Why Grant Makers Should Help Nonprofits Collaborate and Experiment

There are many ways grant makers can develop deeper, collaborative relationships with grantees. Some bring grantees together to discuss challenges and opportunities, and others focus on specific neighborhoods in which they invest, so they can better understand issues affecting those communities.

In two videos produced by Exponent Philanthropy — the latest in a series — grant makers share their views on the value of creating ways for grantees to collaborate. In the first video in this installment, titled Working Collaboratively, family foundation leaders explain that bringing grantees together holds two important benefits: Grantees learn from one another, and grant makers learn how they can help grantees meet common challenges.

“Through collaboration, when we encourage organizations to share their challenges, we get a better sense as to the opportunities that we can be most helpful in supporting,” says Clark McCain, senior program officer at the Coleman Foundation.

The second video in this installment, “Risks and Mistakes,” examines the importance of grant makers’ supporting experimentation at nonprofits. Investing in a new organization or program sometimes seems risky, but as the grant makers explain, nonprofits become stronger when they embrace a spirit of experimentation.

“We love hearing the bad with the good because we know not everything is perfect and not everything lines up exactly with what was originally proposed,” says Joëlle Allen, executive director of the Peacock Foundation. “We always thank our grantees for sharing with us what might be difficult to share.”

Breakthroughs can emerge from both failures and successes, and the grant makers interviewed acknowledged that they can’t always expect programs to run perfectly. They aspire to create environments that support new ideas, where grantees are comfortable admitting mistakes, and where all parties can learn from one another.

This is the third installment in a monthly video series in partnership with Exponent Philanthropy, previously known as the Association of Small Foundations. You can also see this video on the Philanthropy Lessons website.