Scaling Solutions Toward Shifting Systems Index
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SCALING SOLUTIONS TOWARD SHIFTING SYSTEMS INDEX 2 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY 6 INTRODUCTION 8 THE PROCESS 10 FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 11 RECOMMENDATION #1: EMPOWER 12 CAMFED 13 HEALTH LEADS 14 MARINE STEWARDSHIP COUNCIL 15 RECOMMENDATION #2: ACCELERATE 16 FE Y ALEGRÍA 17 B LAB 18 LAST MILE HEALTH 19 RECOMMENDATION #3: LEARN 20 ONE ACRE FUND 22 CERES 23 RECOMMENDATION #4: COLLABORATE 24 OCEANS 5 25 PROXIMITY DESIGNS 26 RECOMMENDATION #5: STREAMLINE 27 CRISIS TEXT LINE 28 ROOT CAPITAL 30 THE WAY FORWARD 32 REFERENCES 34 WEBSITES 3 SCALING SOLUTIONS TOWARD SHIFTING SYSTEMS This report was authored by Heather Grady, Kelly Diggins, Joanne Schneider and Naamah Paley Rose. We are grateful to the Steering Group members and featured organizations who reviewed drafts and made many helpful comments. September 2017 Scaling Solutions Toward Shifting Systems Executive Summary Many funders are on a constant of the complex context in which quest to have more impact—to be their funds are used, and use sure that the funds they deploy are that understanding to support making a meaningful diference. grantees better.1 Related to this is Over the last few years funders a focus on shifting from funding have begun to focus more on individual projects to supporting their own practices, not just those more sustained, deeper-level of grantees, in creating impact. transformations in society. Practitioners and researchers are exploring 1) how funders must In this spirit, Rockefeller work with grantees and investees Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) was as true partners, not just recipients engaged by the Skoll Foundation, of funds and ideas, 2) how to working together with a Steering collaborate more and better with Group composed of the Porticus, other funders in order to achieve Ford and Draper Richards Kaplan greater impact, and 3) how funders Foundations, to encourage funders can gain a deeper understanding to work in more collaborative ways 1 In this report we use the term grantees for those who receive funds, even though many funders refer to them as partners. We also used “grantees and investees” in the Executive Summary to indicate that the report’s analysis and interviews include the impact investing support to social enterprises and revenue-earning nonprofts, but in the rest of the report use the general term “grantees” for ease of reading. 2 Scaling Solutions Toward Shifting Systems ― in which those problems exist—and that is We began by interviewing infuenced partly by how they are funded. nonprofts and social enterprises Such ambition requires funders to operate that have had learning and and support grantees diferently. The success in scaling solutions organizations featured in this report who about their experiences with demonstrate the ability to scale toward funder behavior. shifting systems needed time, trust, and fexibility from their funders. As the Ford Foundation puts it, to make lasting progress in addressing issues like inequality, to place longer-term, adaptive and responsive organizations need robust, sustainable, resources to accelerate scalable solutions to the predictable support, giving them the capacity world’s most pressing problems. The Scaling to seize opportunities and create greater Solutions Steering Group examined when, impact, and the stability it takes to drive how, and why some organizations’ solutions change over the long term.3 have been able to grow at signifcant scale, and achieve the system-level shifts that they and We began by interviewing nonprofts and their funders had anticipated. We wanted to social enterprises that have had learning know more about what internal and external and success in scaling solutions about their factors have mattered most, and what roles experiences with funder behavior. We drew funders and funding played in such cases. on a focused set of respondents, but their perspectives are backed up by what we see as As the Skoll Foundation notes, some both recent and historical successes in scaling organizations are creating innovation solutions that shift systems. To explore the models to drive equilibrium change—the role of funders in supporting grantees to scale disruption of social, economic, and political solutions toward shifting systems, our team forces that enable inequality, injustice, and examined a) paths taken by organizations other thorny social and environmental to scale and shift systems, and how funders problems to persist.2 By disrupting the have supported or constrained them; b) status quo, these organizations open up the non-monetary inputs from funders; c) power space for solutions to take root, scale, and dynamics; d) collaboration on the side of become the foundation of profound social funders; and e) bridging to infuential “system transformation and a more peaceful and actors”, including governments and state prosperous world. Many organizations today authorities, large private sector actors, and are helping to solve seemingly intractable industry associations. problems, and demonstrating the possibility of moving beyond incremental change to real transformation. But their success rests in their ability to shift the complex systems 2 http://skoll.org/about/approach 3 For more information see the Ford Foundation’s BUILD program. https://www.fordfoundation.org/work/our-grants/building-institutions-and-networks/ 3 Scaling Solutions Toward Shifting Systems There were powerful intersections between “Actionable knowledge already exists. The what we heard from grantees and how funders problem is not what we don’t know – it’s want to respond to these imperatives. Of the what we know and don’t use. We must move 100+ funders who responded to the invitation away from our traditional project orientation to explore these issues over the past year, toward a transformation orientation that there were signifcant areas of consensus. places a high value on relationships, real-time Clear recommendations for action emerged fexibility, and developmental evaluation.”4 which we are now exploring with a larger group of funders. They can be summarized as: This report summarizes the learning of our frst year. The real work starts now, as we Empower: delve more deeply into how we can reach a Consciously shift power dynamics with wider circle of funders who are committed to grantees. both shifting their own behavior, and serving as examples for the broader community in the Accelerate: months and years to come. This is an open Hold active and honest discussions with source initiative that is also an imperative. grantees about strategic non-monetary We hope others will join us on this journey. support. Learn: Develop more knowledge on shifting systems, and when and how to support grantees in that efort. Collaborate: Share intel with other funders. Streamline: Redesign grantmaking processes. These fndings and recommendations are highly consistent with the work of leading thinkers in large-scale system transformation. As Michael Quinn Patton, a program evaluation expert, recently said ― “Actionable Knowledge already exists. The problem is not what we don’t Know - it’s what we Know and don’t use.” 4 Michael Quinn Patton, Transformations 2017 Conference. Developmental Evaluation is an evaluation approach that can assist social innovators develop social change initiatives in complex or uncertain environments. http://www.betterevaluation.org/en/plan/approach/developmental_evaluationDescribe 4 PARTNER FOUNDATIONS’ PRESENCE WHO WE ARE While small in number, collectively our fve solutions have demonstrated the ability to institutions have offces in 25 cities, and a funding shift large-scale, complex systems. The Skoll footprint that covers most countries of the Foundation portfolio alone represents roughly world. We represent decades of grantmaking $500 million in total funding to date, largely to experience, and two of the organizations represent 100 organizations in 177 countries globally. The family giving over more than a century. Even work of our grantees has informed our approaches more important, our aggregate portfolios have and perspectives as funders. supported many organizations whose innovative Scaling Solutions Toward Shifting Systems Introduction Why This Efort and Why Now? In the quest for impact, for many achieve greater impact, and years the focus was almost solely 3) how funders can gain a deeper on detailed measurement of the understanding of the complex work of grantees. The philanthropy context in which their funds are sector’s discourse was dominated used, and use that understanding by how to more rigorously or to support grantees better. extensively measure the success of individual projects, and whether that A growing number of funders served the funders’ aims and needs. are looking at how to shift from More recently the discourse has funding individual projects to changed to emphasize the funders’ supporting more sustained, role as well, specifcally 1) how deeper-level transformations funders must work with grantees in society. This is illustrated by and investees as true partners, not a number of approaches, from just recipients of funds and ideas, funding social change—a long- 2) how to collaborate more and standing practice of a small but better with other funders in order to committed proportion of funders— 6 Scaling Solutions Toward Shifting Systems to newer approaches variously called funding By disrupting the status quo, social systems change, collective impact strategies, entrepreneurs open up the space for transformative fnance, and philanthropy solutions to take root, scale,