for all nonprofit organizations, regardless of size or geographic location, to secure grant support.

Want to see additional resources? Visit resources.foundant.com

Connect with other members of the philanthropic community at Community.foundant.com

The first wave of funding in response to COVID-19 was largely distributed to nonprofits and businesses for emergency general operating support. As with other emergency situations of national or global scale, successive waves of funding often move beyond immediate needs.

Topics Covered:

• How is second wave funding adapting to lessons learned and community needs revealed by the pandemic?
• What changes in funding strategy or priority has data revealing the disproportionate effects of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations caused, if any?
• How can funders move beyond normal and use the current crises to get better?

Want to see additional resources? Visit resources.foundant.com

Connect with other members of the philanthropic community at Community.foundant.com

During this Donor Engagement Coffee Talk we cover COVID-19 recovery initiatives looking at the rest of 2020. We identify strategies that are working well in our current climate, and ways in which people are learning and improving.

Questions covered:

• Has your Donor Engagement strategy changed from month 1 to month 4? What’s working, what isn’t?
• What do you deem as your organizations greatest achievement in the current climate? What do you wish you knew before going into this time?
• How are people managing their relationship with their boards? Are their questions/concerns different? What’s your approach?
• Sector by Sector Impact – are you seeing donors more/less interested in different areas? Are they still funding their favorite pet projects or shifted focus to human services?
• What does next step in COVID-19 response look like?

This forum brings professionals from across the sector together to share experiences and best practices.

Want to see additional resources? Visit resources.foundant.com

Connect with other members of the philanthropic community at Community.foundant.com

With unique business needs and processes, foundations often have to look outside their own organization for help. Listen to your accounting peers discuss where they go for additional resources.

Topics:

• Outsourced accounting services and outcomes
• Outsourced CIOs, investment custodians, and local investment managers
• Where to find relevant Continuing Professional Education

Want to see additional resources? Visit resources.foundant.com

Connect with other members of the philanthropic community at Community.foundant.com

As cities begin to re-open and communities regroup across the country, our day-to-day work may look different than we’d envisioned. Upcoming conversations with trustees and grantees could indicate that new funding strategies and partnerships will be necessary in light of lessons learned during the pandemic.

Listen to your peers as they share their experiences emerging from the immediate crisis.

Topics Covered:

• What will the next phase mean for funder strategies? Will things remain the same, or has COVID-19 changed the way you partner with grantees?
• What changes are being considered relative to how you work day-to-day?
• How can you bring lessons learned to light when you are not a decision-maker at your organization?

Want to see additional resources? Visit resources.foundant.com

Connect with other members of the philanthropic community at Community.foundant.com

Workplace burnout isn’t just a “thing” to get over. It is real and recognized by the World Health Organization’s International Classification of Diseases with real impacts on professionals everywhere.

But is it real in the grants profession? And is it as rampant as it seems?

Three burnout survivors -- Trish Bachman, GPC, Bethany Planton, GPC, and Johna Rodgers, GPC -- joined forces to research the prevalence of burnout in the grants field. In this empathy- and humor-riddled episode, the trio will share their own twist-filled journeys through burnout along with their research and strategies on how to prevent it from happening to you.

Listeners will learn how to:

• Define burnout in the workplace, as well as in the grants profession.
• Identify the common symptoms of burnout in grant professionals.
• Identify strategies to combat stress in the workplace.

SPEAKERS:

Bethany Planton, GPC, SMS | Founder and CEO, bmpconsulting

Bethany got her start in the grant field as an AmeriCorps VISTA member in 2011 and went on to become the Founder and CEO of bmpconsulting. She also serves as the Communications Coordinator for the Kentucky Chapter of the Grant Professionals Association. She loves reading and talking about it in bmpconsulting's nonprofit book nook, traveling (anywhere and everywhere), and cheering on The Ohio State Buckeyes. Follow her on Twitter @bethanymplanton.

Trish Bachman, GPC | Owner and Lead Consultant, The Write Stuff Delaware LLC

Trish’s grant journey began with a volunteer assignment with Mothers Against Drunk Driving and an online writing course. Since then, Trish has worked in every aspect of grant program management, design, implementation, and reporting. She received the Certified Grant Writer credential in 2014 and earned the Grant Professionals Certified credential in 2017. Today, she serves as president of the GPA Delmarva Chapter.

Johna Rodgers, GPC | Founder, Johna Rodgers Consulting, LLC

Johna Rodgers, GPC, has been there and done that. And almost every step of her divergent path included grants. For nearly 30 years, Johna has helped organizations of all types and sizes address their most critical needs—at the federal, state, corporate, and grassroots levels. In 2015, she opened Johna Rodgers Consulting, LLC, a full-service consulting agency. With more than $162 million in grant awards, she has the competitive experience needed to ensure proposals are fundable; as importantly, she has learned to work efficiently with dozens of partners and their conflicting ideas, missions, and concerns. Johna is a Board Member of the Grant Professional Association (GPA), a member of the National Grant Management Association, a national trainer for Grant Writing USA/Grant Management USA, and a GPA Approved Trainer. She is also a former board member and exam administrator for the Grant Professionals Certification Institute (GPCI).

Want to see additional resources? Visit resources.foundant.com

Connect with other members of the philanthropic community at Community.foundant.com

Clear, compelling writing is vital to all your on-the-job writing projects - not just grant proposals. In this value-packed episode, you'll learn simple, powerful, and often overlooked techniques that will have you writing more clearly, quickly, and confidently - right away.

Topics:

• The big myths and misconceptions that could be sabotaging your writing
• Three fundamental strategies for getting your message across clearly
• Key techniques and tools to help you get the results you want
• Advice from the top writing pros on editing, proofreading, and revising

SPEAKER:

Maryn Boess, Founder and Principal Trainer, GrantsMagic U

Over her 20+ year career in the nonprofit world, Maryn has been an on-staff program developer and grant writer; an independent grants consultant; a grants project manager; a grants trainer; a grants reviewer, author, speaker, mentor and coach; and - yes - for the past 9 years, even a grantmaker. Grants Magic U, launched in fall 2015, is the "virtual academy" she created to make her extensive portfolio of practical and inspiring trainings on successful grantsmanship available (and affordable!) for anyone, anytime, anywhere.

Want to see additional resources? Visit resources.foundant.com

Connect with other members of the philanthropic community at Community.foundant.com

This is the third discussion on how donor management has changed in the wake of COVID-19.

Topics Covered:

• Funding in the future- Has anyone started thinking about the next 16-18 months?
• Donor Fatigue- How to prevent it
• Donor Engagement

Want to see additional resources? Visit resources.foundant.com

Connect with other members of the philanthropic community at Community.foundant.com