Our History: 1999
Two hikers overlooking the Tonquin Valley, Amethyst Lake and the Ramparts, Jasper National Park, in the Yellowstone to Yukon ecoregion
Photo © Peter A. DettlingThis was a year marked by critical reflection and the launching of a major new initiative. To find out how we were doing as a foundation, we hired an independent firm to survey our grantees, talk to groups that we had declined and interview our foundation colleagues. Our grantees told us that we were respectful, accessible and adding value to their work beyond the grant dollars. Grantees also encouraged us to consider larger grants and more multi-year commitments, and asked us to share more information about the groups we fund and the lessons we are learning from their work.
We incorporated some of these suggestions right away, by changing our Web site to include profiles of funded projects and direct links to grant recipients. We also launched the Challenge Grant program, an initiative aimed at building the capacity and effectiveness of our grantees. Three organizations were invited to participate in this program in 1999, and three more in each of the subsequent two years. Unlike typical program support, these grants provided groups with $325,000 over three years. When the program ended in 2005, we evaluated its success and used lesson learned to strengthen future grantmaking.
Grantmaking Highlights
We gave the first of several grants to the Hollyhock Leadership Institute, which provides leadership training and strategic support for the conservation community in British Columbia. This investment has proven its worth many times over as we observe the growing collaboration and effectiveness of the activist community in B.C.
Several years after initiating funding in support of wildlife connectivity along the Rocky Mountains, we made a first time investment in the Yellowstone to Yukon Conservation Initiative, a coalition of organizations working together to maintain and restore the unique natural heritage of this critically important region.
The first of nine Challenge Grants was awarded to the Idaho Conservation League, an organization that we had known for many years. ICL was our test case for the Challenge Grant program in many ways and taught us valuable lessons about the unpredictable nature of capacity building. In the end, the organization showed us that when leaders focus on the health of their organizations, the effectiveness of their work can increase exponentially, even in the most challenging of landscapes*.
* this article posted here courtesy of High Country News