Consider Hosting Foundations 101 in Your State!
Following the success of Kentucky’s inaugural Foundations 101 meeting, I was part of a group of several funders in Alabama who joined together earlier this month to reach out to the local staffs of our elected officials for our own 101 session.
Unlike the barnstorming meetings some of us attend each year during Foundations on the Hill in the Nation’s Capital, when we meet hurriedly with our state delegation members to discuss issues impacting the philanthropic sector, 101 was accomplished in a much more relaxed setting.
With more than 20 participants representing foundations and our elected officials gathered at one time to learn from one another, the two-hour meeting gave foundation staff a wonderful and deliberate opportunity to describe our oft-misunderstood field and purpose and ask specific questions from the “experts.” We touched on everything, including types of foundations, our similarities and differences, our work, the history of philanthropy, and facts about foundations in Alabama.
Staffers from the Alabama offices of Sens. Jeff Sessions and Richard Shelby, Reps. Robert Aderholt, Spencer Bachus, Martha Roby, Mike Rogers, and Terri Sewell, and Gov. Robert Bentley shared experiences involving constituents and opportunities for future involvement. Economic challenges facing Alabama and the nation, new funding strategies being employed by foundations, examples of successful collaborations, and public/private partnerships were discussed, as well as opportunities for leveraging federal dollars and including foundations “at the table” in policy discussions.
It was an enlightening and engaging session and feedback suggested that it was time well-spent by all involved. The fact that we met in a facility that is a shining example of the good that can come from public/private partnerships was a plus. Innovation Depot, a business incubation program that focuses on the development of emerging biotechnology/life science, information technology, and service businesses, operates in partnership with the University of Alabama at Birmingham. It is also a public-private economic development effort funded by the Birmingham regional business community, the Community Foundation of Greater Birmingham, and other leading private foundations, UAB, the city of Birmingham, and Jefferson County.
Some of the staffers were extremely knowledgeable about the depot, as their elected bosses had been involved in helping “make it happen,” while others were visiting and learning about it for the first time. The same was true for the foundation leaders. Regardless of either experience, meeting at the depot and hearing from its president and CEO at the outset of the meeting about its tremendous success and impact on the community was a coup and drove the point home of how everyone benefits from reaching out to one another and working together—the whole point of Foundations 101!
I recommend any group of foundations eager to expand and strengthen relationships with your elected officials to consider hosting a Foundations 101 session in your state. It is well worth the effort!
Torrey Van Antwerp DeKeyser is executive director of The Eyesight Foundation of Alabama.
