Why Capitol Hill Meetings are Important

  Foundations on the Hill (FOTH) is an annual two-day legislative and public policy event in Washington, DC for foundation staff members and philanthropic leaders. We need Next Gen voices at this table! This year, FOTH will take place on Tuesday, March 16 and Wednesday, March 17. The event is co-hosted by the Council on Foundations and the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers.

During the event participants will receive a legislative briefing on policies relating to the philanthropic sector, discuss philanthropic partnerships and initiatives with key Hill staff and administration representatives, learn about the 2010 tax agenda from Joint Committee on Taxation, House Ways and Means and Senate Finance Committee staffs, and participate in meetings with lawmakers on Capitol Hill.

FOTH is a unique opportunity for next generation leaders to demonstrate the creativity, leadership and power of philanthropy and its impact on American society, particularly during these turbulent economic times.

Why should you attend Foundations on the Hill? It is an opportunity to:

1)      Influence legislation

Capitol Hill meetings with your senators and representatives are valuable opportunities to improve legislation that affects the philanthropic sector. These meetings send a message to senators and representatives that their foundation constituents are paying attention, often motivating legislators to get involved with a bill they may have ignored otherwise.

2)      Demonstrate extra commitment to your cause

Constituent meetings with senators and representatives in their home states or districts are routine, as they are convenient and inexpensive. But constituents who travel to Washington, DC demonstrate an extra level of commitment to their cause. Recognizing the time and expense involved in attending meetings on Capitol Hill, legislators and their staffs are more likely to listen and respond to constituents, particularly to those who have traveled far to be there.      

3)      Meet and Build Relationships with the DC policy staff

When you meet with members of Congress in their home state or district offices, you meet their district staff; on Capitol Hill, you meet their policy staff. Policy staffs monitor specific legislative issues—including foundation and charitable sector issues, which are usually handled by the Tax Legislative Assistant. It is policy staff rather than district staff who provide legislators with background information and voting advice on bills.

Capitol Hill meetings are an effective way to educate and build relationships with Washington, DC staffers. Even if your legislator is unable to participate, meetings with policy staff can be extremely valuable. If you convince them to support your cause, they can become effective advocates for the sector. 

Registration for FOTH is $95.  Register for Foundations on the Hill today and take advantage of this opportunity to participate in an intimate discussion with Hill staff and administration representatives about the work that you are doing in your communities. For more information about the program and confirmed guest speakers, visit the Foundations on the Hill Web site.

Read what your colleagues are saying about FOTH. You can follow the conversation on FOTH by visiting the Council's Twitter feed at twitter.com/cof_. Join in by using the hash tag #FOTH in your tweets before, during, and after FOTH.

If you have additional questions, contact Chatrane Birbal, Chatrane.Birbal@cof.org, 703-879-0689, in the Council’s Public Policy Department; or Courtney Moore, Cmoore@givingforum.org, 703-879-0809, at the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers.

Know What You Want (and then ask for it)

Just a head's up: this post is a rant cleverly (or not so cleverly) disguised as a helpful professional development blog post.

I have been to too many meetings, informational coffees, and phone conferences in the last few months where someone has asked to meet or talk with me, probably for a very specific reason, and I have left the conversation being really unclear about what they want me to be, think, or do. Did they want a grant from Headwaters? Maybe. Were they looking for a new position and wanted some advice? Possibly. Did they want me to buy into their nutrient drink pyramid scheme? I don't know because they never made the ask.

Not every conversation or coffee meeting has to have an agenda or a specific ask but many are intended to. If you want something specific to happen from a meeting, properly prepare:

Clarify for yourself what you are looking for. What end result would make you ecstatic? What is the reason that you wanted to have a conversations with this person, instead of the many others that you could have met with? What special skills, experiences, or connections do they have that would help you or your organization?

Do your research. If someone suggestions that you meet with someone, find out why. Do some online research, look for natural overlaps in interests, use LinkedIn or Facebook to see who else this person knows. Are they a connector that could open up a whole new range of contacts for you? Are they a member of the basket weaving society that you are trying to get into?

When you request a meeting make your purpose clear. Tell the person why you think it would be in both of your interests to meet. Give them a few questions that you would like for them to answer. For example: "My long-term goal is a career in philanthropy and am considering getting a Master's degree to help me reach that goal. Was your M.B.A. a help or hinderance when you applied for your position?" or "I'm new to the state and trying to increase my professional contacts, would you be willing to have coffee and give me your perspective on the nonprofit sector here?"

Make the ask. Small talk is great but make sure after you have covered the necessary pleasantries, that you ask for what you came to ask for. Don't wait until the last 2 minutes that you have scheduled to meet to ask your 14 part question, just get in out there early on. That means that the person you are meeting with can keep that purpose in mind throughout the conversation and be as helpful as possible to you throughout the meeting (hopefully).

This rant is over but the conversation is not. What tips do you have for making these types of conversation useful for both parties?

I'm done being busy

I have a good friend who really wanted a job in philanthropy. When she finally got a position in philanthropy she promised that she wouldn't be like other Program Officer and constantly complain about how busy she was. She reasoned that this was the job that she wanted, busyness shouldn't be an issue. A few minutes after she told me this, I asked her how work was going. She sighed and said "busy".

There are many, many reasons why foundation staff are so busy, but I think that most of those reasons can be boiled down into a few self-created reasons.

• We don't delegate because someone might do it better than us. Fear of being replaceable is a very real but you are more likely to be replaced if you are running around like crazy, trying to be Wonder Woman, Martha Stewart and Michelle Obama rolled into one. None of us can do it alone. Let go a little bit.
• Foundations are process driven places and we often rely on lots of paperwork, rather than a little bit of good judgement to make grantmaking decisions. Maybe if we spent less time requesting duplicate copies of 990's and specialized logic models, we would have a clearer head to figure out if the program is actually a good idea.
• Foundation positions are seen as cushy jobs, so easy that anyone could do it. How hard could it be to give away money, they ask. Very hard actually, but I think many of us have internalized this criticism of the field and insist of telling everyone near and far how extraordinarily busy we are. Lest someone assume that we are expendable. Enough already.

I'm done with it all. I am the master of my outlook calendar and I have a lot of say in how my foundation interacts with grantees. I'm sick of us all being too busy to enjoy the richness of this work and the wonder of what generosity can do to strengthen communities. I'm declaring a moratorium on busyness. Who's with me?

Encouraging Charitable Efficiencies

Ellen Friedman, VP at Tides wrote a recent post  at the Huffington Post asking that individuals find alternatives to starting new nonprofits. From Ellen: The nonprofit sector is a sector of innovation, creativity, and people working for the common good. More than 14 million Americans - 11 percent of American workers - are employed by or volunteer full-time in the nonprofit sector; more than the financial industry and the auto industry combined.

In a recent article entitled, "Charities Rise, Costing U.S. Billions in Tax Breaks," Stephanie Strom of the New York Times raises concerns about an out of control nonprofit sector that is flooding the IRS with frivolous new applications to establish new public charities that will deprive the federal budget of billions of dollars.

There are plenty of reasons for concern about the federal budget, but singling out the nonprofit sector in this way overlooks some important points.

Not only is this sector working on innovative ways to make the world a better place and connecting people with a sense of common good, nonprofits also contribute billions in tax revenue through employee payroll alone.

Moreover, in an age of dwindling public resources, when the role of government in addressing social problems is feverishly debated, the American public is taking matters into their own hands. This heightened wave of community activism, volunteerism and social entrepreneurship needs to be celebrated, not discouraged. In a time when Facebook and Twitter make broadcasting your ideas and passions part of daily life, we should not be surprised that communities are finding new ways to match their values with their time and pocketbooks.

Is there potential waste in creating thousands of new nonprofits every year? Undoubtedly yes, but the problem is not people's motivations. The problem is that not enough people know about the alternatives to establishing nonprofit organizations; alternatives like fiscal sponsorship and donor advised funds that exist to create greater efficiencies and cost-effectiveness for charitable activities.

Read the rest here.

Being Better When They Need It Most

Below is a post from Mary Galeti, who is a fellow member of the Council on Foundations' Next Generation Task Force. I know all of us have beenaffected by the images coming from Haiti and the unimaginable need that is coming from our neighbor. These are the times where philanthropy needs to be at its best to alliviate sugffering and help Haiti develop a better future out of this tragedy. From Mary:

I have been rapt by the devastating images coming out of Haiti. What I have found particularly interesting is the outpouring of support—not only on television, but also on Facebook and Twitter.

Organizers have created opportunities for people to give via text message. People are also posting messages and tweets about what organizations are doing and what events are being organized to collect goods and funds. While these are all good actions, I’ve realized that it’s hard to do good due diligence in such short order.

As the Family Philanthropy Conference approaches, I’m struck by the role that families can play as leaders in moments like these (noting in particular Steve Gunderson’s closing thought in his post “Philanthropy’s Response to Haiti”). Perhaps we, as a field, should think about the best ways to communicate what works, what’s needed and maybe even be a conduit to get the public support to the people and places in need. We can be organizers and leaders during times of trouble and turmoil—connecting those who want to help with key stakeholders on the ground.

Read the rest here.