Foundations and charities both aim to ensure a positive social impact. As such, the relationship between the two is crucial for achieving their shared goals. Building a fruitful partnership requires understanding, trust, mutual engagement and, perhaps most of all, recognizing that power imbalances exist and need to be addressed.
As a foundation or fonds de dotation here are four things you can do to help build a solid partnership:
Put Yourself in Their Shoes
Empathy is crucial in understanding the challenges faced by charity partners. Funders need to get a better understanding of the on-the-ground realities of non-profits, taking into consideration their perspective, lack of resources, and constraints. Charities often face issues such as limited staff, tight budgets and administrative obligations imposed by funders, all the while struggling to meet the high demand for their services.
Check Your Biases at the Door
If the foundations and fonds de dotation have philanthropic expertise, charities have, for their part, professional expertise linked to their respective fields. A foundation or endowment fund can “challenge” them and support them in certain areas of skill development. However, philanthropists should also listen to their charity partners; their knowledge of the populations they serve, the reality in the field, and what actions are needed. This approach not only recognizes their know-how, but also promotes a more collaborative environment.
Be Mindful of the Power Dynamic
The power dynamic between funders and charities can often mirror situations like job interviews, bank loan requests, or for the entrepreneurs among you, going for seed funding. Charities can feel immense pressure to meet the expectations of funders. Foundations should strive to minimize this imbalance by creating a more equitable relationship. There are many donation strategies that aim to reduce such inequalities, for example trust-based philanthropy, or open philanthropy.
Instilling Trust and Building Relationships
Trust is the foundation of any strong partnership. To build trust, foundations and fonds de dotation should engage in open communication, transparency, and where they can, provide consistent support. Visiting a charity's operations allows foundations to gain a deeper understanding of their partners' work and helps build stronger connections. These visits should be seen as opportunities to learn and collaborate rather than to inspect and judge.
That’s all Well and Good. But How Can I Put These Four Steps into a Practical Action-Plan?
Trust-based and open philanthropy strategies are born from the desire to level the funder/fundee playing field. By aligning your foundation or fonds de dotation’s management and funding approach one or both of these strategies, you can help foster innovation, reduce administrative burdens, and enhance the overall impact of charitable work. Specifically:
Streamline Application Processes: Simplify grant applications to reduce the administrative burden on charities. Shorter applications and more conversational evaluations such as site visits can just as, if not more, effective.
Provide Flexible Funding: Offer unrestricted grants that allow charities to use funds where they are most needed. This flexibility can significantly enhance their ability to respond to unplanned or changing challenges.
Engage in Regular Dialogue: Maintain ongoing communication with charity partners. Regular check-ins and feedback sessions help ensure that both parties are aligned and allows for issues to be addressed promptly.
Support Capacity Building: Invest in the capacity of your charity partners. This could include funding for staff development, infrastructure, and other essential resources that enable them to operate more efficiently.
Commit to Long-Term Partnerships: Establish multi-year funding agreements to provide charities with stability. This long-term commitment can empower them to plan and execute their strategies more effectively and waste less time on fundraising… that if we’re completely honest with ourselves, few foundations accept to fund in the first place!
To sum up
Building a successful relationship between foundations and charities requires empathy, respect, and a commitment to equity. As a foundation, if you’d like to see things from the non-profit’s perspective (and are open to some constructive criticism offered up with a good dose of humor), I suggest taking a look at nonprofitaf.com, and in particular this blog post.
By putting yourself in your partners' shoes, checking your biases, and embracing funding strategies that foster equity such as open philanthropy and trust-based philanthropy, you and your foundation or fonds de dotation can foster more productive and impactful collaborations.
If you would like to discuss how your foundation or fonds de dotation can better adopt these practices don’t hesitate to contact me.