Ten years ago a small group of grantmakers realized they were part of an emerging trend of leaders who cared deeply about their role in supporting grantees. Asking questions like 'How can we build more support for nonprofit capacity building and general operating funds?' and 'What strategies lead to nonprofit effectiveness' Grantmakers for Effective Organizations (GEO) was born.

For GEO, the status quo in philanthropy is unacceptable; change is imperative. GEO concentrates on the long-term solutions for effective grantmaking and helps its 350 members explore and embrace practices that impact real social change. For example, GEO has long advocated for grantmaker investment in nonprofit leadership development.

Another key focus area for GEO is money: how it is requested, how it is given and how it is used. "We attempt to address the root causes of what isn't working well in philanthropy by providing access to peers and support for leading internal change," says GEO President and CEO Kathleen P. Enright. "The common practice of limiting funding for general operating costs is one example. We want to change the embedded belief that foundations need to put time or monetary restrictions on organizations, which too often undermines their
success."

According to Courtney Bourns, GEO's director of programs, "We strive to live by the belief that the answers to our greatest challenges lie within the community we serve." GEO actively engages members in discussions about the challenges they face and creates publications that share their findings. In Listen, Learn, Lead: Grantmaker Practices That Support Nonprofit Results, GEO identified - through nine focus groups across the country and 30 interviews with nonprofit leaders and grantmakers - the most promising opportunities for grantmakers to make changes that will contribute to nonprofit results.

"Our greatest success is the growth and strength of the GEO community," adds Enright. "Our members are change agents in grantmaking, a community of practitioners who value investing in strong nonprofit organizations, and who use the vehicle of philanthropy to support causes and leaders committed to social change. It is in our own best interest to support them and adjust our practices in ways that are more grantee friendly, enabling them to work smarter and more effectively."

Supporting "change" is challenging work, but with dialogue between stakeholders - both grantmakers and grantees - progress is made. And being part of the solution is an idea whose time has come.  

GEO's first conference nine years ago attracted nearly 300 people. "We knew we were on to something," recalled Janine Lee, formerly of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and one of GEO's early founders, "but we never imagined GEO would achieve the scale it is now."

This April, GEO expects to host more than 600 attendees at its 2010 national conference, which has grown into one of the preeminent gatherings of innovative grantmakers
in the country.

"Sometimes you just have to catch the tail of a comet and go," said Lee.

For more information, about GEO conact:

Karen B. Bate
Manager of Marketing and Communications

or

Courtney Bourns
Director of Programs

A Method to Managing Transition

Although the details of a transition management plan are unique to each situation, the adviser must help a leader with the following essential steps:

1. Learn to describe the change and why it must happen, and do so succinctly -- in one minute or less. It is amazing how many leaders cannot do that.

2. Be sure that the details of the change are planned carefully and that someone is responsible for each detail; that timelines for all the changes are established; and that a communications plan explaining the change is in place.

3. Understand (with the assistance of others closer to the change) just who is going to have to let go of what -- what is ending (and what is not) in people's work lives and careers -- and what people (including the leader) should let go of.

4. Make sure that steps are taken to help people respectfully let go of the past. These may include "boundary" actions (events that demonstrate that change has come), a constant stream of information, and understanding and acceptance of the symptoms of grieving, as well as efforts to protect people's interests while they are giving up the status quo.

The picture: What it will look and feel like when we reach our goal

The plan: Step-by-step, how we will get there

The part: What you can (and need to) do to help us move forward.

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The Leader to Leader Institute, established in 1990 as the Peter F. Drucker Foundation for Nonprofit Management, furthers its mission by providing social sector leaders with the essential leadership wisdom, inspiration and resources to lead for innovation and to build vibrant social sector nonprofit organizations.

It is this essential social sector, in collaboration with its partners in the private and public sectors, that changes lives and builds a society of healthy children, strong families, decent housing, good schools, work that dignifies, all embraced by the diverse, inclusive, cohesive community that cares about all of its people.