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I want to update you on the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina's grantmaking implementation plan for 2013 which is the next phase of the Catalytic Philanthropy strategy.
The term “Catalytic” philanthropy refers to the opportunity for Foundation grants to become more intentional and more focused thereby having greater impact in our communities around the state. With great excitement, we have begun the next phase of our Catalytic philanthropy implementation strategy.
After 16 years of grantmaking, in 2011 the Foundation transitioned from Responsive Grantmaking to Strategic Grantmaking with the support of the Foundation’s Grants Committee. This transition was made to insure that going forward, the Foundation would have greater impact with the grant dollars we are investing.
Over time, we have learned that with limited resources for grants, it is extremely difficult and often unproductive to take too broad of an approach in awarding grants. In essence, we cannot be “all things to all people” and also have substantive impact. Looking back over the old responsive program, we were rejecting more than 80% of the applicants because they either did not meet our mission/focus or their programs/applications were too weak. This further justified the importance of the Carolina Academy and capacity building emphasis. The 2012 strategic grants were different. Our review team and the Grants Committee looked not only for good programs but for programs that have broader community impact, a strategy for partnerships, a viable sustainability plan, and have the ability to affect long term change.
In 2013, it is clear that the Foundation will have to be more focused than ever before. With limited dollars we will be better served to focus our efforts on current and/or past grantees that have demonstrated measurable success already. By investing more deeply and for a longer period of time on this identified pool of grantees that align with the Foundation's strategic direction, we can build on the investments we have already made. Doing so would allow the Foundation to make impactful strides in meeting goal three of our strategic plan: To sharpen the focus of our grantmaking to organizations that create opportunities for families to live out of poverty in South Carolina.
This year, our pool for consideration will be from current and/or past grantees that have demonstrated success through the Foundation’s investment. Following discussion with each of them and a completed organizational summary update, we will bring the best organizations forward for funding. These organizations will be positioned to move their programs to a greater level of measurable success. Moreover, the Foundation's investment will further strengthen the grantees capacity, support their strategic direction, connect them with other potential partners, foster sustainability, and position them for growth and success. The beauty of this change in direction is that the Foundation can be dynamic and flexible while learning valuable lessons that will have significant future benefit.
This plan, for now, is for 2013 and the Grants Committee will re-visit this Strategic Grants program late next year to assess the process and determine how to proceed going forward.
Our Caritas Grants will remain open and the Foundation expects to award 50-60 grants in this category next year.
We thank you for your interest in the work of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina. We are excited about another fulfilling year as we continue to meet the Mission of the Sisters.
Thank you.
Tom Keith, President
Foundations today are in a tough spot and they have been in a tough spot for a few years. Since 2008, foundations have dealt with financial constraints they have not experienced in many years. From the outside looking in, most people feel that foundations have a large asset base and plenty of fluid resources to distribute into the community. This is not true. In 2008 and 2009, most foundations lost at least 25% of their asset value and some lost as much as 40%. This has a huge impact in many different ways. It causes a more conservative approach to grant making, less dollars to grant and likely fewer dollars in the coming years. It simply adds up to less and less money.
So foundations today must operate differently. No longer can they provide grant dollars at the level they have before. No longer can they count on a growing investment portfolio to sustain their current level of giving, let alone grow.
So how do we meet our goals and mission with less money to offer? The answer is that we must find ways to maximize the dollars we have to work with to garner the best possible outcomes. We must rethink our priorities. Here is what the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina is doing to deal with fewer dollars at a time when the demand for support is at its highest level.
Leverage. Through partnerships with other funders, businesses and government, we try and leverage our money to make more collective dollars available for a common program our project. Collaboration is key, and pooled resources mean more dollars and a higher probability of success.
Policy. There are many issues that affect the poor that we address and advocate for oftentimes voiceless. The individuals and families that benefit from the grants we award can also benefit from our voice with government, community leaders and multiple stakeholders. Public awareness and education is a key component of this effort. Whether it is weighing in on the homeless issue, undocumented immigrants, low income fathers, TANF reauthorization or other important concerns, the Foundation can use its influence to affect public perception and thinking. It is an important role that we play, and can create positive outcomes. Taking a stand on issues affecting our mission is necessary and extremely valuable to us and to others.
Capacity Building and Leadership. Teaching and training nonprofit practitioners to be better at their jobs has become a hallmark strategy, beyond grant making, of this Foundation. By strengthening board and staff’s ability around governance, fund raising, marketing, strategy and leadership, the whole organization benefits and has a strong chance of being more successful and vibrant. It is a small financial investment with the potential for a large return for the nonprofits that participate.
Community Convening. Meeting with community leaders and individuals living in poverty gives us a whole different understanding of how life truly is, in a poor neighborhood or town. Sometimes a Foundation can be the voice of reason and thoughtfulness in a community where leaders have become polarized or the social and political dynamics have become too strong to overcome. Learning from others and sharing with others can be a valuable and important role for the Foundation to play. What you learn can also help drive grant making decisions in the future. Important issues rise to the top at many of these community convenings.
Foundations today must choose their priorities carefully and if they only focus on grants then they are missing an opportunity to have broader impact and greater results. There are not enough dollars available to accomplish what needs to be done to meet our mission and earn the greatest results. Casting our net wider using tools other than grant making makes sense. If we don’t use them, then our results will be limited just like our dollars.
Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina
Philanthropy is often perceived as the all knowing, all deciding sector that can really change the world through strategic decision making and private funding. Foundations have high expectations of grantees including measurable outcomes and the desire for a realistic sustainability plan. However, I am not sure foundations do a good enough job of really surveying the landscape and understanding the depth and breadth of the nonprofit community and, more specifically, the organizations they fund.
Do we really know what other funders are doing for an organization that we fund and do those funds compliment what we are funding or does it work in contrast to what we are funding? It is a deeper question than most foundations won’t necessarily want to tackle, but I believe it is an important one. As an investor in the nonprofit world, we must do everything within our power to protect our investment, clearly understand the pathology of the organization we are invested in and measure our success to insure our investment is providing the return that we expect and deserve.
Long gone are the days when foundations could put money out in the community with the hope that something good happened. With the tough economy and dwindling resources, we are forced to be more focused and intentional with our grants and decision making. This has never been more apparent to me than now as we work on the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina’s Strategic Plan for the future. It requires us to maximize and leverage our funds, have a knowledge based approach to decision making and information sharing and it requires us to do a smaller number of things well. It did not have to be that way ten years ago but it has to be that way today.
Part of the equation is to have our own plan and strategies in place to insure that we know where we are going, but we must also understand the plan and strategies of our nonprofit partners. Where are they going? Do they have the resources to get there? Do they have the infrastructure to take them there? Are we on the same page as other funders or are the investments totally different and possibly contributing to the nonprofit’s organizational schizophrenia?
Our recent hiring of a full time senior research and evaluation director should tell you a lot about where we are headed. Success and failure are measured all the time. It is measured in the classroom, board room, ball fields and in our own personal performance evaluations. We, as a Foundation, are going to measure it more and understand it better. But, we should not live in a vacuum. We must also understand our nonprofit partners and know where they are going and who is helping them get there. If not, we are merely exacerbating the problem and enabling organizational ambiguity. This is not the time for anyone to be doing that.
Tom Keith is the president of the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina
I want to update you on the Sisters of Charity Foundation of South Carolina's grantmaking implementation plan for 2013 which is the next phase of the Catalytic Philanthropy strategy. 
