Learning to be grantmakers

Blackbaud has a longstanding relationship with the Coastal Community Foundation, located in Charleston, SC, where we're headquartered.  This partnership began many years ago when, as a young company, we were looking for a way to launch new giving programs and build infrastructure that could grow with us.  The answer came in the form of the Blackbaud Fund. 

Managed by CCF, The Blackbaud Fund provides grants annually in support of educational programs for disadvantaged youth and the disabled.  This mission was established by Blackbaud's founder, Tony Bakker, who felt strongly that the fund would allow us to make a long-term impact on the community.

By far, the neatest thing about this fund is that -- from the very beginning -- we have relied on employees to determine how the grants are distributed.  Service on the Blackbaud Grants Committee has become somewhat of an honor, a special role that individual people are asked to take on.  The committee is made up of employees who represent all our divisions here in the Lowcountry.  Each person serves for two years (or two grant rounds), working under the guidance of Edie Blakeslee from CCF and our own Tina Fei, who serves as our volunteer committee chair.

The process is pretty straightforward, thanks to the support Edie and her team give us.  The applications come in through CCF, and we rely on Edie's guidance to help sort through them and make decisions.  The hard part is actually determining who should receive funding.  In the early days of the fund, I served as a non-voting advisor.  Sitting in on those meetings was fascinating, watching my colleagues learn how to really dig into an application, evaluate how the nonprofit would spend the money, and balance emotional reactions with the data in front of them.  Deciding how to give away money, when you can't give it to everyone, is hard.

To me, the most important and rewarding part of the entire process is the site visits.  After the applications have been read and we're down to a manageable number, Edie arranges for a group of committee members to visit each organization.  It's a chance to see the nonprofit in action, meet the staff, and ask questions.  Although that sounds pretty straightforward, there's nothing like a site visit to bring a proposal to life.  In one memorable instance, the committee went from thinking a proposal was less-than-interesting to putting it at the top of the funding list.  I still recall how passionately those who visited the organization spoke about what they learned and what they saw.

Just yesterday, the members of the 2009 Blackbaud Grants Committee submitted their individual evaluations of the applications in the final round to CCF.  On Monday, they meet to discuss how to allocate this year's funds.  On Monday, regardless of what role they play within the company, they will be grantmakers.  They'll speak passionately about what they saw, they'll discuss who will accomplish the most with the funding, and they'll collaborate to determine how the pool of money to be allocated will be spent.

I don't envy the tough decisions this committee needs to make.  They take on the challenge willingly and, through the process, learn so much about the nonprofits around us, the issues our community faces, and how individual people like them can make a difference.  Although the nonprofits who are selected receive funding to run their programs, I think the people who serve on the committee win, too. 

Thanks to Edie, Tina and the 2009 Blackbaud Grants Committee for all their hard work.  I look forward to sharing the news of who is being awarded grants!