Improving Philanthropic Impact“I believe we’re in the work of social justice. That means that there are not easy fixes. It’s a long-term struggle…If you don’t have learning as part of the short term, you’re walking in the woods without a compass.”

-- Pat Brandes, The Barr Foundation

Our Framing Questions . . .

1. How should we think about improving philanthropic impact?

2. What do your members need to do to learn how to improve their own contribution to impact?

3. What do your members need to do to support the whole network involved in creating impact to learn how to get there together?

www.emergentlearning.com

How should we think about improving philanthropic

impact?“When [the process of learning how to use the tools of our trade] is tacit, the process of discovering and combining and testing rules proceeds at an evolutionary timescale; when the process is overt, the timescale may be orders of magnitude shorter.”

-- John Holland, Hidden Order

Which is a better way to think of philanthropy?

As a chess board…or as a football match?

What do your members need to do to learn how to improve their

own contribution to impact?

“Are we making progress toward our long-term outcomes? In the process, what are we learning that would challenge our beliefs and assumptions? What are the implications for what we do or don’t do?”

-- Gayle Williams, Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation

What do your members need to do to learn how to improve their own contribution?

Research Headlines:1.Foundations over-invest in learning and evaluation activities and under-invest in closing the loop around a few essential questions.2.Foundations are challenged to articulate and keep “lively” the thinking behind their grantmaking decisions and support.3.In the quest to become strategic, foundations tend to err on the side of becoming “muscular.”-- www.emergentlearning.com

Under-investing in closing the loop

“When someone says, ‘we should learn,’ everyone nods. The problem is that it’s not specific. The intention to learn, by itself, is not that helpful.”

Medium Cycle

Long Cycle

Short Cycle

What do your members need to do to support the whole network

involved in creating impact to learn how to get there together?“We are a learning organization amidst learning communities.”

-- David Nee, Graustein Memorial Fund

Articulating and keeping thinking “lively”

IF we take (action), THEN we can expect (result).Given the situation, what will it take to do that?

Given our theory, what will that help us accomplish?

IF …, THEN ….

IF …, THEN ….

Avoiding becoming muscular

Laissez-Faire “Muscular”

Where is the “sweet spot” where learning can

happen across a network?

www.emergentlearning.com