Politics and Philanthropy

They go together, and a different administration creates a different direction, as this article from the Nonprofit Quarterly notes.

An excerpt.

“Every administration has its own distinctive policy fix on the nonprofit sector. With the Bush Administration, it was faith-based organizations. With the Obama Administration, the nonprofit credo centers on nonprofit social entrepreneurs.

“Last Thursday’s news event was an announcement by First Lady Michelle Obama and the Corporation for National and Community Service CEO, Patrick Corvington, of $50 million in grants from a number of foundations to or for the Social Innovation Fund—above and beyond philanthropic commitments to specific Social Innovation Fund grantees and subgrantees. That’s $50 million from foundations on top of the $50 million appropriated to the Fund, the latter in line for matching fund commitments of perhaps three or four to one.

“On one hand, it is a big number compared to the philanthropic capital flows that most nonprofits ever have the opportunity to experience in their organizational lifetimes. On the other hand, for a national program whose mission language is to support “solutions to social problems,” $250 to $300 million, to be spent over a period of a couple of years, isn’t much in the grand scheme of federal budget commitments. The “news” is more than money, as the director of the Social Innovation Fund, Paul Carttar, takes pains to point out.

“From this vantage point, there is an alternative narrative discernable in statements by the First Lady and CNCS CEO Patrick Corvington, the latter writing in Government Monitor. The Obama Administration is committed to leveraging the capital and the intelligence of a distinctive swath of foundations dedicated to identifying and promoting social entrepreneurs to bring resources, flexibility, and considerable credibility to the fledgling Social Innovation Fund.

“Philanthropic support from social entrepreneurs: Five foundations have committed $45 million to be spent mostly over two years as a resource pool supplementing what the Social Innovation Fund managers have at their disposal. They might use these funds to supplement or add to the moneys in the projects they pick for SIF grants, they might use them for special SIF initiatives, or more. Carttar is clear that these five are not just foundations, they are the philanthropic arms of recognized social entrepreneurs.

“A Social Innovation Fund fact sheet identifies the five funders as the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation ($10 million over two years), John and Ann Doerr's Family Foundation ($5 million over two years), the Omidyar Network ($10 million over two years), the Open Society Foundations’ Special Fund for Poverty Alleviation ($10 million for one year), and the Skoll Foundation ($10 million over two years). Who are the entrepreneurs behind them and what makes them social entrepreneurs?”