DONORS WORKING GROUP

Meeting Memo #1
September 26, 2007
Final Version
Purpoe o! Meeting"
1) To review the scope of the donors working group
2) To brainstorm extraordinary individuals and institutional donors to
interview
Preent" Dale facilitator)! "usanna #! "usana $! "arah $! %rin! &anell! 'ancy!
(achel! )eina! $aitlin! %llen discussant)! *ichelle notetaker)!
M##$ING NO$#S
Purpoe o! Donor Wor%ing Group
There will be knowledge gathering process with the donors both institutional and
individual) in the next couple of months+ #ow this knowledge gathering process
will be organi,ed is still to be determined+
There was discussion on if and how to carve out a space in the donors working
group to talk about how to achieve -./0s resource mobili,ation goals+ 1t seems
like -./ is focusing its resource goals on the individual donors team and not so
much on the institutional donors+ 2erhaps the donors working group can use this
space and the knowledge gathering process as a way to gauge behavioral and
attitudinal changes in institutional philanthropy+
Purpoe o! Kno&'e(ge G)t*ering Pro+e
The purpose of this knowledge gathering process with the donors is three3fold 1)
To showcase the ideas imbedded in the strategic planning process and to inform
donors especially institutional donors)4 2) -ather honest feedback from donors
on the strategic planning process as well as -./0s policies and practices4 and 5)
Develop buy3in from donors+
Kno&'e(ge G)t*ering Pro+e
"ome meeting participants expressed that one3on3one interviews might be
effective4 others felt that focus groups could be more a more efficient use of time
while others expressed that focus groups tended to result in uneven participation
and domination of individual participants in the discussion+
There was also discussion around the possibility of using different methodologies
for the different kinds of donors+ 1ndividual donors will want to give their
individual feedback 6 one on one interviews might be best suited for this! while
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focus groups might be a better fit for large foundations+ %llen expressed that she
might do one3on3one interviews with the larger foundations herself+ #owever! no
decision was made on this issue+
The process will be tiered with the first tier dedicated to gathering feedback from
both institutional and individual donors+ "oliciting feedback on -./0s current
grantmaking practices and policies will inevitably lead to investment and
engagement with the process+ 7oth individual and institutional donors already
have developed opinions and insights on -./ philanthropic practices and want
to feel a part of the strategic planning process+ #owever! it was noted that these
interviews should come from a place of strength4 we do not want to focus
interview content on -./0s weaknesses 6 we do not want to give the impression
that we are having difficulties+ 8n the other hand! it is important to also come
from a place of truth3telling and honest insight in order to test their reaction to
the strategic plan+ The second tier of the knowledge gathering process would be
to cultivate donor relationships as a fundraising strategy 6 again! to garner
investment and engagement in the strategic planning process+
There was some concern around how to best structure individual donors0
participation and feedback into the strategic plan+ 1f we are not going to seriously
consider their opinions about the strategic plan! should we even go as far to say
that the strategic plan will be modified to reflect their opinions9 1f we really want
their feedback! then we have to specify which aspects of the strategic plan they
can provide feedback on+ :lso! in order to locate valid trends and patterns in the
;ualitative data! the individual donors sample must be large enough to do so+
*eeting participants also felt that the interview process should include actual
;uestions on their feelings<opinions on -./0s fundraising strategies+ %llen
agreed and thought that those kinds of ;uestions should also be included in the
grantee and advisor surveys+
Donor #(u+)tion
"ome meeting participants saw the interviews as a way to initiate the donor
education idea 6 as something that is emerging from the strategic planning
process+ The interviews could be a way to methodically figure out those traits
and characteristics that make people give to specific issues! causes! and areas
of interest+ :dditionally! the interviews could be a way to gauge if and how the
-lobal .und0s grantmaking philosophy and advocacy has changed institutional
donors0 attitudes and behaviors around grantmaking+ .or instance! have other
foundations shifted their agendas to focus on women0s rights9
$ent)ti,e -it o! Intitution)' Donor )n( .#/tr)or(in)r0 In(i,i(u)'1 to
Inter,ie&
.ord .oundation =ris #arris)! 8ak! 8"1! /ellness "pring 9)! >osh *ailman!
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>une )eikland from /%D8! %ve %nsler! 8prah! 'ancy 2elosi! 7ill $linton!
*aldecott from 7reakthrough! $her &anta! Dennis $usenich! 2aul #opkins!
:nanya (oy and other people from academia+
N#2$ S$#PS
/orking group will review the :ugust ? management meeting memo on
google workspace+
%merging themes as discussed in the :ugust ? document) will be
tested in 'ovember+
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