Learning From Conservatives
A few weeks I attended the Philanthropy Roundtable’s annual conference It was my first time going to a gathering such as this, and though I’ve talked about my experience a lot, I’ve been hesitant to follow through on my original intention to write something about it. I guess I’ve been reluctant, and still am, to generalize (at least publicly!) based on my first, limited foray into such identifiably conservative territory.
That said I’m glad I went and I intend to go again. And I was reminded in an experiential, rather than an abstract, way of how our different lenses on the world affect what gets talked about, how issues get framed, and how we feel about it all. Personally, it confirmed for me the importance of walking TWI’s talk in terms of engaging in cross-perspective dialogue.
One thing that has stayed with me was how comfortable speakers at some of the sessions were talking about the importance of funding talented individuals and of funding ideas. This brought home to me again the whole “people vs. programs” funding issue that is so common in philanthropic conversations.
Often, a foundation’s story revolves around supporting programs, when the implicit conversation or understanding is that foundations are actually funding individuals, funding vision and leadership.
Obviously programs are important, but I think the field would benefit more from making that implicit conversation about supporting people, explicit. Certainly, that’s the case in the business world. Leaders in business seem very comfortable talking about the individual “human assets” in their organizations, and how important it is to invest in them over time. For all the talk about nonprofits learning from business, why is that one lesson many foundations seem reluctant to embrace?