One Foundation's Response to COVID-19

The super powers of foundations small and large. An April 15 post on Exponent Philanthropy by Lynn Bentaleb, executive director of the Nancy Buck Ransom Foundation outlines how one foundation with one staff person quickly responded as the coronavirus pandemic was unfolding in the United States. She relies on a variety of resources as her guiding lights including her philanthropy mentors, Exponent Philanthropy, Vu Le and his takes on the nonprofit and funding communities, and the work of Trust Based Philanthropy.

As one of Lynn’s work mentors once said to her, “A crisis is a terrible thing to waste.” Let’s keep the story going about creative ways funders and nonprofits are responding to the COVID-19 crisis today and in the coming weeks, months, and years.

A Resource for Lean Funders Responding to COVID-19

One phrase we hear daily in relation to COVID-19 is “we are all in this together.” Exponent Philanthropy is building upon that phrase through hosting live discussions with funders every Friday at 1:00 CT. These weekly calls began March 20th and are designed to connect lean funders around their responses to the COVID-19 pandemic and to provoke ideas around your own response. The discussions are open to all funders, whether an Exponent Philanthropy member or not.

In addition, Exponent Philanthropy is compiling and updating relevant resources from the field as it relates to the pandemic.

Access Exponent Philanthropy’s resource page.

Register for Exponent Philanthropy’s Friday afternoon live discussions.

Philanthropy in Motion and the Restaurant Industry Amid COVID-19

The COVID-19 outbreak is wreaking havoc on so many aspects of our economy both nationally and abroad. But one area in which I am seeing a ray of hope is within the restaurant Industry. According to the National Restaurant Association it was anticipated, prior to the pandemic, restaurants nationwide would record $899 billion in sales and employ 15.6 million people in 2020. To bring these numbers a little closer to home, last year in Texas 10% of the state’s employment was in restaurant and food service with some 1,344,200 jobs. Further, every dollar spent at a sit-down restaurant contributed $2.02 to the Texas economy and every dollar spent at a limited service site, such as drive-thru business contributed $1.77 to the Texas economy - nothing to sneeze at.

Given the significance of the restaurant industry to Texas and America’s economies and given the vast majority of jobs within the industry are filled by hourly workers, I am heartened to see philanthropy and innovation intersect in a way to help restaurant workers survive the downturn and to feed others in our communities who are struggling.

This past week I have been collecting examples of what I am calling “philanthropy in motion.” See what you think. Is there a place where you own giving might intersect?

Cafe Momentum E.A.T.s was launched at the same time Dallas began recognizing the impact of COVID-19 in North Texas. Cafe Momentum transformed its restaurant space into a temporary food hub and their interns began putting together meal packs for low-income families. The idea is to build 1,000 kits a week with each kit providing four dinners for a family of four. The effort is supported by the Get Shift Done Fund at the Communities Foundation of Texas. Dollars from this fund pay the interns while Cafe Momentum is seeking donations to to cover food and other costs.

Get Shift Done connects hospitality workers with nonprofits providing hunger relief throughout North Texas including food banks, pantries, and Momentum E.A.T.s. Donated dollars provide wages to hourly workers to fill shifts at $10/hour. Further, the Get Shift Done team is leveraging the Shiftsmart platform to onboard, train, schedule, dispatch, route, and pay assigned workers. Here is a March 29 article in the Dallas Morning News on this work.

Former Dallas Cowboy, Travis Frederick is raising funds to feed families. Ensuring people have food is a cause he has been passionate about for years and is the reason he established the Blocking Out Hunger Foundation. Through the foundation, funds are being raised to provide food to families in low-income neighborhoods during this crisis.

The Furlough Kitchen opened March 25. It is run by Front Burner Group Dining in collaboration with CitySquare and is providing a free meal daily to anyone in the hospitality industry who has been furloughed.

Pecan Lodge is remembering its roots and struggles during the 2008 recession by establishing the Dinner Bell as a nonprofit with two purposes: 1. feed those working on the front lines of the pandemic including healthcare workers, first responders, and their families and 2. raise donations to provide bridge funding to independent, local restaurants so they can participate in Dinner Bell. These dollars are designed to keep qualifying restaurants afloat so they can pay staff and purchase supplies to create meals for Dinner Bell.

This March 25 article in the Dallas Observer offers other examples of philanthropy in motion within the restaurant industry including deferred rent for some restaurants and distributing free boxed meals to those directly impacted by the pandemic.

Let’s keep this positive response moving forward.

Unchartered Waters and Philanthropy's Reaction

If you are anything like me, you are feeling overwhelmed as to how to financially support our fellow neighbors along with the businesses and organizations that make our community a viable and enjoyable place to live. We often think of nonprofits serving vulnerable populations but what about arts groups? How about agencies that maintain and showcase our history? How about the local restaurant or the small business that carries just the right gift?

While I am seeing philanthropy starting to stir into action through emergency funds to grantees or dollars for hourly workers of sports venues that are sitting empty, I am also seeing nonprofits forced to turn to banks for lines of credit to hopefully see them through these times.

Over the next several weeks I will highlight examples of philanthropy taking positive action along with nonprofits creatively keeping the lights on. We are already seeing restaurants adapt through take home orders and deliveries and just yesterday I had my first conversation with an agency about how they could turn their upcoming Celebration of Mothers into a virtual fundraising event.

I am convinced we will emerge from these days stronger and more resilient. That our families will be more tightly bonded and we will see the positive side of neighbors helping neighbors. My porch has become a second office. From this perch I am seeing an uptick in people in taking breaks from their day by taking themselves and their dogs for strolls and taking time to chat with neighbors (from a safe distance). I am hopeful this continues.

In the meantime, stay safe. I welcome you sharing your own examples of philanthropy, people, and nonprofits doing good.

To start us off - here is an article from the March 19 Chronicle of Philanthropy that talks about the impact of COVID-19 on arts groups and a few examples of philanthropy developing emergency funding.

Trust Based Philanthropy?

A new year brings new hopes and possibilities for what can and will be accomplished over the coming months. Does the same hold true with your philanthropy? 

Are you approaching your giving with a bounce in your step for uncovering the nonprofits that are doing good work but may struggle with recognition or may struggle with pulling in consistent dollars so their leaders can sleep at night and concentrate on the work to be had? 

Are you looking for a collaborative relationship with nonprofits? One in which there is more listening and learning on both sides?

If you answered yes to any of these questions here is a resource for you. Take a look at the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project. This work was launched two years ago as a peer-to-peer funder initiative by funders from across the country to address power imbalances between funders and nonprofits. 

This project reimagines traditional funder-grantee relationships and envisions “a world where relationships are built on vulnerability, transparency, and humility; where community and nonprofit leaders are valued, supported, and trusted; and where funders bring an awareness of power and equity to their grantmaking.” 

Core to this work are six key principles: 

1. Give multi-year unrestricted funding, which is critical in creating healthy, flexible, and effective nonprofits.

2. Do the homework. It is the funders responsibility to learn and understand their grantees and not the other way around. It’s also important to look beyond your usual organizations to discover other agencies aligned with your vision and values.

3. Simplify and streamline paperwork. Limit your questions to those that will get to the heart of your decision making. Consider taking a more informal approach to learning about a grantee’s work such as through phone calls or video meetings.

4. Be transparent and responsive. Be clear about what you fund and don’t fund. Be clear about your process. Be open and honest about your own struggles as an organization. And respond to emails and calls in a timely manner.

5. Solicit and act on feedback. When was the last time your asked nonprofits their thoughts about an issue or the work being done in their field?

6. Offer support beyond the check. Raise up grantees work in your newsletters. Build and nurture peer learning networks. Act as a neutral sounding board.

Is this view of funder-grantee relationships piquing your interest? If so, let’s talk about how you can build these six principals into your grantmaking and the difference it can make in your philanthropy. 

Using the Courts to Create Systemic Change

Impact Litigation, an example of a new and different route philanthropy can take in the advocacy arena. The example in today’s blog post on Exponent Philanthropy (10/1/19) illustrates the efforts of Victoria Hewlett to not only bring awareness to the issue of sexual assault on college campuses (in this case Utah State University) but to change their policies around prevention, response, and how the issue is addressed.

The blog states, “impact litigation groups like Public Justice partner with legal clients to turn often traumatic experiences into opportunities for positive change.” Impact litigation goes beyond financial awards for clients by working to bring about lasting solutions. Such is the case with Hewlett and USU. Hewlett has a seat at the table in influencing future policies around sexual assault and brings with her the first-hand knowledge of a survivor.