To understand exactly how the business of health grantmaking shifted during COVID-19, Jennifer Chubinski and Allen Smart conducted in-depth interviews with health foundation leaders from around the country to learn what changed in their grantmaking strategies and practices.

What were the major findings of the research article?

Jennifer Chubinski: There were changes in the grantmaking process. A lot of funders moved into the trust-based grantmaking space, either intentionally or piecemeal. [Foundations] changed who they fund, and what they funded across the board. There was a lot more regional and statewide collaborative work and funding. But the day-to-day tasks of their staff changed dramatically. All of the organizations we spoke with made a transition to equity-focused work much more quickly than if the pandemic had not happened.

Allen Smart: That certainly reflects the folks I spoke to. I think my thematic takeaway is that funders stepped into leadership roles that either they had never thought about, or perhaps they hadn’t believed they had the capacity to pursue. And they have a broader sense now of the philanthropic tools in their toolbox and how they can be effective in ways that go well beyond grantmaking or well beyond running a program or initiative to really providing civic leadership at the local or state level.

I think it’s caused them to question in some cases: What other opportunities are out there for leadership that we haven’t thought about? Or [what] opportunities are sitting out there for someone to step in to be a leader? Because maybe we had too closely defined how we did our work or who our partners were, and [the pandemic] opened those discussions in ways that I think will have long-lasting implications.

Do you think most funders have remained consistent with the changes they made during the COVID-19 pandemic? Why or why not?

Allen Smart: I wish I had a linear answer, and it probably merits a longitudinal study on a broader scale of what stuck and what didn’t stick. What new ways of acting, new ways of pursuing leadership and impact have some funders pursued? Certainly, I think we’ve observed now that things have calmed down considerably, there has been slippage back to the traditional—we do grant cycles twice a year, we take months to turn around grantmaking decisions, we have a lot of formal reporting. Many funders have reversed to the norm but with an enhanced sense of being more open to feedback and understanding that practices don’t have to be set in stone.

During COVID, [the funders we spoke to] were making major decisions on a weekly or biweekly basis about new grants, new programs, or new partnerships. I think that’s reasonable to say they have not maintained that pace.

However, I’m hopeful that there are long-lasting impacts that go beyond, “We now turn our grants around more quickly.” I think the real impact is more along the lines of thinking about how foundation partnerships and civic leadership look differently than before the pandemic.

Read the full article about health grantmaking at Grantmakers In Health.