Spring 2007
Voices in Philanthropy
|
Ellen
Goldberg Luger |
Ellen Goldberg Luger
Executive Director, General Mills
Community Action
I was honored to serve on the Public Trust Task Force. This exemplary process took into account the many changes and challenges facing philanthropy. In addition, it was a thoughtful process that engaged representative voices in the philanthropic community in important conversations that are critical for the field as we move ahead.
From General Mills' perspective, our foundation trustees and staff devote a significant amount of time and resources to executing their work in a principled way. Integrity is a core value for General Mills, and that value carries over to our work with the community. We make every effort to communicate transparently, for example. Transparency in our work means having information readily available to grantees and prospective grantees — everything from providing clearly published guidelines, to producing an annual citizenship report, to having a staff person in the foundation office available to speak directly with grantees and applicants when they have questions. The company's focus on customer service also is applied to collaboration with our key stakeholders in the community.
We strive to be purposeful in our grantmaking, and regularly review our mission and priorities. Out of that process, we've become aware of the changing demographics in the community, including the increasing cultural and ethnic diversity. We wrestle with the question of how General Mills can continue to reach out to new communities and be proactive in addressing changing community needs. In response to these changes and our desire to continue to find innovative ways to work, the foundation launched a new grants program, the Celebrating Communities of Color Grants. (By the way, the deadline for these grant applications is Sept. 1.) Through this program and with guidance from the Principles and Practices, we are working to be proactive in building strong communities.
Cynthia Gehrig
President, Jerome Foundation
I regard the Principles for Grantmakers as a form of inspiration. They remind me that there is always a higher ethical level of practice that we can strive to achieve. The way that Jerome interprets the principles from year to year may change as the foundation hears from other foundations about how they interpret and act on the principles. The stories that we hear from Council members enable us to discover how we, too, can do more.
I served on the task forces that developed both the 1996 and 2006 principles. The conversations were equally rich on both occasions. The first time through, in developing the diversity principle in particular, was a struggle in which everyone compromised to reach consensus. The second time, though, I experienced a sense of personal regret that the principle was not as rigorous as I would have preferred. However, I reminded myself that it is a journey, and progress will continue to be recorded.
The addition of the expanded preamble works really well for the current environment. I hope that it will be the primary message that grantmakers consider before moving on to the principles. I also hope that there is broad buy-in from board members and staff to the preamble, which creates the context, and then to the principles.
|
|
Trixie Golberg |
Trixie Ann Golberg
Former President of Southern Minnesota
Initiative Foundation, now President and
CEO of Lifetrack Resources
The MCF Principles for Grantmakers have served two different purposes for me. First, educational. When they were initially developed, it was a true immersion into the complexity of philanthropy. It allowed me to understand my then-new profession and the field of philanthropy in a more in-depth way than I had to that point. The second important purpose was in providing guideposts. The ability, at least annually, to lay out our work against these Principles and Practices guideposts with the board and staff leadership kept us in sight of the goals we were trying to achieve.
Going forward as a nonprofit manager, I encounter first-hand that the field of philanthropy is not well understood and the differences in language are confusing. Which conversation are we having? Is it about the art of giving, the process of grantmaking or the values that drive private funding of a public good in a healthy democracy? People outside the field can end up frustrated. There is urgency for the field to communicate realistically what philanthropy can accomplish, which goes back to the importance of the Principles and Practices in staying current with what's happening in the political, economic and social environments.
Shannon McNeely Whitaker
Chair, Board of Directors, McNeely Foundation
Our foundation signed on to the Principles for Grantmakers in 1996. Before that, under the leadership of my father, who is a very principled person, the foundation operated with an eye toward the public trust. It has always been on the minds of people on the board, and we carry out our work as a function of that trust. We are responsible not only to ourselves as a board but to our stakeholders as well, which includes our grantees, the communities we work in, and our entire family — and that, too, raises the bar.
As a board, we annually go over the Principles for Grantmakers as part of our membership renewal. The principles are part of our board materials, and they are very good reminders on how we intend always to responsibly communicate with our constituents. We are aware of the levels of sophistication in the grantseeking community — from sophisticated grantseekers to very grassroots startups whose proposals may not read as well as those from more established grantseekers. As we've grown over the years, we have become more timely and responsive. Even if the answer is "no," having clarity is important, and being open, honest and intentional about our guidelines helps focus our work.
It is always a big event to welcome a new family member to the board, as we just did at the beginning of 2007. The majority of the board is comprised of cousins, and we have an outside director and an in-law. Having at least one outside director is a tradition and it works to neutralize family politics at the board level and gives us an opportunity to look for skill sets and experiences that broaden those of the family.
|
|
Steven Joul |
Steven Joul
President, Central Minnesota
Community Foundation
Because we're dealing with money, philanthropy is often under the microscope — there is concern about whether money is being spent wisely. We as foundations establish trust that we are doing the right thing as the public learns we have values, standards and principles to guide our work. When questions arise about how we police those standards, transparency is essential, and effective governance helps point to exactly who's responsible to the community.
The issue of trust is critically important in a civil society: donors give money, society offers a tax incentive and the public trusts that the money will be used in an appropriate fashion. If that breaks down, trust breaks down.
I was a German Marshall fellow in the Czech Republic in 2001 and witnessed firsthand a society working to establish what we take for granted, especially here in Minnesota. Building philanthropic infrastructure, tax codes and giving mechanisms — it all comes back to how trust is built in a community and within a society. The year following my fellowship, the Central Minnesota Community Foundation hosted a German Marshall fellow who had established the first community foundation in Poland. Both as host and fellow, I gained a deeper appreciation for our infrastructure.
Our community foundation uses social capital as metric for a healthy community; it is based on the interconnectedness of a community. At the very base of these connections is trust. People entrust their money to us because we have a representative and responsive board and we adhere to our Minnesota Principles for Grantmakers and national standards of accreditation.
|
Thank you to the sponsors of this issue of Giving Forum:
|
| $5,000 Sponsor |
 |
| $5,000 Sponsor |
 |
| $1,000 Supporter |
Duluth Superior Area
Community Foundation |
© Copyright 2007 Minnesota Council on Foundations
Reproduction in any form without the written permission of the publisher
is prohibited.
|
|
|
