After thirty years in health philanthropy at a small Kansas grantmaker, the United Methodist Health Ministry Fund, I realize that there is still much to learn. That is my principal advice to my colleagues continuing in philanthropy—do all you can to avoid certainty. Self-doubt is a tremendous asset, and far too few have it in our field.
There is a strong tendency in philanthropy to believe that the rules you impose, the models you develop, and the forms you use are “right” and immutable. In some cases, these patterns developed at an early stage in the life of the philanthropy, and the reasons for their existence are lost or no longer important.
The grants management staff in such a foundation frequently has a negative answer for potential grant seekers and funding partners that is based on the literal rules without any understanding of the “why.” The truth is that circumstances have changed, legal understandings have been clarified, or new opportunities have developed that offer possibilities for enhanced impact but for the stifling effect of unnecessary policies, budgetary siloes, and blindly applied practices of that grantmaker. Learning and growing practitioners have questioning minds and do 360-degree reviews of basic operational practices on a scheduled basis.
[For more on this story by Kim Moore, go to https://www.healthaffairs.org/...0180122.808879/full/]
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