NPO CONVERSATION

We invite leaders of nonprofit organizations to join us each quarter for a brown-bag lunch discussion about issues, ideas, and concerns in the nonprofit and philanthropic community.

The meetings are a time for us to “talk shop” and move beyond the usual conversation between foundations and nonprofit organizations.  Guests learn a little about GMA and a lot about their peers’ perspectives on important issues.

Attendance is limited to seven organizations with one representative per organization, preferably the executive director or director of a major program. The lunches are held in GMA’s ninth floor conference room at our 77 Summer Street offices.

Topic for Tuesday, June 11th:     UNRESTRICTED SUPPORT

Should foundations allocate larger sums for general operating support in their grantmaking program?   Certainly, this is not a new question, but one that nonprofit leaders must consider at least annually.  We work closely with dozens of foundations, each with a different perspective on this question.  At our next NPO Conversation, we’d like to hear from you.

Please join GMA’s associates for a guided lunchtime conversation with a small group of local nonprofit leaders.   Come ready to share your answers to some of these questions:

• How do you fund your operations?
• Why do you value operating support from foundations?
  Is unrestricted support as effective as program support for achieving both a funder’s philanthropic goals and a grantee’s mission?  What is the best way for a foundation to evaluate their unrestricted grantmaking?
• How do you get it?
  What should we know?  What don’t we get?

What do you think?  Please bring your ideas and a brown bag lunch to GMA on Tuesday, June 11.   We’ll provide refreshments and dessert.

Register in advance.  Please call Susan Haff, tel. 617/391-3092 by June 5.

Related reading

Phil Hall, Director of Grantmaking at GMA Foundations, makes the case for operating support in his recent article, Transcendental Operations: Finding the excitement in unrestricted support.  Phil notes that nonprofits “can hardly be expected to innovate from a base of poverty.”

The Council on Foundations gives us a good set of definitions and some background on the issue in their December 2002 Board Briefing, At Issue: Project vs. Operating Support— Which Is the Better Strategy?  http://www.cof.org/files/Documents/Governing_Boards/BBProjectOperating.PDF