Are you a grantmaker or philanthropist interested in joining the SAFSF Integrated Capital Community of Practice, but need to make the case to the Board, family members, or other leaders in your organization? Or perhaps you aren’t entirely sure that learning integrated capital strategies applies to your charitable impact?
Here are some ways to respond to common questions, and make the case for why your participation in the Integrated Capital Community of Practice is a worthwhile investment.
“My foundation is focused on our impact through grantmaking. Why would we explore integrated capital approaches?”
Traditional grants are powerful, but they often can’t address the scale or complexity of systemic issues alone. Integrated capital—using grants, program and mission related investments, loan guarantees, equity investments, recoverable grants, endowment investments and other capital tools in alignment with your mission—allows your organization to be a catalytic force for even larger flows of public and private capital into the solutions you care about. The CoP will explore how:
- Integrated capital approaches multiply the effectiveness of philanthropy
- Philanthropy can spur increased public and private investment
- Grantmaking within an integrated capital approach can grow long-term sustainability of your grantees
“Our investment advisors guide the foundation’s investment decisions. We would need to get them on board with an impact investment approach.”
The Integrated Capital Community of Practice will give you the tools, frameworks, and case studies to build a more cohesive impact approach with your investment advisors. Although the ultimate goal is to align the foundation’s resources to mission and impact, there are many “experiments” that grantmaking teams can run to demonstrate proof of concept within their organization that can lead to more structural changes in investment policy. The CoP will help you:
- Gain fluency in terminology that facilitates alignment with advisors
- Learn from foundations that transformed their asset management approach
- Identify your organization’s opportunities to pilot new approaches
“My organization is already doing impact investing, it’s just separate from our grantmaking.”
Separation between grantmaking programs and investments can limit the overall impact of the Foundation’s portfolio. This CoP will help you:
- Optimize your existing investments for greater impact
- Identify and remove internal silos that limit effectiveness
- Align endowment management with mission rooted in community
“We don’t have time for an 8-month commitment.”
The CoP is a professional development program for team members that will lead to increased effectiveness of the organization, and involves a relatively small investment in time spread out across the 8 months. If you are exploring ways to increase your organization’s capacity to implement integrated capital strategies, compare this program to the cost of lengthy strategy explorations with expensive consultants, and you will find that the Integrated Capital Community of Practice offers incredible return on investment for your organization.
- Five monthly 3-hour sessions are minimal time investment compared to the strategic advantage gained
- Office hours and virtual classroom provide flexible learning options
- Other team members can benefit from your learning, multiplying the organizational return
“I am interested in integrated capital but my organization doesn’t have a focus on food systems.”
Food systems are the entry point, but the frameworks, tools, and approaches you’ll learn apply across all sectors. The integrated capital skills gained here transfer directly to climate, health, education, or any other focus area. For any funder focused on environmental or social impact, food systems offer particularly strong integrated capital models because they have:
- Clear social and environmental impact metrics
- Impact that ripples across diverse sectors, re-shaping local economies
- Diverse organizational structures that demonstrate various capital approaches
“Is this program considered professional development?”
The Integrated Capital Community of Practice can be viewed as an investment in professional development because it helps you/your team stay current with cutting edge trends in the field, gain peer perspectives, and learn proven models that can improve your personal and organizational effectiveness. Each participant will workshop an action plan to apply learnings to your unique context, including exploration of overcoming barriers and constraints. Optional monthly group coaching with the program facilitator, Charity May, give you time to troubleshoot, skill build, and plan. Ultimately, the program equips leaders with the insight and confidence to guide their organizations through a rapidly evolving capital landscape.
READY TO APPLY?
The deadline is quickly approaching—submit your application by 11:59 PM PST Friday, October 17.