Foundations

IISC and Foundations: Leveraging Philanthropic Potential

More than ever, foundations are being called to think broadly and strategically, collaborate effectively with grantees and partners, and leverage their resources for greater impact. IISC partners with foundations in their roles as convenors, as thought leaders, and as investors in social change organizations to help them deliver real change for the future. We build the strategic and collaborative capacity of both foundations and their grantees.

IISC builds the capacity of foundations by:

• Building collaborative networks for concerted action and learning. IISC co-designs, creates and facilitates large-scale processes that allow foundations, as leaders of social change initiatives and convenors of change makers, to pull together multiple stakeholders, share best practices, develop more innovative strategies and increase collective impact on critical social issues and policies.

• Creating alignment within foundations, between foundations and trustees, and among grantees and across foundations. IISC facilitates strategic processes for foundation staff that foster greater accountability, improve role clarity, and achieve better integration and coordination at all levels.

• Transferring collaborative skills, tools and frameworks. IISC trains foundation staff in collaborative and facilitative skills, which enables them to enhance both their own organizational effectiveness and their work as intermediaries and capacity builders.

IISC builds the capacity of grantees by:

• Designing and facilitating network building and collaborative initiatives among grantees. IISC brings grantees together – within and across their issue areas – for field building, to weave them together into powerful networks for social change, and to build their capacity to take their social change efforts to scale by creating shared visions of impact and strategies for concerted action.

• Deepening the ability of organizations to set strategic direction, achieve their visionary goals, and create collaborative cultures. IISC builds collaborative organizations that are rooted in their values, driven by a clarity of vision and mission, and able to transcend their day-to-day challenges to become more strategic, focused, and productive.

• Building collaborative and leadership capacity. IISC trains grantee staff and constituents in the art and skill of collaboration so they can work more effectively together. With a new mindset, heart set, and skill set, their personal and professional development allows them to become catalysts for improving performance and achieving extraordinary results.

Our work with foundations has included:

• Designing and facilitating meetings, retreats, and learning laboratories
• Designing and facilitating large-scale change initiatives
• Designing and delivering leadership and collaborative skills trainings and leadership development programs and institutes
• Strategy development and action planning
• Organizational development, training, and network building with foundation grantees
  

Our foundation partners include (partial list):

Private Foundations:
* Annie E. Casey Foundation
* Atlantic Philanthropies
* Barr Foundation
* Connect US Funders’ Collaborative
* Ford Foundation
* Hyams Foundation
* Irene E. & George A. Davis Foundation
* Ms. Foundation for Women, Inc.
* Nathan Cummings Foundation * Nellie Mae Education Foundation
* Ploughshares Fund
* San Francisco Education Fund
* Smith Family Foundation
* Strategic Grant Partners
* The Schwab Fund for Charitable Giving
* Tides Foundation
* Zellerbach Family Foundation

Community Foundations:
* The Boston Foundation
* Community Foundation of Monterey County
* Community Foundation of Santa Cruz County
* Peninsula Community Foundation
* The San Francisco Foundation
* Truckee Tahoe Community Foundation

United Ways:
* United Way of America
* United Way of the Bay Area
* United Way of Massachusetts Bay
* United Way of Rhode Island
* United Way of Santa Cruz County