Funder Collaboratives

Funder Collaboration Opportunities - Arizona Grantmakers Forum

GrantCraft.org has just published a document titled Funder Collaboratives - Why and How Funders Work TogetherIn this guide, contributors share strategies for structuring a collaborative to fit its purpose, building strong relationships and resolving conflicts, and figuring out if the collaborative you're in is working. They offer a number of resources related to funder collaboratives, and are an excellent resource. Other examples of information they have include:
Are funder collaboratives good for grantees?
Managing a Funders' Collaborative Companion Guide
Collaboration Approaches for Smaller Foundations
The DOs and DON'Ts of Working with Local Funders

Donor Collaboration: Power in Numbers
While donor collaboration is not a new concept, the new economic reality has more and more family, foundation and corporate donors looking towards collaboration as a tool to increase their impact on the issues they care about. This primer was created to help donors understand and evaluate if some form of collaboration might be right for them.

Active Arizona Funder Collaboratives

Basic Needs Funding - Year Two
11 Arizona Funders Contribute More than $1 Million for Second Year of Basic Needs Funding PHOENIX (March 23, 2010) - For the second year in a row, Arizona foundations and funding organizations have pooled their resources to help meet critical emergency housing and food needs in Maricopa County. Click Here to access the article listed at the Virginia G. Piper Trust website.

2010 Hunger and Homelessness Funders Collaborative (pdf)

Here is an article from the Opinion section of the Arizona Republic related to the Basic Needs Funding collaboration entitled Every Dollar Provides Food for Hungry Kid.

Flinn Foundation, Piper Trust Announce Strengthening Arts Initiative
A total of $1.25 million will go into a one-time arts and culture initiative resulting from redirecting remaining grant funds from the wind-down of Metro Phoenix Partnership for Arts and Culture (MPAC). Click here to read more.

The Summer Youth Program Fund (SYPF)
The Summer Youth Program Fund (SYPF), launched in late 2005, is an ongoing collaborative grantmaking effort among 13 local funders who support, or are interested in supporting, agencies that provide summer programming for Maricopa County youth. The funders in 2009 contributed a total of $500,000 which they then distributed more than 25 youth-serving nonprofits. Here is a link to information about this collaborative:
2010 Summer Youth Program Overview (pdf)

Basic Needs Community Funding Collaborative (Emergency Funder Collaborative) - May 2009 - June 2010
The Emergency Funders Collaborative launched at the end of 2008 was a direct response to the global economic meltdown that hit Arizona especially hard. Ten organizations pooled their resources to raise a total of $1.6 million which they distributed to 45 human service agencies in late May, 2009. Here are links to resources related to this collaborative:
2009 Emergency Funding Collaborative Fact Sheet (pdf)

Here is the final report for the first Basic Funders Collaborative.

Summary (click document links for more details):
   Summary Charts
   Written Summary Report
   Narrative

Basic Needs Providers
   Total households served were 482,389
      ° Out of the total households served food assistance was the largest provided (254,342 or 59%)
      ° New households served was (274,342 or 57%)
      ° Returning households served was (206,047 or 43%)
      ° Adults Assisted ages 18-65 were the largest group (249,842 or 77%)

Food Deliver/Systems Providers
   225 agencies were support with 4,056,510 Pounds of Food
      ° Agencies were able to provide 3,139,902 meals
      ° Assisted 201,918 households
      ° The largest age group assisted with food was children (269,435 or 98%)

Medical Providers
   Total households served were 38,497
      ° Medical services was provided to adults, children and seniors.
      ° The largest group was adults ages 18 - 65 (23,964 or 62%)
      ° Of those served 49% had private health insurance and 51% had public health insurance
      ° 4,207 individuals were served with dental visits
      ° 1,104 prescriptions were provided.

The Cultural Data Project
The Cultural Data Project is a powerful, online management tool designed to strengthen arts and cultural organizations. The Pew Charitable Trust is preparing information on the budget and steps to bring this to Arizona. The Arizona Commission on the Arts and Virginia G. Piper Charitable Trust are interested in bringing the Cultural Data Project to Arizona and would welcome other arts funders to be a part of the discussion. Here is a link to an overview of the Cultural Data Project:
Cultural Data Project Overview (pdf)

Arizona Grantmakers Forum Resources

Funder Collaborative Overview
We have posted an overview on Funder Collaboratives. (pdf)

The Challenges of Collaboration: Recognizing and Addressing Potential Minefields (pdf)

Arizona Funder Collaboration Case Studies (pdf)