Participatory Grantmaking?

David Hazeltine
David Hazeltine
Seventh Anniversary Kudos 3 Name Dropper Participant
in Blackbaud Grantmaking™ General Discussions

How many of you are practicing at least some form of 'Participatory Grantmaking' currently, or plan to start doing so in 2022?

Comments

  • Kelley Ellinger
    Kelley Ellinger
    Third Anniversary Kudos 1 Name Dropper Facilitator 1

    I believe what we did last year is considered as Participatory Grantmaking. We launched Grant Challenges in two states - we did social media and press releases to announce the challenges focused in the states, and then asked for the communities or organizations to nominate based on the focus areas we were looking to provide funding.

    Once we received the nominations and ensured they met 501c3 criteria and were providing programs matching our focus areas, we had a non-Foundation committee review the nominations and select the top ten. We then worked with the selected top ten organizations to connect with their clients, community and stakeholders via social media/press releases for votes to help them win one of five top awards.

    Voting was via a web-based form for 10-14 days and it was really exciting to see the organizations encourage their supporters for votes. The top five vote winners received $20,000 to $50,000 appropriately, and we also awarded the other five organizations with $5,000 each.

  • David Hazeltine
    David Hazeltine
    Seventh Anniversary Kudos 3 Name Dropper Participant

    Yes, Kelley, I would agree that this is in fact participatory grantmaking; thanks for sharing. I'm anxious to hear what others have to say here too, as we will be releasing some throughout leadership around this topic later this year. Thanks for responding!

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