Shanetta Martin's Key Takeaways from the 2024 Philanthropy + Policy Institute

This blog was penned by Shanetta Martin, Maryland Philanthropy Network's Director of Public Policy and Government Relations, and origionally posted on the United Philanthropy Forum's blog here. 

On October 3rd, United Philanthropy Forum’s network of philanthropy-serving organizations (PSOs) came together for our annual Philanthropy + Policy Institute to hear about the political forecast, strategies for engaging with a new federal administration, how best to navigate the regulatory process, the role of philanthropy in preparing for Census 2030, and a special focus on the power of collaboration between state governments and philanthropy through public/private partnerships.

We learned that the opportunity right now is to lock arms and walk boldly together as we position the philanthropic sector to navigate a delicate political situation amid broad and deep divisions across the United States. One thing is clear, regardless of the direction this consequential election cycle will go, we can expect significant changes in Washington with implications across this country that have never been seen before. For both the philanthropic and the nonprofit sectors, working together to support communities will remain the order of the day, and may, in fact, serve as a stabilizing factor given the ensuing political headwinds. Our collective strength as a sector is needed now more than ever.

This year, I walked away with three key takeaways from the Policy Institute:

1. A formalized coordinating role designed to support partnerships between state government and the philanthropic sector adds significant value to the success of effective public/private partnerships.

The Office of Foundation Liaison (OFA) is uniquely positioned inside Michigan’s state government to serve as a facilitator of collaboration between the philanthropic community and policymakers. We heard from a panel of state department leaders, philanthropic leaders, and OFA leaders about key successes and challenges with partnering to advance a shared agenda around their equity goals focused on improving access to resources for communities throughout the state. The partnership helped to align goals along with removing barriers and expanding access for communities to resources specifically during the COVID-19 Pandemic.

The OFA role added value to the partnership by providing several capacities to strengthen collaboration that include but are not limited to the following:

• Access: OFA is the eyes and ears that provide access to the philanthropic sector. The latter brought community connections, nimbleness, and thought partnership which included insights on what funds could be used for along with strategies for what works in communities.
• Convenor: Helped to convene the philanthropic community with the state administration.
• Translator: Served as a translator and educator to bridge the conversations between philanthropy and state government both of whom often have different grantmaking strategies and different levels of access and/or entry points into communities.
• Troubleshooter: Helped to problem solve and added support to push for equitable services across jurisdictions.
• Fiduciary: Supported the Council of Michigan Foundations with their decision to play a fiduciary role in holding federal ARPA dollars and helped to move those dollars into communities in intentional ways.
• Accountability: Helped the partners to align their goals, assisted with data-informed decision-making, removed barriers to advancing the work (both philosophical and practical), and helped the partnership stay true to their equitable funding goals.

2. When developing your policy agenda, think: “If not for us…” Avoid distractions. Be mission-driven.

“Figure out the clear mandate and fidelity around that for things, “If not for us…”

It was both a reality check and a relief to hear that it’s okay to narrow down our policy priorities to 1-2 key issues where we feel we can be most effective at making a difference. PSOs were encouraged to think about what is possible with the next Congress, to have a vision for what we want that is data-informed, and to identify a champion. We were advised to think carefully about the agreements we hope to make and what our non-negotiables are as we develop our vision. We were reminded that we have the “gold star” along with the importance of being focused in our asks with an understanding of where we can uniquely make a difference.

3. Relationships…full stop.

As we anxiously anticipate the change in the federal administration and new Congress, not to fear. To ensure wins regardless of who is in charge, we were advised to stay on the field, build relationships across the aisle with those who can open doors for us, and make sure we are known by district offices on the home front in states as a starting point to unlock relationships in Washington. PSOs can be ready by doing the work to continuously track relationships in Washington while being mindful of the roughly 1.5-year timeframe to advance our priorities at the national level. In states, we must be diligent about connecting with our local congressional offices by getting to know the staff so that they can serve as a bridge for us with their colleagues who work on The Hill in Washington, DC. Specific things we were advised to do include inviting congressional staff to our events as speakers, offering to be a resource by connecting them to community members who can testify, providing opportunities for them to see our work in action, and demonstrating our value by following through for them. By the time PSOs and our members gather for Foundations on the Hill, congressional staff will already know who we are as we maintain momentum to bring the voice of the philanthropic sector to the table.

At Maryland Philanthropy Network (MPN), we are experiencing an incredible time of visionary and proactive leadership from our state administration that has a keen focus on doing business differently through collaboration with a seat at the table for philanthropy built into its infrastructure. As a result of the Policy Institute, we will continue to learn from the Michigan model about best practices for building effective relationships with government leaders and the creation of public/private partnerships. Our specific next steps are to create the ideal conditions around how to hold effective conversations between government and philanthropic leaders in ways that create a balance between their respective interests as they work together to identify shared goals and strategies to impact change in communities.

At this juncture of the political season, like many of our PSO peers, we are participating in learning opportunities to assist with scenario planning to inform our strategy for moving forward as an organization and to be ready to support our membership post-election. We are also gearing up to engage our members in a series of state, regional, and national policy opportunities that includes Maryland’s 2025 legislative session, Foundations on the Hill, our own Day in Annapolis, and collaborative opportunities with our regional PSO partners located in Washington, DC and Virginia. Lessons from this year’s Policy Institute will help us to be intentional with shaping a focused policy agenda that is broader than legislation and grounded in tools and strategies to assist members with their grantmaking priorities while supporting them with philanthropic practice.