Funder Collaboratives

Maximize your philanthropic impact in ways that elevate community voice and center overlooked and underserved students.

Philanthropy has the power to contribute to or hinder progress.

With the potential to either cultivate positive systems-level change or exacerbate incoherence and perpetuate inequity, we must always question the impact philanthropy is having on our education system. If foundations are not collaborating with each other, how can we expect coherence at the school, district, or state levels? 

If only it were always clear whether your grantmaking is having the positive impact it's intended to. 

But instead, you’re struggling with:

  • Investments that aren’t aligned with what the community is asking for

  • Little collaboration with other foundations

  • Funder collaboratives that are stuck in learning mode

It’s time for a new era of grantmaking where individual foundations work collaboratively in pursuit of common goals. 

Collaborative grantmaking isn’t easy. 

It requires a new approach and a new way of operating, which can be challenging at first. 

Working with your organization, I’ll provide strong project management, effective and inclusive facilitation, productive meeting design, and strategic thinking to help you launch and manage funder collaboratives. With years of experience as the Director of the Emerging Bilingual Collaborative, a six funder collaborative that has pooled $12M+ to support young multilingual learners in California, I’ve learned what it takes to launch and manage successful funder collaboratives, and move groups of funders from learning together to pooling resources and engaging in shared grantmaking.

In addition to launching and managing funder collaboratives, I train and coach new directors of funder collaboratives to ensure they have the materials and knowledge needed to hit the ground running. 

Our work together will transform the impact and reach of your foundation. 

You’ll move away from siloed and ineffective grantmaking to strategic, coherent grantmaking in collaboration with other foundations. You’ll become part of an effective funder collaborative with a shared vision, mission, and goals. Your funder collaborative will be set up for success with strong processes and structures in place to engage in pooled grantmaking. Most importantly, your collaborative will prioritize community voice and students furthest from opportunity. 

If you’re interested in launching a funder collaborative, improving an existing one, or looking for someone to manage a funder collaborative, here’s how to start:

01.

Set up a call with me.

02.

We’ll meet to discuss what you’re looking for, what challenges you’re experiencing, and what services I can offer.

03.

If it seems like the right fit, I’ll write a scope of work for you to review, and we’ll get to work. 

If you’re not quite sure of your next steps, but you’re feeling stuck, and you’re curious about more effective grantmaking, schedule a 1 hour free exploratory call with me, no obligation.