We sat down with Ashley Clark, Knowledge and Grants Manager at The Libra Foundation, to talk about how technology enables values driven work, particularly the principles of Trust Based Philanthropy. 

We talked about: 

• Making right-sized technology decisions that are values aligned, and the importance of high-level alignment and buy-in.  
• The process of selecting and implementing a new grants management systems. 
• Technology and Trust Based Philanthropy—how Libra reduces the administrative burden on grantees, collects, categorizes, and tags all the right information in emails, webinars, etc., to build deep partnerships with their grantees. 

Learn more at thelibrafoundation.org or democracyfrontlinesfund.org. Learn more about the Trust Based Philanthropy Project. 

In this episode, we were joined by Jonathan Mergy, who at the time of this recording was the Director of IT for Tides, to talk about the systems needed in complex organizations. 

We discussed: 

• The decision to apply a product or platform approach, the build vs buy dilemma, and how organizations should approach this decisions. 
• What it means to really manage a tech platform in an organization, as essentially, you’re managing a product internally. 
• The digital maturity needed to pursue this path and how teams and roles needed in a more digital organization. 

Please note: this conversation was recorded in December of 2020. Jonathan has since moved on from his role at Tides, and this podcast discussion is presented with permission from Tides. Learn more at tides.org

We sat down with Wendy Rinella, CEO of the Oakville Community Foundation, to talk about the foundation’s journey from paper-based processes to a digitally mature operating model that enables innovation. 

We talked about:  

• The importance of building a durable digital strategy that is culturally aligned—and the perils of trying to implement strategy from the top-down. 
• How digital investments free up time for staff to work on more strategic investments.
• Some really exciting examples of how investing in digital infrastructure has enabled the foundation to drive meaningful change in their community. 

Learn more at theocf.org

We sat down with Charles Boname, Director of IT at the Vancouver Foundation, to talk about the journey to digital maturity in a community foundation. 

We covered: 

• The surprisingly common lack of digital maturity in foundations—and some of the root causes for these challenges. 
• Lessons learned for effectively sequencing and managing technology change projects. 
• The significant shifts in the technology landscape over the past 6 years, and what those shifts mean for cybersecurity. 

Learn more at vancouverfoundation.ca

We sat down with Karen Guile, Grants Administration Manager at Health Forward Foundation, to talk about the Foundation’s journey from knowing they needed a new GMS solution, through the selection process, and into a difficult implementation. 

We discussed: 

• The triggers for needing to move to a new GMS: cloud-based solutions, sunsetting systems, wanting more out of the technology. Understanding that the need to move is never “just about a database.” 
• The importance of internal alignment when making big technology decisions. 
• The often rocky path from selection through to implementation and adoption. 

Note: there are some minor issues with the audio quality in this episode—our apologies! We’re still learning how to get the best sound for our listeners. This conversation is definitely too good to skip, so we did our best to edit around some of the glitches. 

Learn more at healthforward.org

Grantbook is excited to announce the launch of The More Good Podcast—a 5 part audio series that explores the intersections of philanthropy and technology. 

We started this series because we wanted to provide a channel for people in philanthropy and technology to describe their own journeys and share these experiences with others. So in November and December of 2020, we sat down with grants managers, IT directors, and foundation leaders for some candid conversations about their technology journeys.

Subscribe wherever you get your audio, and follow along through April as we share this series of conversations.

In this Grantbook Byte, James Law and Aisling Nolan explore the changes that COVID-19 is bringing to our world, how philanthropy typically responds to emergencies, and what we must remember from other disaster relief scenarios. They reflect on what the world may look like beyond these next few months, and the role philanthropy may have in helping us transition and stabilize in the new future. 

Resources: 

Grantbook
NTen
Tech Impact
Center for Disaster Philanthropy