GRANTMAKING: Aligning a Giving Program with Changing Board Objectives

Changing Objectives
A $6 million, New York City-based private foundation had long sought to improve the lives of poor, inner city children through providing them with access to healthy recreational and outdoor activities, especially summer camp programs. As the second generation gained more control, the board decided that it wanted to place more emphasis on education. Recognizing that even its entire asset base could not improve the city’s public schools, the Foundation asked Philanthropy Advisors to develop a plan that would enable the Foundation to make a positive difference in the education of the poor urban children it served.

Changing Strategy
Staff identified summer learning loss as a key problem for poor urban children. Research has shown that summer learning loss accounts for a significant portion of the achievement gap between low and middle income children and that averting summer learning loss can make a key contribution to getting and keeping poor children at grade level in their reading skills. Philanthropy Advisors staff shared information on summer learning loss and its ramifications with the board, linking it with a new giving strategy that incorporated the Foundation’s traditional support for summer camps. Staff proposed that camp grants would be awarded on the basis not only of the healthy atmosphere and recreational opportunities the camp offered its participants, but also on its literacy program and its plan to avert summer learning loss.

Achieving Results
With the board’s support, Philanthropy Advisors worked with the Foundation’s long-time grantees to help them develop effective programs to prevent summer learning loss and participated in advocacy efforts with community groups to raise awareness of the importance of this issue. Within just a few years, literacy programs have been integrated into the daily activities of many of the camps that serve low-income children from the city. By helping the board identify a way in which its limited resources could have meaningful impact on the education of poor urban children and working with community organizations to leverage additional resources, Philanthropy Advisors ensured that the board’s new desire to pursue an important educational objective achieved valuable results.

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