Participants will leave with actionable tools, a refreshed unserstanding of compliance, and a blueprint for bringing policy work into your organization. The training will dive into practical strategies that blend direct services with advocacy, learning how to leverage available resources, from convening power to community partnerships, to create lasting, meaningful impact.
Training Hours
- Wednesday, April 22: 1 - 5 p.m. ET
- Thursday, April 23: 1 - 5 pm ET
Participants will explore the following during the course:
- Why engaging in policy advocacy is essential for foundations to achieve their goals
- A refresher on legal rules governing grantmaker funding and actions
- How staff roles across the foundation can support advocacy, and how to build internal buy-in for this work
- Characterics of grantmaking that support effective policy advocacy
- How to leverage a foundation's assets, including reputation and relationships, to advance policy
- Vocabulary and framework to discuss risk strategically, moving from a binary "safe/unsafe" view to a "managed risk" mindset
- Funding vehicles that support effective policy advocacy
- Building strong, effective relationships with nonprofit partners and grantees
- How to evaluate partner contributions and navigate real-life challenges
- Action planning for integrating these strategies into your foundation's work
Who Should Attend
- Private foundation staff with a basic understanding of policy work.
- Foundation staff of all experience levels that incorporate policy advocacy into their work - such as those in leadership, communications, grants management, or strategic planning.
Please note, this course is limited to foundation staff and Board members only.
Group Rate
Trainings are designed to be taken individually at a personal workstation, not in a group setting. Registration rates are per person. Group rates are for Council Members that send 5-7 people from one organization, each person must be registered individually to attend. Email educate@cof.org to register a group.
Cancellation Policy
All registration cancellations must be submitted in writing to educate@cof.org. All cancellation refunds before March 21, 2026 will incur a 25% administrative fee per registration. No refunds will be provided after March 22, 2026
