Issue
Just as public institutions reconsider their funding patterns and seek to
engage faith-based organizations more actively, private philanthropies also
have the opportunity to forge partnerships with these groups.
Action
According to the National Crime Prevention Council's publication,
"Philanthropy and Faith: An Introduction," steps to take when partnering with
faith-based groups include the following:
Find common ground. It is almost always there. You and many of the
faith-based groups in your community share purposes. You may find that you
agree on
many of the goals although you may have different ways of getting there. Work
together on those elements where you find common ground and respect those
where you don't.
Establish clear guidelines on how you are willing to give support and
assistance to faith-based organizations or programs in the community. Make it
clear
what you pay for and what you don't pay for.
Help build capacity. Be sure to provide training and technical assistance to
support the aims and purposes of the guidelines. Remember that for many
local groups capacity is an issue. Help groups recognize that they can grow,
but
don't try to make them stretch without providing the resources for growth.
Assume the responsibility for recognizing their capacity and your ability to
help them grow. In many cases you will be dealing with smaller, less formally
organized, and less experienced groups. They may need help in understanding
how to become an incorporated or nonprofit organization if that is what is
required before your organization can fund them. They may need assistance in
determining what they can or should evaluate and how to do so inexpensively.
Consider working through "intermediaries"— nonprofit entities that receive and
manage monies for small, faith-based groups. Small- to mid-sized faith-based
organizations will also need to look to government and the philanthropic
community for financial support to continue this work. While their ability to
draw
on volunteers may offset overall costs, the increasing need for improved
organizational infrastructure and professional staff will eventually outstrip
their own resources.
Recognize that different groups have different purposes. In fact, one group
may have several different programs with dissimilar purposes and different
levels of grounding in faith-related issues. Don't look at labels or emblems
but at a group's actions and methods of reaching the goals. Realize also that
faith-filled groups may be fully capable of running faith-based programs.
Develop an understanding of faith in the community. A faith-based group
within the community may be an agent of change, a builder and keeper of norms,
an
administrator of a program, a seeker and healer of the lost and forgotten,
or a restorer of civic health. A faith-based group may take on one or more of
these roles at various times. It's important to understand the context in
which faith acts to move and shape the community.
See the faith community and the faith-based group as a partner — a natural
partner of seemingly unnatural allies, such as the police department, the
school, or social services delivery systems.
Seek not just fiduciary relationships but operating partnerships. Take an
active role as an agent of change. Bring together groups that share
commitment,
purpose, and approach. Help them learn from each other, and help them grow
with each other. Link with others — national and local — to build a
philanthropic network around the faith-funding issue. Bring in public agencies
—
local, state, and national — in your area that may be funding or have an
interest
in funding faith-related programs.
Be ready to relate to new groups with new constituencies. There are new and
important players coming to the table, such as representatives from Latino
Pentecostal-Holiness churches and from mosques who are beginning to see
private
and public monies as important to their social work.
Demand accountability. Good stewardship is as much a part of faith as it is
of philanthropy. Treat faith-based groups as you would any partner. Agree on
outcomes and timelines. Don't let groups make promises that will be difficult
to keep regarding results or the promptness of delivery. Be clear about
legal boundaries.
Stay in for the long haul. It may take a long time for change to be able to
happen both for people and for communities. Be sure to give programs a
chance to work.
Keep in mind research, track records, and plausibility when assessing what
is presented to you. Faith based organizations, no matter how noble their
intentions, may not understand the scope of the problem or the needs that
they're
trying to address. If an approach hasn't worked, it hasn't worked; allowing
a faith-based group to adopt it is to invite that group to fail. By the same
token, understand that a faith-based program may take a somewhat different
approach than the one that missed the mark. Walk through the program logic
with
the organization. This is a great vehicle for focused discussion of what is
expected to drive results.
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Context
Throughout the United States, faith-based organizations offer a variety of
community services, often without enough funding or adequate training (due to
lack of funds).
Faith-based organizations that offer community services represent a wide
variety of religious beliefs, falling midway on a scale that spans
faith-linked
and faith-filled. This middle ground represents programs where faith is
neither a prerequisite nor a mandatory element; willing to offer their beliefs
without imposing them is their modus operandi.
Although the private foundation community has more freedom about how and
where it uses its charitable monies, philanthropic boards and donors have been
hesitant to fund overtly religious work. However, the borders between what can
and cannot be funded have grown increasingly blurred. Several innovative
private foundations have already recognized the key assets of faith-based
organizations and have reached out to them in strategic and successful
partnerships.
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Outcome
The lessons learned from philanthropy/faith partnerships can guide funders
as they seek to develop new partnerships with faith-based organizations.
Both local and national philanthropic foundations have come to see the value
of faith-based partners.
One of the most important contributions of faith-based organizations is that
they help hold communities together, and they emphasize close personal
relationships, which can be of value in achieving goals.
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Evidence
Sylvia Johnson, Associate Director of Boston's Hymans Foundation that
responds to the issues of youth violence, has listed the following as social
and
moral resources provided by faith groups:
• An institutional presence in communities
• Leadership
• Care of volunteers motivated by something other than financial gain
• Members with diverse skills
• Nurturing and spiritual uplift
• Personal development opportunities for members and volunteers
• A willingness to address compelling needs, effective lines of
communication and information
• Advocacy
• Social justice action
• Trust and community-building
Major philanthropic foundations — including the Ford Foundation, Pew
Charitable Trusts, the Lilly Endowment, the Irvine Foundation, The Robert Wood
Johnson Foundation, the Annie E. Casey Foundation — have reached out to
faith-based organizations.
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