Name: Beyond the Check: Enhancing Grantee Well-Being for Lasting Social Impact
Uploaded: 2025-03-20T16:37:37.985Z
Duration: 54 min 12 s
Description: Beyond the Check: Enhancing Grantee Well-Being for Lasting Social Impact

Transcript for "Beyond the Check: Enhancing Grantee Well-Being for Lasting Social Impact": S, and I definitely know we are live now, so I apologize for, the delay here. For whatever reason, the presentation did not start at 11:00 as it should have. So apologies for that, but we're gonna jump in and we're gonna get started. And, if you don't mind, I see Kate and Catherine, Elizabeth, Cindy, some of you. Can all of you please just put in the chat there that you if you can hear me now so that I can make sure that you're seeing what I'm seeing and you're hearing what you should be hearing? Excellent. Okay, guys. Thank you. So sorry about that. Okay. I'm gonna I'm gonna start from the beginning now, and we'll we'll be good to go. So I apologize for the late start, but, here we're going. So welcome everyone to today's presentation, today's episode of Blackbaud's Grantmaking twenty twenty five thought leadership webinar series. We'll begin here in just a few moments, but I'm gonna go over a few housekeeping items while we're getting a chance to log in. Webinar will be broadcast through your, the audio will be broadcast through your speakers, which you can now hear. I'm glad to find out. And if you need captions, you can hover over the, the, the bottom of the screen there, and you can click on the little CC icon to turn the captions on and off. If you encounter any difficulties like the slides freezing or audio cutting out, try a quick refresh your browser. Alternatively, if that doesn't fix it, you can, like, sort of log out, log back in, and that takes care of about 99% of the issues that you might have. You'll find, the q and a section next to the chat that I can see some of you using. So if you've got a question, please drop that in the q and a so we can kinda keep those separate from the the chat. And that way we can make sure we get to those, and we will, and be as specific as you can on those. And then also we've put together some documents, links to some of our speaker today's blog posts and other information that's relevant to the subject matter today. So you can check that out as well. I'd also like to point out that everyone is gonna get an email in about twenty four hours with a link to an on demand recording of today's presentation as well as a copy of those documents that I mentioned on the console. So, you know, just feel free to make notes as we go along, but don't feel like you've gotta write down everything you hear because, you're gonna get that copy so you can check back on it later. So welcome everyone to today's presentation. I am going to normally, I would give you guys a little overview of who Blackbaud is and what we do. But since we got a late start, I'm gonna skip over the commercial for Blackbaud Grantmaking. But just know it's Blackbaud Grantmaking who's paying for today's presentation. So we're giving them their our little commercial moment to get started, but I don't wanna waste too much time on that. Just to introduce myself, my name is Ray Borkman. I'm on the marketing team here at Blackbaud, And, and I'll be introducing the person you really wanna hear from shortly. I am a white person who identifies as male. I use he and him pronouns. I'm 48 years old. I have no hair, but I have a graying beard. I'm wearing a blue shirt. And I am in the loft office of my home, which is here in Charleston, South Carolina, which is on the native lands of the Etowah, Kiowa, Edisto, Santee, and Wassamassa people. So, you know, of course, Blackbaud is a we're a software company for powering social good, and we have, a variety of solutions from fundraising to accounting to the solution that's bringing us here today, which is grant making. And, in addition to myself and our speaker on the call today, I'd also like to quickly introduce Lauren. Lauren, if you wanna wave hello. Lauren's here. If you guys have any Blackbaud specific questions or technical, she can probably help you with that as well. But, basically, you know, you can send her a direct message. She's an extension of our sales team and is here to answer any of those questions or understand any of the pain points that you may be having. So if you wanted to connect with Lauren, during the presentation today, you can send her a direct message. Or in the document section that I mentioned up there, she's got a link to her calendar. So if you wanted to book some time with her, outside of this to talk more, you can do so there. So, Lauren, thank you so much. And I am going to go ahead and quickly pass the ball, to our presenter today, Meico Marquette Whitlock, to introduce himself and to introduce our subject matter. So, Meico, I think we're doing good on time, as I sped through some of the other stuff I might normally do. So, Meico, take it away. Awesome. Well, thank you, everyone. Excited to be here with you. So, have been able to partner with Blackbaud on a number of different projects, for a few years now, and excited to be with you here today to talk about this important topic about the intersection of philanthropy and well-being for grantees and nonprofits. And I come to this work as someone who's worked across sectors, mostly in government and nonprofit work. And my current role is as a workplace well-being strategist. I work specifically with change making organizations, including philanthropic and nonprofit organizations on creating healthy team cultures, creating, cultures of of healthy workplaces. And I work I'm a recovering workaholic, and a certified mindfulness teacher. So I take a mindfulness based and trauma informed approach to the work that we do, and I'm just excited to be here today, to share with you what I have been writing about and learning about, on this particular topic. So, Ray, would you like me to go ahead and dive in, or or do you have more you wanna share? No. Please jump in. Okay. Alright. Excellent. So excited to be with you here today. I'm gonna ask folks if you could do me a favor in the chat. As we get started, let me know where you are joining from and perhaps one thing that you look forward to this time of the year. So where you are joining from, one thing that you look forward to this time of the year, you can drop that into the chat, and we're gonna go ahead and get started, with the meat of today's presentation. So as we get started, one of the things I wanna note is that the world is changing. Right? And it feels like almost every day there is some new and significant development that's impacting our life and our work. And we know that specifically for nonprofits, we can think about economic fluctuations, you know, recent recent policy changes, what's happening with climate events, what's happening with rapid advances in technology, for example, such as AI. All of these and many more are important factors that are really fundamentally reshaping how the sector does its work, how the sector fulfills its mission. And what that means is that there is a unique opportunity for philanthropy and nonprofits to really think differently about sustainability and durable social impact by centering the well-being of the folks that are the human infrastructure that's moving this forward. And so I'm excited to talk with you here today about that, specifically based on interviews that I've been able to have with a number of philanthropic and nonprofit leaders over the last several months. This is just a cross section of information that has come out of those interviews that I hope might be helpful for you all as you think about the ways in which you might be able to elevate well-being inside of your organizations, whether you are inside or outside of philanthropy or the nonprofit space. I wanna thank all the folks that are letting us know where you're joining from in the chat. Great to see all the energy, and we'd love to see that continue as we move forward. So what we're gonna focus on today are three things primarily. We're gonna be focusing on, number one, challenges with grantee grantee well-being. So I wanna create a shared understanding about what are the specific challenges that we're dealing with when we talk about well-being and what it is. We're also gonna be talking about trends and opportunities that we're seeing, in in this space, and then we're gonna talk about some practical tips and strategies. One thing I wanna do in terms of setting expectations is that this is not going to be sort of an exhaustive list. We're sort of just giving you the high level of some of the key themes that emerge in in those interviews. And so I'm gonna be inviting you throughout this conversation today to actually interact with me in the chat and to add your additions to this conversation because we can all learn. We all have wisdom that we can bring to this conversation, and we can all benefit and learn from one another. And so it's with that invitation that I wanna also, extend a reminder that there might be things that seem familiar, that might seem intuitive or obvious, but there might be things that we actually aren't putting into practice. Right? And so sometimes what we think of as common sense isn't common practice, and common practice isn't always consistent. And so just an invitation as we're moving throughout today, and we are talking about some of the tips and strategies and the and the trends. So with that being said, let's go ahead and dive in. So if you're ready to rock and roll and dive into the the sort of the bulk of the meat of what we're gonna focus on today, give me a yes or woohoo in the chat. Let me know that you're ready to rock and roll. It looks like folks can see and hear okay, and folks are lighting up the chat, so I'm appreciating that. Alright. Excellent. So let's go ahead and get started, and let's just start by talking about when we talk about this topic of well-being, what is the shared context that we're talking about? So when we talk about well-being, for the purpose of today, I really want to offer to you the framework of worker well-being from NIOSH at the Centers for Disease Control in The US that really looks at four different dimensions of this this concept of worker well-being. So we're looking at, in the workplace context, policies, and and, ultimately, the culture of the organization and how you work and how you actually get things done in the day to day. So that's one element of that. There's also, the physical environment. Right? And, what does safety look like? Right? So there's physical safety, but there's also an element of this, which is psychological safety. Right? So, emotionally and mentally, what does a workplace actually look like? Is it safe for people to be themselves? Is it safe for people to ask questions or to make mistakes and to learn from those mistakes without fear of retribution. That's one element of that, workplace as well. When we think about overall, sort of perceptions of your experience, right, so this may be subjective, that is one element of it as well. And then, of course, our physical health status. Right? So maybe you have a chronic condition. Maybe you have a disability. Maybe you have a form of neurodivergence that impacts how you interact and show up in the workplace. All of these are elements of what we think about when we think about worker well-being. So for the purpose of today's conversation, this is the framework and the framing that I'm referring to when I think about, well-being in the workplace context. So with that being said, let's go ahead and dive in and start by just talking about some of the challenges that bring us to this conversation, and that'll give us a a broader context for understanding some of the trends and the opportunities and and the the tips and strategies that we're gonna talk about as well. The first is really, looking at what does capacity look like in the sector. You know, one of the things that we know is when we think about the non profit sector, it plays an essential role in filling critical gaps that are unmet by by other sectors. Right? And it's a critical, place and and driver of meeting those essential services, right, especially for the most vulnerable, among us. And one of the things that we've seen, over recent years with economic shifts, but also when we think about the pandemic, is we actually seen a spike or an increase in the demand for the services that nonprofits provide. And so we juxtapose that with the fact that the nonprofit sector has continued to be one of the largest sectors in terms of employment, in The US, but has not recovered as well as other sectors when it comes to employment. Right? And by some estimates, the sector is, at at at current, at least a million jobs or so short. Right? And so you have this one aspect of the fact that demand increasing, capacity to deliver that on that on that demand is is decreasing. So this creates a pressure, that impacts well-being of the folks that are actually doing the work. In addition to that, one of the things that we see is when we look at folks who are working in the sector, we see that there's also added pressure, with the fact that when you look across the sector, there are many roles that, when you compare this across different sectors, public sector, private sector, there's comparable, and competitive compensation. But there are a number of roles and a slice of of roles in the sector where that is not the case. And so that adds a a an additional dynamic that we have to consider when we think about the well-being of the folks that are that are doing this work, because if they are thinking about how they're gonna, make ends meet, for example, while they're also trying to be able to support people that might be similarly situated, they're not able to be fully present and available and engaged in the work. Right? It doesn't create, the the firm grounding or foundation for really sustainability and being able to to do that work or being able to attract other folks, in the sector who are qualified and committed and willing to stay for the for the long haul. So something for us to consider as we think about the context, that brings us to today. In addition to that, you know, there are different thoughts on this in terms of where we are with with the COVID nineteen pandemic, but there is research to suggest that for some of us, you might be experiencing a lingering impact of what some psychologists refer to as post pandemic stress disorder. Right? And so this is, sort of a generalized psychological disorder that it manifests as a result of prolonged exposure to the emotional and psychological stressors of the pandemic as it relates to the workplace. One of the ways that this can show up is just a perpetual, lack of exhaustion or sort of feeling meh, for example, and feeling like you're sort of masking and sort of pushing forward, but not feeling feeling like you're able to make a lot of progress. Maybe maybe it feels like you're driving with the parking brake on or maybe it feels like you're persistently treading water. For some folks, this could be, directly or indirectly related to still recovering from, the the COVID nineteen pandemic, even as as far in the rear view it may be for for some folks. In addition to this, I also want to note that challenges in the evolving workplace. A number of the factors that I'm sharing on the screen here are things that I have observed in working with folks pre, during, and post pandemic. By no means the only factors, but there has been a shift in how, we engage and how we show up in the workplace. And there are a number of factors including, prolonged uncertainty. We're seeing an increase in different types of social anxiety. Part of that might be connected to sort of the intergenerational nature of, I think we have, what, five or more generations in the workplace right now with different norms around socialization. Part of that has been impacted by the pandemic and the shift to more hybrid and remote work, and so that is a dynamic that contributes to how we're showing up in the workplace. Collaboration and technology overload, where we are spending more time connected to our tools and technology to be able to get things done. In some ways, that can be a positive thing, but it can also, if overdone, be overwhelming and actually have a negative or, destructive impact in in some ways. There's also something that I refer and I see a lot that I refer to as IDD or intention deficit disorder, which can sometimes manifest where maybe because of the volume of things that you have on your plate, both personally and professionally, you simply do not have the space or the time to really pause and to really, intentionally consider what is the actual what is the most important thing for me to focus on right now? And instead, what you end up doing is responding or reacting to the waterholes of things that are coming at you. Right? So you you're reacting to the waterholes of, for example, emails or constant fires that are at work, and it feels like, you know, you're busy throughout your days and you're making progress on things, but maybe you're not making progress on the things that could actually be the most impactful. Right? And this is connected to workplace burnout, which I think many of us can relate to and sort of, self identify in that. Hyper complexity, the world getting more and more complex, it feeling like the the way in which things are changing is is changing more rapidly. It feels like we're perpetually in a place where we are playing catch up or having to learn something new, whether it's a new skill, it's a new software tool, and it seems sort of unrelenting, right, and and overwhelming all at once. And then one of the final factors is something that I've I've seen a lot and something that's been more more explicit, especially since we've seen the the shift in administration, around unacknowledged grief and loss, specifically when it comes to non death losses, for example. That is something that is is is is emerging as something that people are becoming more and more aware of in the workplace context. And this can culminate into something that a colleague of mine calls swirling. Right? So this idea, as I alluded to earlier, that you have all of these co occurring factors that contribute to this idea that you're swirling. It's hard to get your foot on the ground, and it can feel like you're just constantly in this place of sort of struggling to to to catch your breath, for example. And so let me know if this resonates with folks. So this idea of swirling or what I talked about earlier, this idea of sort of driving with the parking brake on to keep things moving forward, but sort of feeling this heaviness or this weight, that you're carrying with you. Let me know in the chat if this is something that resonates for you or you can see folks that you know, in this. And then the the final thing that I will share here, as we think about our our challenges here is sort of this normalized culture of burnout in the in the in the sector. Right? This normalized culture of burnout, normalized culture of, of overwork and this idea that we have to be doing more with less, and that's simply just the way it is. And so we resign ourselves to that. Right? And one of the folks that I that I spoke with for this series of interviews is an executive director for, a domestic violence nonprofit. And one of the things this person shared was that, the prop they said that the problem that we're working on is is bigger than us, and so the overwhelm that we experience is because of the volume of the work and simply because our capacity, is outstripped by just the generalized need that is out there. Like, we can't meet every every need that's out there. And in another case, this showed up where I spoke with an executive coach that that works with folks, particularly nonprofit leaders around rest, who talked about this idea that folks have become so used to working in this normalized culture of burnout that when you give them an opportunity to rest, to take a sabbatical, to to take time off, it's hard for them to wrap their their heads around what does that process look like. Can I actually leave my staff, for example? My staff deserve this too. Or what does this look like in terms of like, what do I actually do when I have this time? I'm so used to working nonstop. I don't even know what to do with myself, when I actually have this time being given back to me. So absolutely, and I thank you all in the chat. So Cindy and and and Nicolaasah also, sort of sharing reflections here about how connected and relatable the sales carry as well. So thank you all for that. And then, of course, the the final thing that I will share here just in terms of the policy pieces wrapping up, we know that things have continued to fluctuate and be up in the air, but we know that one of the biggest, albatrosses, if you will, around, around us right now is sort of uncertainty around what does the state of funding look like for nonprofits, particularly for those organizations that, may have a portion of their funding come from the federal government. There are lots of changes that are that are happening there, and there are organizations like the National Council of Nonprofits that are are following that. But this is also one of the things that has come up as well as part of the interviews, and particularly when we think about what is an appropriate role, particularly in this moment, for philanthropy to help fill in any gaps that might emerge as a result of this. So as we move forward, I wanna ask you a reflection question. And if if you, feel inclined, you can respond to this in the chat. But I'm curious, in addition to what I've shared here already, you know, what are the biggest challenges of well-being that you're seeing for your grantees if you are coming from a funding entity or organization, or if you just work in the sector or someone that's just interested in this topic. Just curious in general, what are you seeing inside of your organization in terms of biggest well-being challenges right now for your team or for your colleagues. So I'd be curious to hear what you all would add to the list. If you have something that you wanna share, I wanna invite you to drop those reflections, into the chat as we as we move forward. So as you all are reflecting on this question about challenges that you're seeing, I wanna move us forward, and I wanna talk about, the trends and opportunities that that have emerged as part of the conversations I've been able to have with folks. And I wanted to highlight a few of the ones that really stood out to me. The first is, this idea of really shifting our thinking from funding short term initiatives or programs to really thinking about root cause or to really thinking about changing systems. And one of the ways that I think about this is using the systems thinking model. I think maybe some of us have seen some version of this, over the years. But the idea is that when you think about, systems change, and you think about this with the iceberg, with the four layers, for many of us, typically inside our organizations, and particularly when we think about philanthropy traditionally, many of the ways that it has operated has really been to sort of address what might be the symptoms. Right? So looking at and reacting to things after they happen. Right? And what the system thinking model allows us to do is to really think about how can we go deeper and be proactive about noticing patterns and even go even deeper than that and begin to look at root cause and begin to address the root cause so that we're not just sort of putting a Band Aid on things with, sort of short term initiatives, but we can actually think about the root cause of what requires these initiatives to actually be necessary in the first place. And so one of the examples of of this approach is from one foundation that I spoke with for this series, the John Rex Endowment. They're based in Wake County, North Carolina. They're focused on improving the social and emotional well-being, and and emotional health of children, and they have an explicit focus where they're not necessarily focused on service delivery. So, for example, serving x number of meals for kids in a particular school, for example. They're looking a bit deeper at what they would describe as root cause, and they're funding things that really focus on capacity building and systems change. So this is something where we're seeing more examples like this, and we're also seeing interest in funders and thinking about how can we take the the dollars that we're putting out there and actually make them more effective, make them more sustainable and doable as we think about social impact out there. So I wanna pause, for a moment. I'm seeing a lot that's happening in the chat. I wanna thank folks for for sharing out in the chat in response to the reflection question that I shared. And, it looks like there's a sense of uncertainty and confusion about information and what information to trust. Absolutely. And, also, overwhelm about the just the volume of information that is out there. Absolutely. Lack of accountability from leadership to ensure, employee wellness and culture. Absolutely. Maybe there isn't a synergy between staff, board, funders, etcetera to really make that doable systemic change inside an organization. Absolutely. Uncertainty about the future. Absolutely. And one person says it's not necessarily about more training for EDs, but measures ensuring action and advocacy of employees facing chronic stress and lack of agency in the nonprofit culture. So all of these are valuable insights, and I welcome all of you to continue to to share as we're we're moving throughout. So, again, we talked about changing systems versus, funding programs. One of the shifts that really emerged that was really I found really illuminating in as part of these conversations. Something else that, emerged is, the embracing of what some describe as trust based or, differential models. And, essentially, this is a, a way of thinking about philanthropy in which the traditional approach, sort of a top down, relationship where the funder is seen as sort of the ultimate source of knowledge, the arbiter of sort of, you know, what works and what doesn't work. The idea with the trust based models is that you are ceding some of that power back to the the grantee. The grantee is not really a grantee, but they're actually a partner in the relationship. Right? They have a partner that has expertise that is valuable, and so there's a deference to that expertise. And there's a trust that if we give funding for a particular initiative or cause or to, meet a particular need, that we trust the the the grant partner to with their expertise, with their connections, with their know how, with their experience. We trust them to be able to use that expertise in service of moving the mission forward. And, there are a number of organizations that are taking different, approaches to this. There there are different terms that people use to describe it. But the underlying idea here is really flipping that traditional approach to the the funder grantee relationship where it's top down or where there's sort of this idea that the funders on one level and the the grantees on another level to where there's a partnership. Right? And we're both equal. We both have a stake in this, and we are working together to actually make that happen as opposed to, one person's giving directives to the other party, to to make things happen. Some of the ways that this can show up, is, you know, funders actually being proactive about doing their own research about what the need is and and actually understanding, what what the need is and not putting the entire weight of that on on the grant partner, for example. Simplifying processes when it comes to reporting and applications and really being thoughtful about, okay. Yes. We understand that there has to be a vetting process, and a process whereby we make sure that, we are funding the best organizations or the best programs. But being thoughtful about, okay, do we actually need this information that we're collecting? What are we actually gonna do with this information? Is this information actually necessary for us to make a funding decision? Thinking about, you know, transparency in terms of communication and inside of a relationship with the with the grantee and the funder, as an example of some of the ways that that can look. Nicolasa says, yes. So multiyear funding. Absolutely. So this is another, manifestation of what trust based models can look like as well, where you trust the grantee over a period of time with a larger sum of money. That requires less red tape in terms of having to reapply constantly, right, and and and sort of lessen the the burden in terms of reporting and really allowing more space and more room for the grantee for the grantees or for the grant partners to actually do what they do best, which is to serve their communities. Right? Absolutely. So it's about creating those shared values, that shared mission, and then trusting the grant partner to be able to execute on that, working hand to hand to be able to identify those those community needs and to be able to meet those needs. Absolutely. Something else that we're seeing is a shift in how we think about, well-being. Right? So I think traditional thinking about well-being, particularly in the organizational context, is that well-being is sort of an add on. It's sort of like, okay, well, you know, this is sort of nice to have. You know? If we have the budget for this, maybe we'll do a retreat, or maybe we'll do some outing for the team, or maybe we'll have, you know, someone come in and do a yoga class. If we have the funding, we'll tack it on to some additional thing that we already have, that's that's work related. That thinking for some organizations, both nonprofit and funders, is really shifting to understand that the infrastructure of the sector of social change, of social impact is the human infrastructure that actually moves it forward. And in order to shore up, in order to, ensure that we have a solid human infrastructure to move this work forward, not just for the short term, but over the long term, that the well-being of the people doing the work has to be central. It has to be foundation. If we can make the well-being of the people who are actually doing the work, if we can center the well-being of the human infrastructure, then we make it possible for us to have more sustainable and durable impact over the long term. It's not an add on. It's not an in addition to. It is the thing that we're working toward. So one of the funders that is really taking this approach and really has sort of shifted the thinking around this in terms of how they approach it, the the MacGregor Fund, and they have a model, that some other funders have followed, but they have a model where they have a sabbatical program, which is one of the central ways in which they are thinking about, this in terms of how they execute it, where they fund sabbaticals for nonprofit leaders, with the idea that if nonprofit leaders who are working tirelessly, who are, contending with all the challenges that we have talked about, if they're able to be well rested, if they're able to be supported and their organizations to be supported as they're moving through this this process of rest, then that actually allows them to, be able to serve in a deeper, more sustainable way, over the long term. And it's good not only for their organization, but it's good for the it's good for the sector and for the communities at large that are being served, by the sector. So this is something that we're seeing, the shift from, oh, this is a nice to have, to actually, no. This is actually essential. We should actually start here and recognize that if we start here, we can make some of these other things more possible and more durable. So, one final thing I wanna note is, something that also came up is the idea of being responsive to the moment or being proactive. One of the things that came up over and over again is that there's traditional approaches to the funder grantee relationship really rely on sort of being reactive. Right? So the funder has some process that's, you know, not very transparent about choosing priorities, then there's a convoluted application process perhaps. That process may be open and may be closed. You know, it depends on the on the funder and the and the process. That process takes time, and that process and and also the timing might not necessarily be aligned with, like, what the immediate need is for the community. So, one of the things we're seeing is that funders really think about what are the ways that we can look at and do our own homework and see what the need is and to actually be responsive to that, and so to cut some of the red tape and actually respond more in the moment. So one of the examples, that came up, as I was, talking to folks was going back to the Joan Rex endowment as an example. During the COVID nineteen pandemic, they, gave out to their all their grantees without needing to apply. Grantees weren't expecting this. They gave out an additional a hundred k across their portfolio of of grantees and well-being, stipends because they recognized that organizations were really struggling with adjusting during the pandemic. And they gave folks these unrestricted funds and allowed organizations to use them in whatever way they needed to to be able to respond to that moment. For some organizations, that meant actually using the funds to help folks who were transitioning from working in the office to setting up their home office to be able to buy equipment that they needed in order to be able to continue the work, remotely, for example. More recent examples that we see, responding to the federal pause in in funding for a lot of nonprofit organizations. We're seeing, foundations like the Freedom Together Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, making a decision to increase their their payout, for the amount of funds that are actually available for the grantees that they're serving. The another found another foundation, the Toll Charitable Foundation, made a decision that they were going to unrestrict previously restricted funds. Right? So this is without asking. This is without sort of grantee saying this is what we need. This is all of these are examples of, funders sort of staying on the pulse of what's happening and sort of thinking about what are the things that we can do that are in our power to control right now to respond to the the need that is already out there. So, just a few, highlights of what we're seeing in the in those conversations, with folks so far. So I'm curious. I have another reflection question for you. So, again, this is not by any means a an exhaustive list of the trends and opportunities that are out there with some of the ones that really stood out to us. So curious for you, let let me know in the chat if you feel inclined. You know, what are some trends or opportunities that you're seeing? You know, what would you actually add to the list? So what trends and opportunities are you seeing, and what would you actually, add to this list? Again, we can all learn from one another, so I'll be curious to see what you're seeing and what's really standing out for you. Alright. So, hopefully, so far so good. If there are any questions, inviting folks to go over to the q and a tab and to add your questions there. And, you know, we're gonna be wrapping up shortly and have time for q and a, and and answering those questions. And so additional trends, so thank you in the chat. So more openness to capacity building and funding operations. Absolutely. So more openness to capacity building and funding, core operations or sort of general operating funding, definitely is a trend that we're seeing as well. Oh, you're very welcome. So, one person says, thank you for these examples. Great to see tangible examples to make the case internally. Absolutely. Absolutely. So if folks have other things to this point this person's making here, drop those into the chat, and we can all be able to use that to advocate, within our spheres of influence on this topic. Alright. So let's talk about some tips and strategies for for grantee, well-being. And and, again, I want you to be reflecting on things that you're seeing, things that you are putting into practice that are effective, and would love to hear from you to to share, all of our wisdom that we have. The first here is really the idea of rethinking measurement. Right? And so for some organizations, whether they're on the, we're talking about grantees or we're talking about funders, part of the resistance to what we think about as quote, unquote well-being is it seems very soft, you know, ambiguous, undefinable. It's, something that maybe is seen as an add on. It's seen as, maybe people think of it sort of as as in the self care bucket where, you know, we we don't wanna be paying people to get, you know, pedicures or to go sit on the beach. Right? So some people have, like, that type of thinking about, well-being. And so sometimes that can feed into a bias when it comes to how do we actually measure things. So we know that, yes, it's there's power in, quantitative measures, but qualitative measures, can also be just as effective and meaningful. Right? So qualitative in terms of not just the numbers. Right? Numbers of people serve or whatever your dashboard looks like in terms of how you're measuring those quantitative measures, but also looking at what are you learning from actual conversations from folks? What are you learning from qualitative surveys? What are you what are you learning from the grantee convenience? Like, what are you hearing just overhearing from people in terms of grantee convenience? What are you hearing when you actually talk to people out in the community about how they have been impacted by programs or initiatives that you are funding? And one of the ways that I really like this is, you know, Jane James Cass, who is the executive director for one of the national public radio stations, talks about this idea of funders really deferring to community, going back to these trust based models, and really looking to community to identify what are the outcomes that we're measuring. Right? So, you know, trust, you know, civic engagement, resilience, well-being, and looking to communities for what they find meaningful, what they find impactful, and including that as part of how you evaluate, the effectiveness of the the things that you're funding, and also the the grantees that you're funding as well. Part of this also means, letting that also guide your your funding decisions, by deferring to, community about what they're finding the most impactful, you know, what what they actually need and what they want to see. So when we're able to to rethink how we think about well-being, redefining well-being, and thinking about expanding how we think about measurement, I think it might make it easier for some of us to be able to make the case, in the way that maybe we were challenged to do that before. Something else that, is critically, important and useful that came out of the the conversations, was this idea of supporting community, convenings, supporting peer networks. And this emerged as one of the strategies that is for in many cases, can be implemented in a low resource way, and have a high impact. One of the things that we heard over and over again from from nonprofit leaders and also even from funders and folks that are working in philanthropy was the need to be able to be in community, to be able to share. Right? And so what does it look like to convene, the the folks in your particular circle, whether that's virtual, whether that's in person for retreat or your annual convening to be able to share best practices, right, to be able to share how are they meeting the need on a particular issue inside of their organization, how are they dealing with, burnout, you know, comparing notes on your respective approaches to funding well-being or how you streamline your grant application or how you're thinking differently about reporting and so on. One simple low resource thing, high impact, from the interviews actually makes a big difference and is something that, people are explicitly asking for, whether they're in the funder side or whether they're on the the nonprofit organizational side. In addition to that, sort of building on that, something that can also be relatively low resource for funders, but also high impact, is really just taking note of your scale and your size and your voice. Right? Your your foundation or your funding entity might not have all the resources that you desire. But the the truth is that for many of you that because of the resources that you do have, whatever those are, that also comes with a privilege. Right? That also comes with, a a level of of influence. And what some, grantees that I spoke with are are looking for is for grantees to be able to and for funders to be able to use that influence, to use your voice, to advocate for different ways of of doing the work, to advocate for a culture shift inside the organization. What does that look like? That can be if you're thinking about funding specifically, that could be actually funding research, into some of these initiatives. Right? There's a a study that looked at, over twenty years, the impact of funding, sabbatical programs, as an example, right, to really justify the need for continuing to move that forward and to be able to provide examples for other funders that, moving forward, wanted to be able to make the case for that or to be able to fund those types of things. So nonmonetary ways that this might actually look like, it might mean actually just using your platforms to amplify the voices of experts that are actually speaking out and providing thought leadership on this particular topic that is meaningful, that is impactful, that supports you and your community, in being able to put some of these things, into practice. So there are a number of different ways that this can look, but the the broader point is really to just acknowledge and to take note of that and to really begin to think intentionally and creatively about ways that you can leverage your scale and influence to make even more durable, deeper impact. And then the the final point that I'll make here is really about thinking about what it might look like to directly fund, well-being. And this can be a number of different ways. I alluded earlier to the MacGregor Fund's example with the sabbatical program. They're one of many funders that have taken a an approach similar to that. That's also the example, and I I see the staff here on the call today from the the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Foundation of North Carolina, where they have provided one time flexible, grants up to $10,000 to their grantees, giving organizations the opportunity to use those grants in whatever way they might define their existing well-being need. And one of the interesting things about this particular approach is in talking with the staff there, they shared that they wanted to be able to provide more, but one of the questions they asked themselves was, well, what can we do with what we have? Right? And those $10,000 grants for many organizations was, a significant difference made a significant difference. And it it beyond the funding of that sort of one time opportunity, it started conversations inside of some organizations about how we could actually continue this. So what policies we can actually think about shifting and changing so this is not just a one time initiative, but we can actually continue it beyond sort of this initial seed money that that we received. So those are just a sort of a handful of examples, funding leadership coaching, you know, rest coaching for, organizations, providing multiyear funding that's specific for well-being, all other examples of restricting previously restricted funds, all examples of ways in which funders can think creatively about how you might directly fund, fund well-being. So as we wrap up here and as you think about your questions, one final, point I wanna make here is to think about this idea of what it might mean to move from simply being interested in this topic and making a difference, but to actually being committed. Right? There's a difference between just being interested in window shopping and actually being committed and thinking about concretely what are the action steps you're gonna take, what are you willing to sacrifice in order to be able to make some of these changes, a a reality as opposed to simply just an idea that sounds good. So as we move to to q and a, I have one final reflection question for you now to help you to to move this forward. And that question is simply is this. You know, what resources do you have right now to take action? So maybe there was something that we talked about today that inspired you, or maybe it reminds you you about something else that you could possibly do that's within your spirit control right now. What resources do you have right now, whether that's monetary or not, to be able to take action, to move this important topic forward for your foundation or for your nonprofit organization? And so with that, I'm gonna turn it back over to Ray and see if we have any questions, and then we can wrap up. Excellent. Excellent. Hello, Meico. I finally figured out what, our technical issues were, and I think I got those resolved. So that worked out fantastically. And then I disseminated that information to everyone at Blackbaud to make sure that no one else ran into the same issue I did today. But, we do have a couple of q and a questions, and I can actually just display these up on the screen if you'd like. And then, everyone can see them, and you can kinda read it from there if that works for you. Okay. Sure. Let's let's do it. So alright. Let's do it. So I'm gonna pop this one first up on the screen. And can you see that there? Yes. Alright. Perfect. So the question says, we are incorporating many trust based principles into our grant making, but to your point of IDD, some grantees are so focused on so many of the fires that pop up. What recommendations do you have for helping them be more intentional without coming off as pejorative. Well, I I think as maybe as a starting point with this question, when we think about the essence of what the trust based model is asking for, it's asking you to really, defer to the grantee. And, really, part of that means actually having a conversation with the grantee about what they need and what will be helpful as as as opposed to assuming and creating something, that might not actually meet the need or something that actually might create more stress. So I think maybe a first place to start in terms of addressing this question is, having and making space for an open conversation about sharing your observation and really asking the grantee, you know, what what could I do? What what will be helpful for you right now given that you have all these fires? What can I do as a funder, to to be helpful for you in this scenario? And that's a great place, I think, to start to to address that. Mhmm. Alright. And then let me turn up this next one here. Yes. So do you have any examples of peer networks that came up in your interviews, or is it just based off common issue or just networking? No. So there there are many examples of this that came up. One of the examples, I talked about the MacGregor Fund, sabbatical program. And so they the the the the folks they fund, they call them fellows. And so the the fellows are part of a community, that they they convene, they they connect, they share resources. Monica, who is featured, I think, in the last article that we wrote as part of this series, is an executive coach that's working with, this particular group, and she is helping to facilitate discussions, both group and individual with folks. She's helping folks to, quote, unquote, onboard and off board when it comes to rest and setting up for their sabbaticals. And so these are examples of peer networks, that I'm talking about. There's also, an upcoming convening in Atlanta. I think it's the Association of Black Philanthropy Professionals that's meeting in Atlanta. That's another example of a peer network of folks specifically focused on professionals in philanthropy, that are meeting together to connect, to share best practices, and just to be able to generally support one another through whatever issues or challenges that they're they're having. So that's those so this is not theoretical. These they're actually ex examples of this. Gotcha. Excellent. Excellent. Alright. Well, we have, I think, run through our q and a. We're right up on thirty seconds. And, and I think because we curtailed some of the introductory stuff, we're able to get everything in and the time allotted. So, it worked it worked out, really well. Did you get to this already? No. So I I would just I guess, as we wrap up, just I would invite folks to, make a commitment to doing something different and maybe as a place to start thinking about maybe one small thing that you can do in the next thirty days. Maybe this is maybe that one small thing is sharing this webinar recording with your team, for example. That could be your your one your one small thing. So you can or maybe you wanna reach out to one of the the foundations or organizations that we reference, in one of the articles or today. That could be another way that you take one small step to begin to to make a difference. And, I guess as we wrap up here today, just a reminder, especially for the funders here, to just be open to examining your practices and your experiences with your grant partners, and to be able to examine, you know, and reexamine, like, what's actually in your power to influence and to control and to change. Ultimately, we're all in this together, and we wanna be able to have a durable, lasting social impact. And, this topic and the and the some of the strategies and approaches really present us with an opportunity to be able to do that, I think, in a different in a perhaps a more constructive way. So I just wanna invite folks to leave here maybe with a different type of openness to what that could look like for you and for your team. I love it. I love it. Well, Meico, thank you so much for your time. This was fantastic. Thank you so much for all the work that went into developing all this, researching all this, talking to so many people. Really important stuff. I really, really appreciate it. I think and it's and clearly everyone else, did as well. As a reminder for all of you, you will get, an email in about twenty four hours with a link, to the on demand recording of today's presentation as well as, contact information for for Lauren and Meico and myself and the, the documents that, blogs and what have you that were referenced throughout as well will be included there as well. So thank you all for, being here today. Thank you for your patience as we sort of work through some issues at the start. And, have a great rest of your day, and have a great rest of your week.