Philanthropy Northwest
Programs and Services
Click here to learn about the benefits of
membership with Philanthropy Northwest.
People
enter the grantmaking arena from many different, often serendipitous
paths. Many grantmakers receive no specialized degree in the field.
Because a career in philanthropy is unique and exciting, and also full
of challenges, Philanthropy Northwest (formerly the Pacific Northwest
Grantmakers Forum) provides an array of services and support
including:
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A
three-day Annual Conference and Member Meeting, investigating "big picture" issues in
philanthropy.
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Summer Gathering: A time of fellowship and skill
building as grantmakers gather training and a reception.
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Member briefings on current trends and
issues.
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Regional
conferences, held in Seattle, and occasionally in Spokane,
Portland, Anchorage, and Boise.
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Grantmaking
Basics, a day-long hands-on workshop.
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Occasional
conferences designed for a particular type of grantmaker, such as
corporate grantmakers or family grantmakers.
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Networking
with national and Northwest grantmakers through affinity
groups and programs.
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Educational
workshops that offer technical assistance on a variety of topics.
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A
link with national peer organizations.
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Alerts
and briefings on public policy action that affect grantmakers and
their grantees.
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A bi-annual newsletter and monthly
e-mail updates to members.
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A Membership Directory.
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Use
of a Common Grant Application designed to
streamline the grantwriting process.
For
information on how to become a Philanthropy Northwest member, click
here.
Annual
Conference and Member Meeting
This three-day event each fall includes workshops, panels and
plenary speakers centered around a topic of timely relevance to
Northwest grantmakers.
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Summer Gathering
Philanthropy Northwest's Summer Gathering focuses on growing the
knowledge and skills of grantmakers and philanthropy as well as
providing an opportunity to network amongst peers. Held in the summer, this
conference is a great opportunity for re-connecting with colleagues,
meeting new people, and gaining tangible grantmaking skills to take
back to your office.
Member
Briefings
These educational sessions are designed by members around various
issues. Past topics have included toxic threats to the Northwest's
environment, scholarship funding, partnering with national funders,
arts education, women in philanthropy and children's services. All it
takes is for three members to agree on a program topic, invite the
speakers and let Philanthropy Northwest staff handle the logistics. If
you're a Philanthropy Northwest member, contact David
Landers for more information on how to make these happen.
A Member Briefing Toolkit--guidelines
and instructions for having a successful Member Briefing--is now
available on the Member Only part of our Web site.
Regional
Conferences
Although the Philanthropy Northwest staff is in Seattle, our
members are from all over the Northwest region. We encourage members
to attend our regional conferences in Spokane, Anchorage, Portland and
Boise to see what grantmakers around the region are doing. These
conferences are designed and coordinated in cooperation with local
grantmaking groups such as the Alaska Donors Forum, the Boise
Contributions Manager's Group, and the Grantmakers of Oregon and
Southwest Washington. If you are a grantmaker located or actively
grantmaking in a part of the Northwest where members could benefit
from sharing with peers, please contact David
Landers to discuss the possibility of arranging a conference in
your area.
Lectures,
Retreats and Special Workshops
Philanthropy Northwest also hosts lectures, continuing
education workshops and occasional programs designed for seasoned
grantmakers that have, in the past, varied in format from a weekly
discussion group to a three-day retreat.
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Grantmaking
Basics
This all-day course is designed for those relatively new to
grantmaking, or for whom a refresher course would be helpful.
Mini-lectures by field experts cover tax laws every funder should
know, proposal analysis and evaluation, grantmaking missions and
guidelines. A role-playing exercise illuminates the subtleties of
the grants review process. Space for this event is limited to 25 participants,
so please contact the
Philanthropy Northwest office if you would like to be placed on the
waiting list for the next class. Members often find it helpful to send their trustees,
members of their contributions and advisory committees, and their
support staff, as well as their program and new executive officers. Philanthropy
Northwest members also receive a substantial tuition discount.
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Affinity
Groups
Philanthropy Northwest's affinity groups allow grantmakers with
common concerns to share ideas about problems and emerging issues, and
to listen to experts on these matters. Volunteer chairs and steering
committees plan the topics. There is no charge to attend and
non-member grantmakers are welcome.
Currently,
Philanthropy Northwest has four active affinity groups (see below).
Please contact David
Landers if you would like to be added to the mailing list for any
affinity group.
Corporate Affinity Group
The corporate affinity group provides an opportunity for
representatives of corporate foundations and giving programs to share
their concerns and ideas about common problems and emerging issues and
to listen to experts on these matters. Topics that have been discussed
by the corporate affinity group include encouraging employee
volunteerism, philanthropy & marketing, how to measure your
impact, communicating with the grantseeking public, community activism
and how to respond to public pressure, when management's community
involvement clashes with the company's guidelines, and capital
campaigns.
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Early Childhood
Learning Affinity Group
The Early Childhood Learning Affinity Group is a gathering of
funders who see the benefits of educating children birth to 5,
preparing them for kindergarten and life. This group, started in
September of 2001, has had a tremendous impact on support of early
childhood learning. They have had the opportunity to learn and
collaborate with experts such as Dr. John Gottman and the Talaris
Research Institute.
Family Foundation
Affinity Group
The family foundation affinity group provides a supportive
atmosphere in which family members, trustees and staff of family
foundations can discuss issues and share insights particular to their
kind of grantmaking. The meetings are informal and provide ample
opportunity for questions and frank conversation. Family foundation
representatives from outside our region and non-members are always
welcome to attend. Topics discussed by the family foundation affinity
group include juggling the workload with a limited staff, how to
develop missions, guidelines and a simple annual report, how to build
coalitions with private and public funders, proposal evaluation, and
identifying and incorporating family ideals.
Education Affinity Group
What started as a discussion during a member briefing on education
reform has blossomed into a large, strong affinity group. Since its
first meeting in 1997, this affinity group has met numerous times to
discuss issues faced by educational funders interested in reform. The
group has often been joined by nationally-recognized experts on
education issues, who've been able to offer valuable recommendations
and feedback.
Grantmakers of Color Affinity Group
The Grantmakers of Color Affinity Group is made of grantmakers of
color, to include grantmaking program staff with a direct grant making
role within a philanthropic organization. Because grantmakers of color
are often a liaison between the giving community and the grantseeking
community, the affinity has organized to be a resource to both. The
objective of the Grantmakers of Color Affinity Group is to:
problem-solve; share information; and collectively strategize;
specifically, its goal is to increase the number of people of color in
the philanthropic sector; increase the amount of funding in
communities of color; and be a resource to grantmaking organizations.
Program Officer and
Grants Administrators Affinity Group
This affinity group brings together the program and administrative
staff of various types of foundations to discuss those issues unique
to their responsibility level. Attendees share with each best
practices in grantmaking in such areas as effective site visits,
relationship building with nonprofits, and information-management.
This diverse group meets approximately four times a year.
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Publications
Philanthropy
Northwest Member Directory
The Philanthropy
Northwest Member Directory is available online and
sold to the grantseeking public. In the grantmakers own words, it
provides accurate, up-to-date information about Philanthropy Northwest
members, and their missions, guidelines and application procedures. Click
here for subscription information.
The
detailed information in the Directory enables grantseekers to
identify the most appropriate funders for their particular project.
This saves both grantmakers and grantseekers time, money and energy
that would otherwise be spent on ill-targeted requests. The Directory
is also an excellent resource for grantmakers who are seeking
funding partners or who want to network with those members who have
similar missions.
Trends in Northwest Giving
Trends in Northwest Giving was first
published by Philanthropy Northwest (formerly the Pacific Northwest Grantmakers Forum) in 1994. The purpose of this report is to dispel
myths about the capacity of organized philanthropy by offering a clear
and concise picture of our members giving in the aggregate so that
legislators, public officials, the media and the general public will
be better informed and the burden on grantmakers will be relieved by
the dissemination of this information leading to more realistic
expectations. Member organizations each receive a copy, and more are
available if needed. Click here to see the latest edition of the
report, viewable with Adobe
Acrobat Reader (download free at the Adobe Web site).
Click here for a full list of the foundations and giving programs
included in the latest edition of the report.
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Newsletter
In the Philanthropy Northwest News, members will
find an update on Philanthropy Northwest activities news about the
endeavors and accomplishments of our members, and briefs on national
and regional philanthropy issues. Philanthropy Northwest News
regularly reprints articles of interest to grantmakers, and lists
recent publications, case studies and reports that may be ordered from
the publisher or in many cases borrowed from the Philanthropy
Northwest library. Click
here to see the latest issue.
E-mail Updates
These monthly updates to members help keep grantmakers
up-to-date on current Northwest and national philanthropic issues. We
also share professional accomplishments of our members. Philanthropy
Northwest members can click here to subscribe, unsubscribe or read
archives.
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Resource
Library
The Philanthropy Northwest office keeps a library of resources of
interest to grantmakers. The collection includes books, reports,
articles, case studies, and some videos and cassette tapes. Also
available are the annual reports of members, as well as non-member
national and regional foundations; a host of publications by the
Council on Foundations, Foundation Center and Independent Sector;
current and past issues of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Corporate
Philanthropy Report and Foundation
News & Commentary. Members can browse the library catalog in
the
Members Only area of this Web site.
Common
Grant Application
In an effort to streamline the grants review process, and to
lessen the burden of paperwork on grantseekers, Philanthropy Northwest
developed a common grant application form, which is currently used or
accepted by over 50 members. The form contains four pages of
questions, the answers to which are essential to any grants review
board. Some members require supplemental materials from grantseekers;
others don't need all that the form asks for. The form is intended
primarily to benefit grantwriters; while they must submit individual
proposals to each member that accepts the common form, they need draft
answers to the form’s questions only once.
Click here to see the Common Grant
Application.
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