'No Sound' argument can be made against advocacy - There are excellent arguments in favor of advocacy grantmaking and "no sound" case against it, according to one of two new guides for funders on supporting advocacy. The latest Grantcraft guide, Funding Advocacy: The Philanthropy of Changing Minds, was funded by the Ford Foundation and written by Tony Proscio. It's rich in anecdotes and advice from foundations that fund advocacy, most of which, the guide says, let their grantees take the lead role in decision-making. It quotes one foundation official who enlisted her donor's support for advocacy based on a three-part assessment: their state's policies needed to change; philanthropy would be much less effective without such a change; and concerted support for advocacy was thus worth the commitment of the time and resources. Another section of the guide offers tips on preparing for resistance to a foundation's advocacy efforts. [Source: Aspen Philanthropy Newsletter]

Toolkit for Public Policy Grantmaking - Northern California Grantmakers has just launched an online Public Policy Grantmaking Toolkit to demystify advocacy grantmaking and encourage more foundations to support it. Beyond providing the basics of what it calls "public policy grantmaking," this Web-based toolkit offers numerous case studies of grantmakers nationwide engaged in the activity, what it identifies as best practices, and information on how funders can evaluate their public policy grantmaking. [Source: Aspen Philanthropy Letter]

Cultures of Caring - Philanthropy in Diverse American Communities (USA)
This is an important report on an important issue: The Council on Foundations (the American counterpart to the Community Foundations of Canada) found that African Americans, Asian Americans, Latinos and Native Americans were not being invited to give to charities—despite the improved economic circumstances of these racial minorities, foundations have continued to focus on white, affluent donors, despite the fact that this focus no longer reflects reality. This report from the Council on Foundations explores ways of allowing all people—regardless of origin—to be charitable donors.

The New Economy Initiative - Using Technology to Empower Community (USA)
This program from The Boston Foundation is designed to improve “Digital Equity”: to ensure that everyone, regardless of circumstance, can access digital technology. The Boston Foundation’s New Economy Initiative is bringing the “Network Economy” within the grasp of nonprofit organizations and people in poverty in an effort to empower the community. This position paper explains the rationale behind the New Economy Initiative and how it works.

The Arts Fund The Boston Foundation decided to make arts funding a special priority, as they explain in this profile. Recognizing that arts and culture can be powerful tools to engage community, the Arts Fund’s permanent endowment doesn’t fund individual artistic projects, but focuses on initiatives which lead to greater community involvement in the arts, or stronger advocacy for community culture issues.

Women and Philanthropy - Understanding and Engaging a High Potential AudienceThis paper from The Council of Michigan Foundations outlines the importance of reaching out to women when encouraging philanthropy. Women, as an economic demographic, are getting considerably stronger—Community Foundations need to understand the differences between working with male and female donors. It makes suggestions for engaging women in philanthropy, and provides a basic toolkit as well.

Have we missed something? Know a great resource we should include here? Email us at tamarack@tamarackcommunity.ca.

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