Seven Habits of Highly Effective Grants Managers & Successful Structures of Grantmaking
When it comes to organizational learning and continuous improvement, grants managers are at the center of the action. Based on conversations with members, GEO has identified seven habits of highly effective grants managers who play a critical role in helping their foundations become learning organizations. Which habits are already a part of your work? Which ones do you need to develop? This discussion challenges conventional expectations and presents a different way of thinking that empowers grants managers to define their roles as “Learners-in-Chief.”
Attendees will:
Develop an understanding of the learning cycle – what is it and how it relates to the things grants managers do on a daily basis
Recognize the importance of figuring out what you want to learn and why
Learn the habits of grants managers who are helping their foundations become learning organizations
SUCCESSFUL STRUCTURES: RETHINKING THE ROLE OF GRANTS MANAGERS
Is it true that all foundations are unique and special snowflakes? Maybe, but GMN has been working on a project that underscores just how alike foundations can be if they are deliberate and intentional when creating their grantmaking structure.
The revelation: putting grantmaking practice closer to strategy and impact leads to better outcomes, both for funders and the nonprofits they support.
Through our work to identify Successful Structures, GMN learned that in some organizations, the practices, processes, and systems that get money out the door to support important work in communities are informed, assessed, and strengthened using timely data about grantmaking effectiveness. In these organizations, thoughtful conversations about how to make grants most effectively are everyone’s business: programs, operations, finance, and executive staff work together to analyze and improve grantmaking practice.
In the workshop on Successful Structures, we will review the five key indicators of the necessary organizational and cultural shift required to implement a successful structure.
Attendees will:
Understand what makes a successful structure possible and practical
Compare their current structure to a successful structure and know where they are on the scale
Learn how to implement elements of a successful structure
Report on successes in creating structures that support grantmaking strategy
Get a sneak peek at some case stories GMN will be highlighting in Fall 2016
Join your GMN Northern California Chapter colleagues for this two-for-one educational session and don’t forget to join us after the event for a networking happy hour nearby.