High-Engagement Philanthropy: a Bridge To
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High-Engagement Philanthropy: A Bridge to a More Effective Social Sector Perspectives from Nonprofit Leaders and High-Engagement Philanthropists High-Engagement Philanthropy: A Bridge to a More Effective Social Sector is the fourth report in a series produced by Venture Philanthropy Partners (VPP) and Community Wealth Ventures. VPP is committed to sharing knowledge for the benefit of those who are helping—or exploring new tools to help—nonprofit organizations become stronger, more effective, and more enduring. VPP’s reports survey the fields of venture philanthropy and high-engagement grantmaking, and they offer new research and tools to advance management practices in the nonprofit sector. Prior reports in this series include: Venture Philanthropy 2002: Advancing Nonprofit Performance Through High-Engagement Grantmaking Venture Philanthropy 2001: The Changing Landscape Venture Philanthropy 2000: Landscape and Expectations These reports are available in PDF format at www.vppartners.org. High-Engagement Philanthropy: A Bridge to a More Effective Social Sector Perspectives from Nonprofit Leaders and High-Engagement Philanthropists Prepared by Community Wealth Ventures, Inc. Venture Philanthropy Partners (VPP), a nonprofit philanthropic investment organization, is working to improve the lives of children from low-income communities by pursuing two interrelated goals. First, VPP provides growth capital and strategic assistance to build, strengthen, and scale high potential community-based organizations serving the core developmental, learning, and educational needs of children of low-income families in the National Capital Region. Second, VPP joins with others in our field to inspire philanthropists, corporate and nonprofit leaders, and public policymakers at the local, state, and national level to help increase the effectiveness and flow of capital, talent, and other resources to nonprofit organizations meeting the core needs of children. High-Engagement Philanthropy: A Bridge to a More Effective Social Sector Perspectives from Nonprofit Leaders and High-Engagement Philanthropists Copyright 2004 by Venture Philanthropy Partners, Inc. All rights reserved. Venture Philanthropy Partners 1201 15th Street, NW Suite 420 Washington, DC 20005 www.vppartners.org Prepared by Community Wealth Ventures Designed by Comella Design Group 2 Contents 1. Acknowledgments 4 2. High-Engagement Philanthropy: A Bridge to a More Effective Social Sector 7 By Mario Morino and Bill Shore 3. Dialogues with Nonprofit Leaders and High-Engagement Philanthropists 23 The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation and Harlem Children’s Zone 23 Venture Philanthropy Partners and Heads Up 37 NewSchools Venture Fund, New Profit Inc. and New Leaders for New Schools 55 The Rockefeller Foundation and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative 73 Robin Hood Foundation and The HOPE Program 89 The Center for Venture Philanthropy of the Peninsula Community Foundation 105 and lead partners in the Assets For All Alliance 4. A Special Acknowledgment 118 3 Acknowledgments Venture Philanthropy Partners and Community Wealth Ventures are grateful to many for their contributions, guidance, insights, and critiques. We thank each of those who contributed in some way, including the funders and nonprofit leaders who participated in the six dialogues; the advisory board, whose expertise and guidance were critical to this publication overall; the experts and thought leaders who provided valuable critiques and commentary for the essay; and the CWV and VPP staffs who worked behind the scenes to make this all possible. We appreciate and acknowledge the time and thoughtful guidance that these individuals provided. This publication is markedly better because of their advice and involvement. Advisory Board: The advisors helped guide this effort from inception, providing advice on the organizations to include, critiquing the content, and advising the process at key points along the way. Christine W. Letts, Rita S. Hauser Lecturer in the Practice of Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership and Associate Director of the Hauser Center for Nonprofit Organizations, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University; Catherine Muther, Founder and President, Three Guineas Fund; Les Silverman, Director, McKinsey & Company; Edward Skloot, Executive Director, Surdna Foundation; Donna Stark, Director of Leadership Development, Annie E. Casey Foundation; and Patty Stonesifer, Co-chair & President, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. Dialogue Participants: The philanthropists and nonprofit leaders gave significant time to meet, discuss their experiences, and work with us to cull down the transcripts to produce the six dialogues in the report. We espe- cially acknowledge and thank them for their openness and invaluable candor. In addition to the philanthropists and nonprofit leaders noted below, we extend our appreciation to others in these organizations who helped in the editing and condensing of the transcripts. Michael Bailin, President, and Nancy Roob, Vice President, of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation; and Geoffrey Canada, President/CEO, Harlem Children’s Zone; Fred Bollerer, Partner, and Mario Morino, Chairman, of Venture Philanthropy Partners; Darin McKeever, Co-Founder and Executive Director, and Vincent Pan, Co-Founder and former Executive Director, of Heads Up; Vanessa Kirsch, Founder & President, New Profit Inc.; Kim Smith, Co-Founder & CEO, and Joanne Weiss, Managing Partner, of the NewSchools Venture Fund; and Jon Schnur, Co-Founder & CEO, New Leaders for New Schools; Charles Gardner, Associate Director for Health Equity, and Kenneth Prewitt, former Senior Vice President, of the Rockefeller Foundation; Seth Berkley, President & CEO, IAVI; and Paul Klingenstein, General Partner, Aberdare Ventures; Joe Daniels, Manager, Special Projects, Suzi Epstein, Director, Job Training & Domestic Violence, and Michael Park, Director, Management Assistance, of the Robin Hood Foundation; and Barbara Edwards Delsman, Executive Director, The HOPE Program; and Carol Welsh Gray, Executive Director, and Margot Rawlins, Program Manager, of the Center for Venture Philanthropy; Judith Davila, Manager of Housing and Community Development, Human Services Agency, San Mateo County Government; Jane Hills, Manager of Housing Services, Catholic Charities of Santa Clara County; Sonia Delgado Villa, Program Manager, and Eric Weaver, Founder & Executive Director of Lenders For Community Development. 4 Acknowledgments Essay Reviewers: In addition to valuable input from the Advisory Board and dialogue participants, we were also fortunate to be able to involve other thought leaders who provided a strong critique and remarkable input that helped shape and refine the lead essay. As we note in the essay, while these reviewers did not always agree with us, and bear no responsibility for what follows, they were generous with their opinions and no doubt made this report more focused, balanced, and fair than it would otherwise have been. Shari Berenbach, Executive Director, Calvert Social Investment Foundation; William M. Dietel, Chairman and Director, The F.B. Heron Foundation; Jed Emerson, Senior Fellow, The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation; Katherine Fulton, President, The Monitor Institute; Peter Goldberg, President and Chief Executive Officer, The Alliance for Children and Families; Clara Miller, President & CEO, Nonprofit Finance Fund; Frederick T. Miller, President, The Chatham Group, Inc.; Richard C. O’Sullivan, Assistant Director, The Listening Post Project, Johns Hopkins University; George M. Overholser, Senior Vice President, North Hill Ventures; Lester M. Salamon, Founding Director and Principal Research Scientist, Institute for Policy Studies, Director, Center for Civil Society Studies, Johns Hopkins University; and Bruce Trachtenberg, Director, Office of Communications, Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. CWV and VPP Team: The production and dissemination of the report was a joint effort of the Community Wealth Ventures and Venture Philanthropy Partners teams. Alfred Wise and Bill Shore directed the dialogue development, which represented the lion’s share of the effort over the past year. The team also supported Mario Morino and Bill Shore’s work to develop the essay, and handled all of the behind-the-scenes production, distribution, website development, and communications. Their effort and commitment to producing a quality publication and ensuring it reaches its intended audiences are most appreciated. Bill Shore, Chairman, Alfred Wise, Managing Director, Ed Barker, Senior Consultant, and Amy Gleason, Senior Consultant, of Community Wealth Ventures; and Cheryl Collins, Vice President, and Suzy Twohig, Manager, Communications, of the Morino Institute; Victoria Vrana, Chief Knowledge Officer, and Manon Matchett, Office Manager, of Venture Philanthropy Partners; and Liz Wainger of Liz Wainger Communications. 5 6 High-Engagement Philanthropy: A Bridge to a More Effective Social Sector By Mario Morino, Chairman of Venture Philanthropy Partners, and Bill Shore, Chairman of Community Wealth Ventures High-Engagement Philanthropy: A Bridge to a More Effective Social Sector The central point The funders and nonprofit leaders in this report, like many others in the field, seek to contribute to a more effective social sector. At the core of increased effectiveness and growth of nonprofit organizations is funding. Yet the way we fund nonprofits often prevents them from achieving what they could