By Howard Knoll, Senior Director, Casey Family Programs
Families who take seasonal driving trips often fall into two categories—those who want to get to their destination in the quickest time and those who want to take the “scenic route” and don’t consider time something to be conquered.
In philanthropy, it is easy to view ourselves as those who want to get to our destination in the most direct way. We are often knowledgeable about the issues and rely on nonprofit organizations to do the work and show results in a timely manner. This summer, a group of foundations that make up the New York Juvenile Justice Initiative decided to step back, take a “leap of faith,” and take a “road less traveled.” We asked ourselves this question: “How can foundations create organizational structures that support a youth voice in our work?” We can by engaging youth—so that we can look at particular issues through the lens of someone who has been personally impacted. This is not news to service providers, but it may be a developing area of work for foundations. And engaging foundation leaders so that they can develop that process step in their grantmaking can positively influence their perspectives on grants and awards.
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Engagement Snapshot: A Strategic Approach
Published November 28, 2011 Commentaries , Program Recaps Leave a CommentTags: Beeta Jahedi, EngAGEment, Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, FJC – A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds, Grantmakers In Aging, John A. Hartford Foundation, Robert Hyfler
By Beeta Jahedi, Assistant Manager, Professional Education, Philanthropy New York and Robert Hyfler, EngAGEment Initiative Program Consultant, Philanthropy New York
(This post originally appeared on the Forum’s Forum, the blog of the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, on November 21, 2011 and is reprinted with permission.)
It was with great enthusiasm that Philanthropy New York signed on to the EngAGEment initiative and the funding partnership with Grantmakers In Aging. Philanthropy New York and our local co-funders, the John A. Hartford Foundation, the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation, and FJC – A Foundation of Philanthropic Funds, quickly developed a senior staff working group to develop our local approach to the challenge of increasing foundation funding in age-related issues. A three-pronged strategy emerged: Continue reading…