Philanthropy Needs To Trust Nonprofits Now More Than Ever
COVID-19 is undoubtedly the largest global crisis we have faced in our generation, and we don’t yet know what the full ripple effects of this pandemic will be. While local and state leadership mandate the necessary declarations and policies to keep our communities stable and safe, philanthropic leadership too can step up in support of our nonprofit partners.
In times of crisis, trust and collaboration are essential. We urge the philanthropic community to consider how a trust-based approach can be a particularly effective way to support nonprofit partners in concrete, meaningful ways.
Here’s how each of the trust-based principles apply during this time of crisis:
Give Multi-Year, Unrestricted Funding: Unrestricted funding is particularly important right now, especially as nonprofits grapple with unforeseen challenges that extend far beyond project deliverables. A number of foundations around the country, including the Ford Foundation and New Century Trust, have pledged to unrestrict project grants. By putting a simple written amendment on current grant agreements, you can help nonprofits use your grant money to alleviate unforeseen financial burdens, such as offering extra sick leave to staff who are not well, recouping costs from canceled fundraiser events, or addressing other unexpected needs.
Do the Homework: Check your grantee partners’ websites and social media profiles to see how they’re responding to the pandemic, especially if they happen to work in direct response fields like healthcare, elderly care, workers’ rights, childcare, or food security. Look into whether they’ve had to cancel any significant events, and do your due diligence to see how you might help them during a tough time.
Simplify and Streamline Paperwork: Consider ways to alleviate stress on already-stretched staff by delaying reporting and application deadlines (Barr, Surdna, Heinz, and others are already doing this). Even better, you can consider adding an extra year of funding to current grants and allowing grantees to forgo immediate reporting altogether (shout out to Robert Sterling Clark Foundation for this amazing offer). If you’re offering rapid response funds to help nonprofits manage the crisis, keep the application process as streamlined as possible so that you can move the money quickly, where it’s needed most.
Be Transparent and Responsive: Be proactive in informing your grantee partners how you’re responding to the crisis, and anticipating what questions they may have. For a personal touch, consider offering “office hours” (hat tip to The Whitman Institute, Robert Sterling Clark, and Durfee), where grantee partners can check in with you if they have a need or a concern they want to talk about. Remember, many nonprofits are worried about how the stock market is going to affect foundations’ giving, so be ready to share whether the impending recession is going to affect your giving (or not).
Solicit & Act on Feedback: When you reach out to grantees, ask them what they need from you, what they are most concerned about, and what would be most helpful right now. For example, one of Fels Fund’s immediate actions in light of this crisis was to reach out to its grantee partners for input on how they should respond. This is a critical time to listen to grantee partners so that we can understand the realities they are facing, and recognize the role we, as funders, can play in supporting them through this crisis.
Offer Support Beyond the Check: In addition to being empathetic and willing to listen. there are some very practical ways you can offer support beyond the check. For example, Durfee Foundation invited grantee partners to share with each other “what I have / what I need” to foster a sense of community and peer sharing. Another great example came from the Hazen Foundation, which is offering to cover one-year Zoom memberships for virtual meetings, and inspiring many other funders to follow suit. Bottom line: Use your means and your connections to do what is most urgently needed for your nonprofit partners.
In addition to these concrete steps funders can take to support our nonprofit colleagues, we must also look internally to make sure we’re practicing humane work policies towards our own institutional staff and contractors. Sometimes, as our friends at The Whitman Institute point out, this might be something as simple as giving ourselves and colleagues the permission to pause.
One silver lining of a moment like this is the incredible humanity that connects and unites us all. If we can work together, listen to each other, and trust one another, we will be able to weather this storm together.