"We& #39;ve received 9,000 applications and made 235 grants! We received 600 applications and made 111 grants! We received 4000 applications and made 40 grants!" If this is how you& #39;re doling "relief" you& #39;re perpetuating structural inequality. Let& #39;s do better than competing for scraps.
If these philanthropic organizations could *take a beat*, stop, collaborate and listen, and then solve for the systemic failures, we might actually get somewhere. I& #39;m watching well intentioned efforts set money on fire while self-congratulating for how in demand the relief was.
This approach is UTTERLY https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🍌" title="Banana" aria-label="Emoji: Banana">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🍌" title="Banana" aria-label="Emoji: Banana">https://abs.twimg.com/emoji/v2/... draggable="false" alt="🍌" title="Banana" aria-label="Emoji: Banana"> to me. A competitive, "the best idea wins," which actually means, "the status quo doing it the longest" mentality is what got us in this mess in the first place.
Here are 3 ideas that are better uses of money:
1. Take your 600 grant applications. Bucket into 12 categories (by sector, ppl served, whatev). Give each sector $1M & say, "We& #39;ll help you figure out how to collaborate and consolidate." Now you have some type of efficiency.
2. Hire a lobbyist to advocate for a sector& #39;s specific needs. Economic development for underrepresented small business owners is the most obvious play. Willing to bet that $100K in strategic advocacy can result in $10M+ of funding.
3. Fund the legal fees associated with non-profit organizational mergers and acquisitions. Chances are there are 10 orgs that, tomorrow, could merge and be 100x more powerful. But #philanthropy rarely funds the $25K in legal fees to make this possible. Why not ask?
If you are a funder I am happy to walk through any of these new strategies (and many others!). It& #39;s okay if you aren& #39;t hip to them. They are kind of...nuanced. There is so much opportunity to stop playing this game and think more creatively and structurally.
The numbers I used above are real numbers from real programs I& #39;ve seen, touted by organizations with teams I respect. But how on EARTH they landed on this messaging rather than to say, "Hold up. We need a longer term, collaborative solution WITH grantees" is beyond me.
To be more precise with my suggestion: this dynamic is simple supply and demand. What I& #39;m asking #philanthropy #government to do is focus on the structural availability and creation of resources (time, talent, treasure are almost infinite and renewable) rather than the demand.
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