Philanthropy Confidential #3: The Mailbag

• 00:08: GO VALKS.

• 00:28: This is actually not my octopus.  It was put in my office, which is now a repository of bizarre items on my desk placed by prankers to befuddle me.  Here is how I found said octopus:

• 01:57: On a serious note, I believe it is the responsibility of every program officer to landscape gathering places of foundations and high net worth individuals and invite others in (when appropriate).  I think this should be on every program officer’s job description.

• 02:25: To be transparent, I also issued 3-year grants and asked for a proposal for renewal. However, I positioned the practice as an opportunity for grantees to reflect on their previous grants, plan for the future, and guaranteed funding on the other side of the proposal. I’m sure that process was slightly irritating as well. I wish funders (and more specifically their boards) would approve application-less “grant extensions” or have longer grants that are 7+ years from the onset.  Shout out to the Walter and Elise Haas Fund and the James Irvine Foundation, who engage in this practice. 

• 03:25: My actual answer to the flawed binary posed by Communications Claire: I choose Whataburger.

• 04:28: Online dating is masochistic suffering. Do you really want to do this with funders?  If you really do, the specific level of collaboration required is a centralized portal where a critical mass of funders post their RFPs.  A girl can dream, but I still peruse foundation websites where funders still bury their Application_final_updated4.25_final_final_docx.pdf in the inner bowels of their website.  The next level of this is developing unified criteria (Common App-style), which I previously wrote is really difficult.  With that said, I welcome pilots like this one who are trying something out.

• 05:00: I am looking forward to doing this again with another funder soon! Stay tuned.

Thank you for watching, reading, and supporting my quest to bring more transparency to philanthropy.  Hearing from you has become a source of insight and inspiration. Please keep them coming. 

That’s a wrap for Philanthropy Confidential for 2025.

See you in the new year.