When I accepted the CEO position at Donors Forum, my friend Kate Maehr, President and CEO of the Greater Chicago Food Depository, gave me a simple and clear directive:
"Create a movement."
Her use of the word “movement” immediately caught my attention because it captures the idea of action and going somewhere exciting. We certainly are at a moment in time when our sector desperately needs to create a movement in Illinois in which social purpose organizations can flex their muscle, promote their value, and maximize their impact.
Donors Forum is eager to lead this movement, working with all of our Members – foundations, providers, advisors, corporations, and the government sector -- and engaging other social purpose organizations to build healthier, safer, and richer communities in Illinois.
As we create this movement, we at Donors Forum promise to:
Of course, your active participation and contributions are critical to the movement’s success. We invite you to:
Let’s get moving, you and Donors Forum, and create a world of possibility and opportunity for all!
I hope to see you at our event in November.
~ Eric Weinheimer, President and CEO, Donors Forum
Eric Weinheimer, 49, takes the helm as President and CEO of Donors Forum on July 1. He succeeds Valerie S. Lies, who retired on June 30 after 27 years in that position.
Eric's selection as the new head of Donors Forum came in March. He comes to Donors Forum from The Cara Program, where since 1996 he served as President and CEO. The Cara Program is a nationally recognized, Chicago-based nonprofit that provides training, job placement, and support services to adults in Chicago struggling with poverty.
Eric is only the third President and CEO of Donors Forum, the Illinois state membership association of grantmakers, nonprofits, and their advisors. Eric is also the first nonprofit practitioner to lead Donors Forum in its 40-year history, particularly noteworthy in light of the organization's long-range goals.
"Now that Eric is on board, we look forward to working with him to build on the strong platform that is already in place," said Donald A. Cooke, Donors Forum Board Chair and Senior Vice President of Philanthropy at the Robert R. McCormick Foundation. "Eric has the energy, skills, and vision to take Donors Forum to the next level and build an active and engaged coalition of partners from the public, private, and nonprofit sectors."
Eric served as President and CEO of The Cara Program for 18 years. Under his leadership, the organization created and secured more than 4,000 transitional and permanent jobs for Cara graduates. Also, The Cara Program founded and established two leading social enterprises -- Cleanslate Chicago and 180 Properties -- to generate revenue and provide employment opportunities and on-the-job training to individuals who have significant obstacles to employment.
Prior to that, he spent ten years in the financial services industry with GE Capital and UBS. He was a member of the 2013 Emerging Leader Program for the Chicago Council on Global Affairs and is a Chicago Community Trust Fellow. In 2012, he was appointed by Illinois Governor Pat Quinn to the Social Innovation, Entrepreneurship, and Enterprise Task Force. Eric serves on the Advisory Board for the Social Enterprise Initiative at The University of Chicago Booth School of Business; and serves on the boards of directors of the Social Enterprise Alliance, Streetwise, and the Oak Park River Forest Community Foundation. He earned an undergraduate degree from Boston College; and M.B.A. from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business, where in 2011 he received the Distinguished Alumni Award for Public Service.
"I am delighted to assume this role at Donors Forum during such an exciting time for our sector," said Eric. "There is so much that Donors Forum can and will do to foster innovation, create value, and maximize impact for our Members, as well as for society at large, and I'm energized to help move the sector forward."
A Fall event is planned to formally introduce Eric to Donors Forum's Members.
~ Marilou Jones, Donors Forum, Director of Strategic Marketing
Donors Forum is pleased to announce a new Board Officer and Board Members for its 2015 Fiscal Year (July 1, 2014 through June 30, 2015):
Deborah Gillespie, Vice President of Finance and Administration and Secretary/Treasurer, The Joyce Foundation, is a new Vice Chair.
New Board Members are DeRondal Bevly, Partner, Social Venture Partners Chicago; Sharon Bush, Elgin Program Director and Senior Program Officer, Grand Victoria Foundation; Evelyn Diaz, Commissioner of the Chicago Department of Family and Support Services; Shelley Stern Grach, Director, Civic Engagement, Microsoft; Diana Hess, Senior Vice President, Spencer Foundation; Mark Ishaug, CEO, Thresholds; and Louise "Wegi" Ferry Stewart, President, Community Foundation of Macon County.
Returning Board Officers are Chair Donald A. Cooke, Senior Vice President of Philanthropy, Robert R. McCormick Foundation; Vice Chair Evette Cardona, Vice President of Programs, Polk Bros. Foundation; Treasurer Tammy Lemke, Vice President of Operations, Advocate Charitable Foundation; and Secretary Ernest Vasseur, Executive Director, Healthcare Foundation of Northern Lake County.
Returning Board Members are Bruce Boyd, Principal and Managing Director, Arabella Advisors; Greg Cameron, Executive Director, The Joffrey Ballet; Patricia Garza, Director, Strategic Philanthropy, Allstate; Gregory S. Gross, President and CEO, Michael Reese Health Trust; Grace Hou, President, Woods Fund of Chicago; Bruce Karmazin, Executive Director, Lumpkin Family Foundation; Iris Krieg, President, Iris Krieg & Associates, Inc.; Nicole Robinson, Senior Director Corporate Community Involvement, Mondelēz International Foundation; K. Sujata, President, Chicago Foundation for Women; and Caren Yanis, President of Crown Family Philanthropies.
Although lagging behind foundations in other states with regard to asset growth, Illinois foundation giving outpaced U.S. foundations overall, says the latest Giving in Illinois report issued today by Donors Forum, in partnership with The Foundation Center.
The report is based on data from 2012 on grants of $10,000 or more that were awarded by foundations in a national sample to recipient organizations in Illinois. The sample included 404 large U.S. foundations, including 48 Illinois foundations. Giving in Illinois reveals the varying ways in which Illinois donors support nonprofits in the arts, health, human services, and several other nonprofit sectors.
Key takeaways from the report include:
Giving by U.S. foundations rose close to 6 percent in 2013 according to Foundation Center, or 4 percent after inflation. While comparable estimates are not available at the state level, the median increase in giving reported by the 39 leading Illinois foundations that
responded to the Foundation center’s annual “Foundation Giving Forecast Survey” was a more modest roughly 3 percent after inflation.
Looking ahead, the Foundation Center projects that independent and family foundations will raise their giving by approximately 7 percent in 2014. Corporate and community foundations are forecasting flatter growth. But in a climate of continued economic recovery, overall foundation giving will undoubtedly climb ahead of inflation.
Download a copy of the report here.
-- Kathleen Murphy
The culmination of Valerie S. Lies’ 27 years as President and CEO of Donors Forum, along with the 40th anniversary of the organization, provided an opportunity to celebrate the accomplishments of the past while looking at the changes that still are needed. Messages at Donors Forum’s 40th Anniversary Luncheon looked at ways the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors can move forward together in stronger partnerships based on learning from the past. The luncheon was the result of creativity and work by Donors Forum 40th Anniversary Committee, headed by Merri Ex, Family Focus, and Ernest Vasseur, Healthcare Foundation of Northern Lake County.
At the luncheon, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan paid tribute to Valerie, saying “There is absolutely no question that the resources and support available to nonprofit organizations in the state have grown tremendously in Valerie’s time at Donors Forum.” She particularly cited the growth of the nonprofit sector and Donors Forum’s partnership with the state as being important to increasing the effectiveness of the sector. “The charitable sector is more robust than ever, and the role of Donors Forum is more critical than ever,” Attorney General Madigan said.
Handy L. Lindsey, former Donors Forum Board Chair (and Board Chair when Valerie was hired in 1987), also paid tribute to Valerie when welcoming her to the Luncheon stage. He described his experience on the search committee that hired Valerie, saying “She was this tiny, blonde bundle of energy and enthusiasm that made the search committee want to stand up and cheer after she left the interview. What she accomplished exceeded what we could have envisioned,” adding that she provided exactly the type of leadership Donors Forum needed.
Mae Hong of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors then led a conversation with Valerie, in which Valerie spoke on her career in philanthropy and with Donors Forum. In thinking about changes over the past decades, Valerie noted that there had been an encouraging increase in gender diversity in the field, but in general the larger work of diversity still needs to be accomplished. Greater diversity of race, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation is needed, and while gender diversity has increased in the philanthropic sector, it has made slower progress in executive suites and boardrooms, Valerie said. She also noted that she would like to see more money supporting programs specifically directed toward women and girls.
Valerie noted that the recent changes to Donors Forum, including the new Membership model and creating more spaces for communication between funders and nonprofits, only happened because of seeds planted years earlier. She said the continuing effort is important: “We need to really think about how we can come together and have different types of substantive conversations about our relationships with each other and how we can work closely on the issues we all care about.”
Valerie also took advantage of the opportunity to talk about some weaknesses she perceived in the philanthropic sector and improvements that could be made. She discussed how the “command-and-control” profile of some foundations, along with their need for detailed evaluation, can lead to problems for nonprofit organizations. “Often what organizations are asked to do around measurement is different from what is really meaningful for them to measure. And grants don’t include costs of evaluation,” she said. “The vast number of organizations work in a complex world, and there are so many factors that are outside of their control. We all know that social change is not expressed in a linear cause-and-effect relationship.” She added that “Funders need to consider how they fund as much as they consider what they fund.”
In her concluding remarks, Valerie gave special thanks to her family for their years of support. She also thanked everyone who had served on Donors Forum’s board during her tenure for their dedication and commitment, and then turned her attention to the vital group that makes Donors Forum work: its Members. “You are Donors Forum. You are why Donors Forum exists. It exists to help you build your capacity, fulfill your mission, advocate for policy, and build an ecosystem that can help us all,” she said. “I loved this work, I loved this community of people. It has been such a privilege to work with you side by side all these years.”
Valerie concluded with a call to action: “It’s up to you. You have to take this organization and activate it for social change, and be a model of how funders, nonprofit organizations, and advisors can work together on the issues that bedevil our work. If you do, this will make an amazing difference.”
-- Jason Hardy, Member Services Support
40th Anniversary Sponsors
Impact
Premier
Platinum Plus
Platinum
Gold
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
Silver
Allstate Insurance Company
Hillshire Brands Foundation
Microsoft
The Albert Pick, Jr. Fund
Pierce Family Foundation
Quarles & Brady LLP
Steans Family Foundation
United Airlines
Walgreens
Bronze
Bank of America
Baxter International Inc.
Chicago Tribune Foundation
Crowe Horwath
D & R Fund
Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
Duchossois Family Foundation
Lloyd A. Fry Foundation
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago
The Joyce Foundation
Kraft Foods Group Foundation
Motorola Solutions
New Prospect Foundation
Peoples Gas
Prince Charitable Trusts
The Seabury Foundation
Wieboldt Foundation
Woods Fund of Chicago
Copper
Advocate Health Care
Alexander Macnab & Co.
Arabella Advisors
Campbell & Company
CCS
The Chicago Bar Foundation
CME Group Foundation
Kellogg School, Center for Nonprofit Management
McDougal Family Foundation
Oppenheimer Family Foundation
Plante Moran
Serve Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service
The Siragusa Foundation
Strategic Philanthropy, Ltd.
VNA Foundation
Wolf & Company LLP
Chicago African Americans in Philanthropy (CAAIP) recently participated in a study about why Black professionals leave grant making institutions. Entitled The Exit Interview, the study was conducted by Association of Black Foundation Executive (ABFE), a philanthropic partnership for Black communities. The report aims to build the field’s collective knowledge of how to attract and retain diverse talent.
Emerging data suggest that the experiences of many Black professionals in grantmaking institutions may challenge the current thinking on the field’s increasing commitment to diversity. Currently, only 3 percent of philanthropic institutions are led by Black chief executives, and the percentage of Black individuals holding trustee positions at philanthropic foundations remains stagnant at 7 percent.
"By changing the face of philanthropy, we overcome an
important hurdle on the way to changing how philanthropy
goes about doing its work." - ABFE, The Exit Interview
In the fall of 2013, ABFE partnered with members of the Black Philanthropic Network to develop the Exit Interview Study, asking approximately 40 present and former Black philanthropic professionals to conduct a traditional “exit interview.”
The information gleaned through the Exit Interview Study is disconcerting, but not suggestive of issues that cannot be addressed through strategic intervention. The report offers recommendations on how the sector might begin to address how to get Black philanthropy professionals to stay put, become effective leaders, and grow to truly influence how philanthropic dollars are targeted.
This statement on our commitment to full-cost funding represents over two years of dialogue and discussion at Donors Forum about the importance of funding overhead costs of nonprofit organizations. Working in Illinois, with foundation and nonprofit leaders, and with others in the field nationally, we are collectively trying to shift the focus away from arbitrary limits on overhead and other organizational expenses in order to focus on measures of nonprofit effectiveness such as outcomes and impact. It is necessary for funders to adopt funding policies and practices that will allow the nonprofit to achieve those desired outcomes, without unrealistic expectations as to what it actually costs to achieve them.
Read Valerie S. Lies' commentary on this issue in the Huffington Post.
This statement represents Donors Forum’s commitment to advocating for full-cost funding of nonprofit outcomes.
What Can Funders Do?
Engage in honest conversation.
Nonprofit organizations and the issues they tackle are complex. There is no single metric that captures an organization’s performance let alone its progress in achieving its mission. Below are a few questions that grantmakers can ask to garner a more complete picture of an organization’s results and potential:
Provide grantees with the support they need.
Grantmakers are critical partners and can be doing more to improve nonprofit performance. Their support enables grantees to invest in training, planning, evaluation, fundraising, and internal systems – the things that allow an organization to sustain itself and deliver better, higher quality programs. Grantmakers can have an immediate impact when they:
Change practices and policies that hinder effectiveness.
Going beyond overhead is also an opportunity for grantmakers to strengthen their own understanding about what it takes for grantees to achieve meaningful results. Below are action steps for grantmakers to consider regarding their own practices:
What will Donors Forum do?
You can download a PDF of this document here.
-- Valerie S. Lies, President and CEO of Donors Forum, 1987 - June 30, 2014
Breaking the nonprofit starvation cycle is not easy, but exciting progress keeps happening. A great deal of change is needed — the mindset that asks nonprofit organizations to get by with little to no administrative expenses has existed for a long time, and nonprofits are accustomed to scaling back, to making do with as little as possible, and surviving while hanging from their fingertips. Even though some organizations do not survive, that has not changed this entrenched mindset.
Now, though, changes are happening all over. Donors Forum convened more than 30 foundation CEOs in May to talk about one such change:
The federal Office of Management and Budget has issued guidance stating that at least ten percent of the money given to grantees should pay for their indirect costs. This gives them a chance to pay the real costs needed to generate outstanding, sustainable outcomes. Additionally, leading websites such as Charity Navigator and GuideStar are moving away from using overhead costs as a measure of organizational efficiency. Instead, they are developing ways to measure the outcomes organizations produce.
These are only some of the changes needed. Private philanthropy must make a shift as well, to support real costs with their grants. I've been heartened to see progress in this area too, as foundations travel their own paths to making these changes.
Let's look at three private foundations that have made this shift recently. We'll call them Alpha Foundation, Beta Foundation, and Delta Foundation. Each has made a change recently to increase their support of real costs, but each arrived at that decision through a different process.
For Alpha Foundation, the roots of the realization came from the CEO’s experience in the private sector, which is more skilled at using accounting techniques such as capital depreciation to plan for needed improvements and equipment. The nonprofit sector needs that same sort of planning and budgeting know-how, but it wasn't happening. While the Alpha Foundation had no restrictive “overhead” funding policies, most of the budgets they were presented had little or no overhead included. Recognizing that due to the culture that had built up around overhead funding in the philanthropic field, nonprofits were not likely to initiate the conversation. Program officers were encouraged to inquire and encourage applicants to make sure full costs of programs were included in proposal budgets. The foundation worked with its grantees to help them see the importance of funding programs at a level that can support sustainable organizations.
Beta Foundation took a different path. The key for Beta Foundation was their work in evaluating their grants, looking over the years at what kind of organizations brought about good outcomes. In working on this issue over the years, Beta Foundation kept seeing the importance of strong organization, not just strong programs, as well asthe need to build the capacity of organizations they supported to develop the outcomes they wanted to see. Their move toward supporting costs came organically; they simply saw over the years that such support was necessary to better fulfill their mission. They deliberately eliminated any mention of “overhead” in their application and reporting requirements and trained program staff to raise this issue with grantees.
Delta Foundation's change came about because of a change in leadership. Such times present a great opportunity to reflect not only on what the foundation funds but how it funds. They also extensively listened to their grantees and other stakeholders and learned how vital greater flexibility to allocate grant dollars could help an organization become a stronger, more dynamic part of the communities they support. Delta Foundation changed its policy as a result of these sessions, by eliminating their restrictions they had previously placed on grantees how how their grant dollars must be allocated. The response to this change has been incredibly positive, showing how crucial this kind of support is to nonprofit organizations.
The movement to support real costs is growing, making this an exciting time for the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors. We have a chance to make real change in the way these sectors operate, creating better partnerships and stronger organizations that can bring real outcomes and impact to communities for years to come.
Donors Forum is working on a statement to share with its members about our commitment to advocate for full costs funding in both the public and private sectors. We will also commit to education and training of both funders and nonprofits about the importance of funding to achieve successful outcomes.
Effective nonprofit enterprises are functionally integrated entities, and supporting the full costs of program outcomes requires support of all aspects of the organization.
-- Valerie S. Lies, President and CEO, Donors Forum
Illinois is still among the worst in the country for late payments, as well as contracts not covering the full cost of services for nonprofit contractors, according to new state data released today from the Urban Institute.
“Illinois’ ongoing fiscal crisis is going to have an immediate impact on people if the state cannot find solutions. As the state budget session heats up this month, it is imperative that Illinois seek and find budget solutions that preserve critical services to communities,” said Doug Schenkelberg, Vice President of Public Policy at Chicago-based Donors Forum, a statewide membership organization that works to strengthen the partnership between government and nonprofits. “We urge state lawmakers to create a budget that is adequate, responsive, fair, and meets the needs of the people of Illinois.”
According to the new report, National Study of Nonprofit-Government Contracts & Grants, 2013, nonprofit contractors that have been instrumental in helping communities across the nation weather the recession are reporting that “problems reported with government contracts and grants in 2009 are not confined to human services nonprofits.” These problems include government making late payments, as well as government payments that do not cover the full cost of services.
“The data show that nonprofit contractors, any that contract or receive grants from the state, have been under tremendous pressure to fulfill their obligations, but they’re doing it with shoestring resources,” Schenkelberg said. “They still struggle to get paid, get paid fairly, and get paid on time. This means widespread disaster to people and the organizations that help them if another cuts heavy budget passes in Springfield.”
Among the report’s findings:
“There is an economic trickle-down effect to what nonprofits are experiencing,” added Schenkelberg. “Late payments mean organizations have less capacity to do their work and employees have less personal resources to spend in the community, which means local businesses make less profit, and there is less circulating in the local economy. When costs aren’t fully covered, nonprofit contractors either swallow that cost, assuming a structural deficit in the meantime, or they reduce internal capacity – cutting staff, benefits or programs. And all this spreads pressure to other parts of the system. While the need builds, other organizations are experiencing similar constraints and struggle to meet the need.”
Schenkelberg urged lawmakers and public officials to strengthen the partnership between government and nonprofits. Key solutions proposed by Donors Forum include:
Donors Forum’s Board of Directors also approved a legislative agenda pledging support for legislative proposals that promote financial stability while making sure the work of nonprofits is sustained on behalf of the people the sector serves.
~ Delia Coleman, Director, Public Policy & Strategic Communications, Donors Forum
Data for National Study of Nonprofit-Government Contracts & Grants, 2013 was derived from a survey of over 56,000 501c3 charitable nonprofits with budgets greater than $100,000 from all 50 states. Hospitals, higher education organizations, and other types of nonprofits not likely to have government contracts and grants were excluded from this sample. Analysis is limited to nonprofits reporting government contracts and or grants.
Donors Forum will be opening an office in Springfield in late May, in the same building as Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln.
And, Micah Roderick will join the Donors Forum staff as Manager, Network Development, a new position based in the Springfield office. Micah will facilitate support of the Good Works CONNECT network of community foundations and operating nonprofits in east-central Illinois.
"Good Works CONNECT is vital to philanthropy and nonprofits in east-central Illinois," said Bruce Karmazin, Executive Director of the Lumpkin Family Foundation, based in Mattoon. "We are thrilled that Donors Forum is establishing a presence in Springfield to support this vital network."
Lumpkin, along with the Community Foundation of Macon County, the Community Foundation of East Central Illinois, the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln, the Southeastern Illinois Community Foundation and area nonprofits, launched GWC in 2009.
GWC supports communication, collaboration, and cooperation among nonprofits, and foster strong management, leadership, and governance through regular convenings; a microgrant program for professional development; donferences; and digital resources for information sharing and support.
Our new Manager of Network Development Micah Roderick is coming to us from Frontline Public Strategies in Springfield, an association management/public relations firm. He has been at Frontline since 2008, and has managed several organizations in roles including executive and associate director.
Micah earned a B.A. in Political Science from Western Illinois University and a M.P.A. from the University of Illinois Springfield. He has held appointed and elected positions in government, including serving on the McDonough County Board. He was recognized by the Springfield Business Journal as one of "Forty Under 40" in 2012, and is a leader in the Young Philanthropist's Group at the Community Foundation for the Land of Lincoln.
-- Marilou Jones, Director of Strategic Marketing