Giving Compass' Take:

• Putnam Consulting Group suggests how community organizations are more proficient in some areas that foundations and funders might not think as much about. 

• How can community organizations and foundations learn from each other? 

• Read about what foundations can unlock by re-evaluating money and power dynamics within grant relationships. 

The Putnam team recently authored two case studies for Casey Family Programs about their Communities of Hope initiative.  These projects were wide-reaching and complex – just like the myriad of issues they seek to address. These aren’t aspects of success that you can measure with metrics or data, and they are things that many funders often either take for granted or completely overlook. Yet, when they are present, we believe they make a night-and-day difference in effectiveness:

But in both, we saw three common threads that we believe are making these successful efforts for the community and successful investments for Casey Family Programs:

  • Personal relationships matter. The success of large collaborations is due in large part to the fact that the leaders of the collaborating organizations actually like and respect one another and are willing to spend the time it takes in conversation to plan, work through issues, and continually learn from one another.
  • A community focus is great – but a neighborhood focus is even better.  Funders can’t define neighborhoods nearly as well as the people who live in them.
  • Courage is needed to seize moments of transformation. Too often, funders are wary of big, swift transformations and take a wait-and-see approach to mitigate their risks.

Frontline, grassroots organizations live these three realities every day – some without even consciously thinking about it. That’s where the great ideas come from, and where lasting improvements flourish. It’s what funders should be looking for at every turn.

Read the full article about community organizations at Putnam Consulting Group