Greater Good Blog

Last month, I had the chance to connect with former colleagues and meet new friends at the Grantmakers In Health conference in Portland, Oregon. It was a wonderful opportunity to step away from my day-to-day work and reflect on the trends driving the health philanthropy field. I have spent the better part of the past 15 years supporting health-focused funders of all kinds to effectively conduct their policy, advocacy, and communications work, and I have seen the field transform in amazing ways.

What struck me most about the conversations I had and the sessions I attended in Portland was how far health funders have come over the past couple of decades in their focus on policy and advocacy work—and how far they haven’t.

I heard from funders putting new emphasis on supporting advocacy and organizing infrastructure. I listened to foundations outline a sophisticated understanding of how to leverage government funding streams. I learned about philanthropies tying their policy efforts to movement- and power-building work in new and exciting ways.

But the conversation remains uneven.

For example, I met a representative of a health conversion foundation on the West Coast that has created a novel new intermediary to help community-based groups capture federal dollars. Then, I turned around and spoke to a Southern funder who shared that their board “doesn’t want to hear the ‘A-word’” (“advocacy,” in this case, though probably the other one, too).

Even now, as surprising as it may sound, the idea that philanthropy should stay away from policy and advocacy persists in many corners of the field. We tend to think of the trend toward policy work as relatively recent, but it’s not new. It’s not uncontroversial, either.

Foundations have been focusing on policy and advocacy for at least the past 70 years, and their work has met with waves of skepticism from elected officials, advocates, and community groups. Throughout the 20th century, for example, successive legislative panels—the Reece Committee, the Patman Committee, and the Filer Commission— sought to examine and place boundaries on the power of foundations to engage in policy work. Today, even as the nonprofit sector gears up for a new wave of attacks on its charitable status, policy-focused funders must carefully navigate legal restrictions on their activity and be cognizant of complex power dynamics with their grantees.

While the difficulties and risks of engaging in policy and advocacy are real, the risks of not doing so are far greater. As intractable social problems arise more quickly than elected officials and administrators can address them, philanthropy must use all legal and effective tools at their disposal—from policy and advocacy to impact investing and more—to support grantees, community leaders, policymakers, and others in the governance of our society.

When philanthropy works in close and trusting partnership with advocates and organizers on public policy issues, the roles it can play as a funder, convener, co-strategist, and capacity-builder have the potential to make our democracy stronger and more responsive. This is as true in health philanthropy as it is in other sectors, from climate to education.

Supporting more equitable policymaking is not simply an “opportunity” for philanthropy; it’s a responsibility. Funders should use their resources to help address deep and persistent social challenges at all levels of government. And for all funders, whether they are brand new to policy and advocacy or have robust and sophisticated policy strategies, there are more options than ever to deepen their knowledge and practice.

These include:

• Bolder Advocacy: For new-to-advocacy funders and their staff, the best starting place is the Alliance for Justice’s Bolder Advocacy program, which provides easy-to-understand legal and compliance trainings for funders and nonprofits engaging in advocacy for the first time.
• Issue and movement affinity groups: I am still surprised when I hear funders say they don’t know of any affinity groups in their field. Groups like Grantmakers In Health, Funders’ Committee for Civic Participation, Neighborhood Funders Group, and dozens of others are more than just places to convene. Increasingly, they also provide co-strategizing and co-funding opportunities for likeminded donors.
• Philanthropic Policy Leaders Learning Community: The growth in philanthropy staff dedicated to policy and advocacy has been so fast and so pronounced that demand among this group has swelled for opportunities for professional development. In response, in partnership with Blue Shield of California Foundation and five other sponsors, Arabella launched and manages a new learning community for practitioners in philanthropy to come together across issues and discuss policy and advocacy and its relationship to evaluation, partnerships, power-building, and democracy. This group is a good fit for folks who have prior experience in policy and philanthropy and are looking for support with strategy, approach, and organizational design. If you’re interested, please feel free to reach out to learn more.

Whether you are at the beginning of your journey with policy and advocacy or grappling with new strategies, structures, or partnerships, our team is happy to help point you in the right direction. The more philanthropy can make long-term, flexible commitments to policy work, the more likely we are to see responsive, equitable policymaking.