Catalyst and Collaborator: Philanthropy’s Role in Public Policy

An Interview with Minnesota State Rep. Nora Slawik

Throughout her six terms in the Minnesota House of Representatives, Rep. Slawik has collaborated with foundations working to advance several early childhood and education initiatives. We chatted following her participation on a public policy panel hosted by the Minnesota Council on Foundations.

Here is an excerpt of her interview. Read more of her Commentary in our just-published Summer issue of Giving Forum.

Q: What is philanthropy’s role in public policy?

State government and foundations are looking to solve the same issues facing our citizens, so it only makes sense that we work together.

Part of what we lack in the public policy arena is the ability to do strategic planning, because we need short-term wins. This is amplified by election cycles. Foundations can give us long-term perspectives on issues and solutions and help us make more strategic decisions. It’s particularly valuable when foundations provide funding to jump-start strategic planning for longer-term solutions, especially when government is facing a large deficit.

A recent example is the work of the School Readiness Funders Coalition. As part of its larger advocacy agenda, this group of foundations will fund the implementation of two pieces of the Early Childhood Policy Bill approved this session. Both focus on strategic planning by the Governor’s Early Childhood Advisory Council: $100,000 will fund exploration of the creation of an Office of Early Learning; an additional $58,000 will fund strategic planning for a statewide school readiness report card.

Philanthropy brings a non-partisan lens to issues by advocating for what it believes is best for the community. That more collaborative, strategic perspective is important to have at the table.

Evaluation also is lacking in state government. We haven’t funded or conducted it in areas such as early childhood, so when we try to compare the impact of programs such as Head Start and those focusing on child care, school readiness and preschool – all of which serve the same populations – we do not have good data. How do we decide what are good investments? Foundations can help us begin to evaluate, so we can look at reform.

Foundations can be a catalyst for change by funding pilot projects, and state government can look at making the most of the best ideas. This type of collaborative relationship truly can benefit the public, especially those most in need of assistance. If government gives a subsidy to a parent for child care, foundations can help make that quality child care.

Q: How do philanthropy and government address the great challenges of making progress in public policy?

Develop a common vision and determine benchmarks that demonstrate progress toward that goal. In early childhood, our goal is to have all children school ready by 2020. For the environment, we want most of the state’s energy companies to provide 25 percent of their power through renewable sources by 2025. What are benchmarks we can measure along the way to these goals?

Obviously there will be setbacks. Elections and turnover at foundations change the players, and there are economic cutbacks and societal shifts. We need to adjust, but we can remain true to a consistent goal.

In the political world, people take sides and we encounter opposition. We can’t count on trying to change minds, as legislators are often entrenched in their positions. It’s important to be respectful, acknowledge alternative voices, invite everyone to be part of the process, and not shut out anyone.

In the case of this session’s early childhood bills, some view the creation of an Office of Early Childhood as expansion of government, while I see it as government reform or redefinition. Regardless, we will encourage opposing legislators to be involved in the task forces created by the legislation. During the session, our basic message was, “We have a collaborative partnership with the foundations. Let’s get this passed, then let’s all be active in moving the state forward through early childhood.”

Passing a bill is not the end of the public policy process. It feels like an end, because we’ve accomplished something, but it’s really the beginning of the work to create change.

Timing is everything!

Just as we published Giving Forum, GrantCraft released its latest guide – Working With Government: Guidance for Grantmakers.

Filled with case studies of cross-sector collaborations, the guide sheds light on unfamiliar terrain for foundations and government and offers fresh insight into the benefits and risks of partnering. Developing relationships, navigating roles and power dynamics, and managing risks aren’t easy, but the resulting collaborations — as the funders highlighted in this guide attest — are important and highly effective.

 – Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate

Capacity, Culture, Commitment and Comfort: Finding Public Policy Strategies That Fit Your Foundation

How much change can a foundation catalyze by simply – albeit generously – writing checks? Not as much as it could if it also engaged in public policy activities. In fact, public policy work should be viewed as an essential part of a foundation’s efforts, say several members of the Minnesota Council on Foundations.

In our Summer issue of Giving Forum, “Public Policy and Philanthropy: Many Roads Lead to the Same Destination – Change,” John Larsen, trustee and administrator of the John Larsen Foundation, says, “Ultimately, the work of our foundation is about creating real, systemic change, and that can only happen when we start talking to government. Whether you’re a small family foundation like us, or a very large foundation, we all need shifts in public policy in order to achieve really significant lasting social change.”

The challenge is that working to achieve shifts in public policy is often equated with lobbying. And the thought of walking up the steps of the Capitol or testifying before a legislative committee is more than many funders can fathom.

Lobbying, however, is not the sole avenue to influencing public decision making and advocating for causes. Although it is the most recognized public policy engagement tactic, it is only one of 18 distinct policy strategies that Julia Coffman outlines in “A User’s Guide to Advocacy Evaluation Planning,” published by the Harvard Family Research Project.

A “Framework of Public Policy Activities,” which we include in Giving Forum, also includes using electronic outreach and social media, coalition and network building, grassroots organizing, briefings and presentations, polling, pilot projects, research investigating issues and identifying solutions and policymaker education, among others – all of which can impact public decision making, which ultimately shapes policy development, approval and implementation.

A foundation can engage anywhere along the continuum, pursuing those activities that fit its capacity, culture, commitment and comfort levels. A public policy activity that feels right for one foundation may not fit another.

Many foundations choose a combination of strategies, leveraging their resources to: raise awareness of where the public stands on particular issues; bring together divergent points of view to first converse then collaborate; empower community members to advocate on their own behalf by providing technical assistance; increase the capacity of nonprofits to mobilize others; identify messages that resonate with policymakers and the public; determine what would happen if the status quo was allowed to prevail; aggregate what is known already about an issue and put that to work to further discussion; or identify possible solutions and best practices.

These MCF members have each chosen distinct strategies to impact public decision making that fit their capacity, culture, commitment and comfort level. Read more about their work in our just-published Giving Forum:

Lead article:

Southern Minnesota Initiative Foundation: An outgrowth of its grantmaking and programmatic activities, community dialogues and business loan work, SMIF’s public policy activities, including building coalition and networks and partnering with the media to draw attention to the issues and how public policy could impact the success the foundation seeks.

The Minneapolis Foundation: As part of the School Readiness Funders Coalition, a group of funders with diverse strengths and abilities in advocacy work, The Minneapolis Foundation brings to the group its ability to lobby and testify at legislative hearings to advocate for the coalitions “Agenda to Achieve Learning Readiness by 2020.”

John Larsen Foundation: When awarding grants supporting work toward LGBT equality, the foundation  considers if educating policymakers is an end goal of the nonprofit’s work and if the organization has a research plan and a track record of communicating those findings to policymakers.

Indian Land Tenure Foundation: Striving to ensure that lands within the original boundaries of reservations is acquired, owned and managed by Indians, the foundation views education about land issues a priority, as well as identification then pursuit of strategies for achieving legal reform.

Women’s Foundation of Minnesota: The explosion of social media has created a new landscape for the foundation to leverage its expertise to educate, engage and broaden its reach to shift attitudes, behaviors and institutions that limit equality for women and girls.

Voices of Philanthropy articles:

Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation: Identifying partners best qualified to successfully implement strategies and measuring what’s important to guide future initiatives drive the foundation’s advocacy work.

Initiative Foundation: Based on the belief that local people are the key to strengthening communities, the foundation increases civic engagement by providing training, technical assistance, resource referral and grants to help citizen-based teams develop and carry out strategic plans.

While these efforts are diverse, the common thread amongst them is the recognition by these foundations that strategically developing goals to influence public decision making and intentionally engaging in public policy activities and advocacy work can move systems change forward.

– Chris Murakami Noonan, MCF communications associate