[NEW RESOURCES] Advocacy Collaboratives

Over the last several years—and especially the past several months—there’s been an uptick of funders interested in funding advocacy. And many of those funders recognize that there are many benefits to doing it collaboratively—sometimes it’s even a necessity. Funder collaboratives that focus on advocacy and policy change are indeed becoming more visible and popular, but they also carry a unique set of challenges that can derail important work. Our new set of resources authored by Cindy Gibson aims to put advocacy funder collaboratives in perspective through the candid, practical wisdom of seasoned grantmakers.

A few things I’m specifically excited about in this series:

• It features extremely engaging quotes and discussion questions that are both simple (usable!) and deep (thought-provoking for both new and seasoned funders);
• It is responsive to a growing conversation in philanthropy and the world at large;
• It shows a budding awareness of how the power of grantmaking can be harnessed to move the needle in bold, game-changing ways through collaborative voice and action;
• It builds on research that has come before—both via GrantCraft’s advocacy and funder collaboratives guides and IssueLab’s special collection of topical research (see below!); and
• It tests a new, short-form content series format that I've been dying to pilot because it takes into account characteristics that we know work for learning: digestible, peer-to-peer, tangible, and chock-full of best practices.

A huge thanks goes to our partners in this effort—the Center for Evaluation Innovation's Atlas Learning Project and The Atlantic Philanthropies—as well as to Cindy for her terrific interview and writing chops, the numerous people who lent their experiences and resources to this body of research, and to my team here at Foundation Center for their strategic insights.

Now, the fun part: dig in to this series, share it with others, and let me know what you think and how you’re using it. And, if you’re involved in an advocacy collaborative and want to add your perspective to a growing pool of knowledge, I invite you to share your wisdom through a guest blog post or by sharing resources that inform your work.

P.S. Congratulations to our swag bag winners Jenna Gonzales (San Antonio Area Foundation) and Karen Brown (Fairfield County's Community Foundation! Thanks for taking our GrantCraft survey! 

P.P.S. Connect with Foundation Center staff at the upcoming events below, we’d love to say hello and learn more about your work in the sector! 

• Leading Together: Council on Foundations Annual Conference
  April 23-26, 2017 – Dallas, TX
• EDGE Funders Conference
  April 25-28, 2017 – Barcelona, Spain
• European Foundation Centre Annual General Assembly
  May 31 – June 2, 2017 – Warsaw, Poland