A number of GCRI members, including Amica Insurance, BankRI, Cox Communications, CVS Health, Neighborhood Health Plan of RI, Pawtucket Credit Union, Sodexo, and United Way of Rhode Island are making sure that Rhode Island schoolchildren have all the supplies they need to start the new school year. The Back to School Celebration, which will be held at 12 locations on Saturday, August 19, will provide free school supplies, food, entertainment, activities and educational information and resources for children and their families.
Visit Hasbro Summer Learning Sites
Hasbro and United Way invite GCRI members to see the dynamic learning that takes place when schools are closed for the summer through the Hasbro Summer Learning Initiative (HSLI). Site visits are available at 14 sites across the state, from July 12-August 15.
Each program offers a six-week, service learning-oriented, experiential curriculum that is designed and delivered via a collaboration of school-day and community-based educators. The programs are working to narrow the achievement gap – half of which studies attribute to unequal access to summer learning. More than 1,100 Rhode Island youth will benefit from the initiative this summer, and the goal is to provide this opportunity to thousands more.
The visits to these sites allow guests to witness the progress being made to combat summer learning loss. Visits last one hour. If you are interested in participating, please contact Joseph Morra at joseph.morra@uwri.org.
New Nonprofit Reporting Webinar Offered on June 20
The Forum is partnering with Mission Measurement to offer a webinar, Common Outcomes: How To Standardize Nonprofit Reporting on Tuesday, June 20th 1:00-2:00 pm EST. Public companies issue only one 10-K to all of their investors. So why do nonprofits have to report differently to every different funder? This webinar explores the challenges in grant reporting, impact measurement and standardizing data in the sector. In particular, we will discuss how foundations (and CTOs) are solving these problems using new evidence-based tools and taxonomies. You will hear from Jason Saul CEO of Mission Measurement about the ground-breaking work of the Impact Genome Project®.
Impact Investing Session Follow up
For those interested in additional resources on Mission Related Investments (MRI), here are some resources:
Support Organizations
Global Impact Investing Network
Initiative for Responsible Investment
US SIF – The Forum for Sustainable and Responsible Investment
Articles and Publications
Bay Area Impact Investing Initiative: “What is Place-Based Impact Investing?”
Center for Effective Philanthropy: “Investing and Social Impact: Practices of Private Foundations”
Chronicle of Philanthropy: “Mission Critical: Nonprofits and foundations making impact investments believe their dollars are vital to solving tough problems”
Council of Development Finance Agencies: “Urban Revitalization and Impact Investing”
Goldman Sachs: “Right Tools, Right Time: The Rise of Impact Investing”
Grantmakers in the Arts: “How to Invest in the Arts Without Buying a Picasso”
The McKnight Foundation: Statement of Investment Policy
Mission Investors Exchange: “Equity Advancing Equity”
National Center for Family Philanthropy: “Getting started with impact investing: Overcoming resistance from family and board members”
Philanthropy News Digest: “Study calls on impact investors to close educational attainment gaps”
Pacific Community Ventures: What’s New in Impact Investing
Stanford Social Innovation Review: “Mission Possible: How Foundations Are Shaping the Future of Impact Investing” – series of mission investment articles
Surdna Foundation: ”Mapping the Journey to Impact Investing”
United Nations: Principles for Responsible Investment
Two New “Marketplaces” for Impact Investments
- Minnesota Council of Foundations (GCRI’s sister organization) has established an impact investing collaborative with The McKnight Foundation, Bush Foundation and the Otto Bremer Trust as lead institutions.
- Washington Area Grantmakers (GCRI’s sister organization) has a housing investment program.
Upcoming GCRI Events
Mark your calendar for these upcoming GCRI events and opportunities:
Financial and Social Returns: Maximizing Impact Through Mission-Related Investments — Thursday, May 25, 1:00-2:30pm at the Rhode Island Foundation
Digital Security in an Age of Hacking and Cyberthreats: What Grantmakers Should Know (Webinar) — Thursday, June 8, noon
The Power of Participation — Livestream, Friday, June 16, 9:00am-12:30
Rapid Response Grantmaking — Thursday, June 15, 9:00-11:00am at the Rhode Island Foundation
Arts & Culture Funder Resources
NEA Releases Economic Data — Arts are 4.2% of Nation’s Economy
Grantmakers in the Arts Webinar on “Understanding Who Benefits from Our Funding Support”
May 23, 2pm: With increasing urgency, the field of arts philanthropy is investigating funding inequities and seeking remedies to longstanding practices and policies that have led to them. Using anecdotal and soft evidence to address funding inequities make strategies difficult to develop and outcomes difficult to measure; we understand that to make meaningful progress towards closing funding gaps requires gathering specific data that tell us who our grantees are and who they are serving. Join Beth Tuttle from DataArts; Bronwyn Mauldin from Los Angeles County Arts Commission, a public funder; and Elizabeth Love from Houston Endowment, a private funder, as they discuss their approaches to collecting demographic data on grantees and their audiences. Register
Grantmakers in the Arts Resource Blog on Responding to the Current Political Climate
Washington Post: Federal Budget Agreement for FY2017 Maintains Funding for NEA, NEH
New York Times: NYC Implements New Cultural Funding Formula to Increase Equity
National Association of State Arts Agencies Policy Brief on Government Support of the Arts
More Value to Short-Term Investment or Smaller, Long-Term, Endowment Based Giving?
Atlantic Philanthropies has banked its investment decisions on the philosophy that since a foundation’s grants generate a social return, those returns compound at a higher rate than its financial assets would, so more immediate grants will generate more social value than preserving the capital and making more grants later. This is the premise behind limited life foundations. Value, Time, and Time-Limited Philanthropy, highlights discussions among philanthropic leaders, advisors, and scholars about the social value a philanthropic initiative can be estimated to generate — taking into account direct outlay, social value, ripple effects, and durability — and whether, considering social utility, rates of return, and the compounding or erosion of value over time, the premise holds true for three Atlantic Philanthropies-funded initiatives. Initial study is showing that Atlantic’s short-term investments are paying off, in part because other foundations have taken a slower, more sustained approach, so there may be an important role for both approaches to funding to address systemic issues.
GCRI Membership Discount to Exponent Philanthropy
Exponent Philanthropy is an association of small grantmakers and the only one dedicated to serving foundations with few or no staff, philanthropic families, and individual donors. With nearly 2,000 members, their vibrant network has in common lean operations and a style of philanthropy motivated by personal passion, community needs, and the strong desire for better outcomes. Exponent provides programs, resources, and connections that maximize philanthropy’s impact on diverse communities and causes. Learn more
GCRI members can receive $100 off the first year of membership in Exponent Philanthropy. The discount code is REGIONAL100.
GCRI Members Bring Learning and Discovery Through April Vacation Volunteer Events
As part of GCRI’s second April Vacation Volunteer Initiative, volunteer teams from Bank Newport (two sites), Blue Cross & Blue Shield of RI, and Pawtucket Credit Union spent a morning with children in afterschool programs doing fun STEM enrichment activities.
A total of 28 corporate volunteers worked with over 100 children to build gumdrop bridges, “rescue” stuffed animals, launch pompoms and make roller coaster tracks for marbles at the Newport County YMCA (ALC member), Kids Klub North Providence (ALC member), Pawtucket Boys and Girls Club (ALC member) and the Bristol Warren COZ program.
Both the YMCA program and the Kids Klub program received positive newspaper coverage in local newspapers:
Newport Daily News – Bank Newport April Vacation 2017
Valley Breeze — Blue Cross April Vacation 2017
United Way Launches Children’s Spring Literacy and Afterschool Efforts
April Vacation Family Volunteer Project
Over two days, April 19 and 20, United Way of Rhode Island hosted fifty-three family and corporate volunteers as they made literacy kits for local children. To encourage family reading, volunteers made puppets and games based on the books they brought to donate. Volunteers from GCRI members Bank Newport, Blue Cross & Blue Shield of RI joined in the fun to help ensure that Rhode Island children fall in love with reading.
Children’s Book Drive
UWRI is partnering again with Books Are Wings and the Women’s Leadership Council for the sixth annual Children’s Book Drive, taking place April 24-June 2. This event unites local businesses, community partners, families, and individuals around a common goal—helping children read. GCRI members are encouraged to host a collection drive or donate new or gently used children’s books. Read more. For more information on hosting a book drive, email bookdrive@uwri.org.
May 25 Afterschool Learning Day at the State House
UWRI and its Afterschool Leadership Circle invites programs, funders and participants in afterschool programs to join in the Afterschool Learning Day at the State House to celebrate the ways that afterschool works to keep kids safe, boost student success and help parents keep their jobs. RSVP to alc@uwri.org.