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Rural America: Philanthropy's Misunderstood Opportunity for Impact

December 9, 2021

Often overlooked by national funders, rural America faces profound inequities, but also provides an untapped source of innovation. FSG received funding from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to produce this paper, which provides an introduction to the current state and root causes of the challenges facing rural communities, the missed opportunity for impact, and implications for philanthropy. The paper also highlights organizations working on rural issues and opportunities for funders to get involved.

Time to Act: How Philanthropy Must Address the Climate Crisis

November 2, 2021

As the climate crisis deepens, FSG shares this call to action for private foundations and donors, especially those that may not have focused on climate previously. The report presents a set of practical recommendations and vignettes to illustrate how a wide range of funders, varying in size, structure, and expertise, can further their existing missions by supporting effective climate action through grantmaking and investments. The report encourages funders to support frontline communities most affected by the climate crisis to transform economic, political, and social systems toward a more just, regenerative, and livable future.

Public-Private Partnerships in Emergency Response: A Case Study of Milwaukee’s Civic Response Team

July 6, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic was an all-hands-on-deck moment. As communities were jolted into emergency response on many fronts—health, jobs, housing, education, childcare, food, and mental health—collaboration and coordination became essential. In Milwaukee, the Civic Response Team united local governments, philanthropy, and nonprofits to collectively manage response and recovery. In just weeks, they housed hundreds of people, delivered tens of thousands of meals, built and promoted a COVID-19 testing system, distributed hundreds of thousands of masks, provided families with technology to connect to school, rescued childcare providers, and soothed anxieties and grief.This paper studies how the public-private partnerships within the Civic Response Team worked during their first year, and shows what we can learn from them to support better partnership and emergency response in the future.

The 2021 CEO Blueprint for Racial Equity: What companies can do to advance racial equity and combat systemic racism in the workplace, communities, and society

July 1, 2021

The Covid-19 pandemic and our long overdue national reckoning on racial injustice have thrust into sharp relief the results of centuries of economic inequality and systemic racism. While the pandemic and its accompanying economic devastation have hurt so many, people of color and low-income communities have been hit exceptionally hard. More than 100 million people in America—half of all people of color and one-quarter of all White people—struggled to make ends meet even before the pandemic and they continue to bear the heaviest toll, even as the economy bounces back.For corporate leaders, this historic moment presents an opportunity to make lasting progress against stated commitments on racial equity and ensure the billions of dollars pledged to communities of color actually lead to equitable outcomes. Our 2021 CEO Blueprint for Racial Equity will guide you beyond diversity and inclusion commitments to the heart of the business opportunity ahead: addressing the intended and unintended impacts of your products, services, operations, policies, and practices on people of color and low-income communities, with key recommendations across the three domains of corporate influence.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Journalism and Media Enduring Commitment (2015-2020) Report Annex 3: Secondary Sources

April 28, 2021

The Journalism and Media (JAM) strategy is an Enduring Commitment of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (the Foundation). Since revising their strategy in 2015, the JAM program has sought to strengthen U.S. democracy by supporting accurate, just, and inclusive news and narratives that inform, engage, and activate people within the United States to build a more equitable future. Implemented through three unique yet complementary modules – Professional Nonprofit Reporting (PNR), Nonfiction Multimedia Storytelling (NFM), and Participatory Civic Media (PCM) – the program's theory of change posits that by fostering strong organizations; addressing barriers to media creation and consumption; and promoting learning, leadership, innovation, and field-building opportunities, the JAM strategy will contribute to intended positive changes for grantee organizations and the field that will enable them to contribute to long-term changes in multiple aspects of U.S. democracy.The revised strategy marked the beginning of several key shifts in the JAM team's approach to its work. Most notably, the new strategy added a portfolio of work – the PCM module – and shifted from a focus on support for legacy organizations toward an emphasis on support for emerging and Black-, Indigenous-, and people of color-led (BIPOC-led) organizations, including intentional efforts to shift power away from the Foundation through the use of intermediaries. Multi-year general operating support and flexible project support remained hallmarks of the team's approach. As of June 2020, the JAM strategy had made 174 grants totaling just under $116 million in approved funding across the three modules.The goal of this paper is to provide the latest information from the ongoing evaluation of the JAM strategy, facilitate learning, and serve as one input that contributes to the strategy review process. The evidence presented explores the evolution of the landscape and resulting windows of opportunity, the strategy's progress to date, and the validity of its theory of change and key assumptions.Synthesis report: https://search.issuelab.org/resource/the-john-d-and-catherine-t-macarthur-foundation-journalism-and-media-enduring-commitment-synthesis-report-2015-2020

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Journalism and Media Enduring Commitment: Synthesis Report (2015-2020)

April 28, 2021

The Journalism and Media (JAM) strategy is an Enduring Commitment of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (the Foundation). Since revising their strategy in 2015, the JAM program has sought to strengthen U.S. democracy by supporting accurate, just, and inclusive news and narratives that inform, engage, and activate people within the United States to build a more equitable future. Implemented through three unique yet complementary modules – Professional Nonprofit Reporting (PNR), Nonfiction Multimedia Storytelling (NFM), and Participatory Civic Media (PCM) – the program's theory of change posits that by fostering strong organizations; addressing barriers to media creation and consumption; and promoting learning, leadership, innovation, and field-building opportunities, the JAM strategy will contribute to intended positive changes for grantee organizations and the field that will enable them to contribute to long-term changes in multiple aspects of U.S. democracy.The revised strategy marked the beginning of several key shifts in the JAM team's approach to its work. Most notably, the new strategy added a portfolio of work – the PCM module – and shifted from a focus on support for legacy organizations toward an emphasis on support for emerging and Black-, Indigenous-, and people of color-led (BIPOC-led) organizations, including intentional efforts to shift power away from the Foundation through the use of intermediaries. Multi-year general operating support and flexible project support remained hallmarks of the team's approach. As of June 2020, the JAM strategy had made 174 grants totaling just under $116 million in approved funding across the three modules.The goal of this paper is to provide the latest information from the ongoing evaluation of the JAM strategy, facilitate learning, and serve as one input that contributes to the strategy review process. The evidence presented explores the evolution of the landscape and resulting windows of opportunity, the strategy's progress to date, and the validity of its theory of change and key assumptions.

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Journalism and Media Enduring Commitment (2015-2020) Report Annex 2: Full Tools

April 28, 2021

The Journalism and Media (JAM) strategy is an Enduring Commitment of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (the Foundation). Since revising their strategy in 2015, the JAM program has sought to strengthen U.S. democracy by supporting accurate, just, and inclusive news and narratives that inform, engage, and activate people within the United States to build a more equitable future. Implemented through three unique yet complementary modules – Professional Nonprofit Reporting (PNR), Nonfiction Multimedia Storytelling (NFM), and Participatory Civic Media (PCM) – the program's theory of change posits that by fostering strong organizations; addressing barriers to media creation and consumption; and promoting learning, leadership, innovation, and field-building opportunities, the JAM strategy will contribute to intended positive changes for grantee organizations and the field that will enable them to contribute to long-term changes in multiple aspects of U.S. democracy.The revised strategy marked the beginning of several key shifts in the JAM team's approach to its work. Most notably, the new strategy added a portfolio of work – the PCM module – and shifted from a focus on support for legacy organizations toward an emphasis on support for emerging and Black-, Indigenous-, and people of color-led (BIPOC-led) organizations, including intentional efforts to shift power away from the Foundation through the use of intermediaries. Multi-year general operating support and flexible project support remained hallmarks of the team's approach. As of June 2020, the JAM strategy had made 174 grants totaling just under $116 million in approved funding across the three modules.The goal of this paper is to provide the latest information from the ongoing evaluation of the JAM strategy, facilitate learning, and serve as one input that contributes to the strategy review process. The evidence presented explores the evolution of the landscape and resulting windows of opportunity, the strategy's progress to date, and the validity of its theory of change and key assumptions.Synthesis report: https://search.issuelab.org/resource/the-john-d-and-catherine-t-macarthur-foundation-journalism-and-media-enduring-commitment-synthesis-report-2015-2020 

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation Journalism and Media Enduring Commitment (2015-2020) Report Annex 1: Data Collection Methods

April 28, 2021

The Journalism and Media (JAM) strategy is an Enduring Commitment of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation (the Foundation). Since revising their strategy in 2015, the JAM program has sought to strengthen U.S. democracy by supporting accurate, just, and inclusive news and narratives that inform, engage, and activate people within the United States to build a more equitable future. Implemented through three unique yet complementary modules – Professional Nonprofit Reporting (PNR), Nonfiction Multimedia Storytelling (NFM), and Participatory Civic Media (PCM) – the program's theory of change posits that by fostering strong organizations; addressing barriers to media creation and consumption; and promoting learning, leadership, innovation, and field-building opportunities, the JAM strategy will contribute to intended positive changes for grantee organizations and the field that will enable them to contribute to long-term changes in multiple aspects of U.S. democracy.The revised strategy marked the beginning of several key shifts in the JAM team's approach to its work. Most notably, the new strategy added a portfolio of work – the PCM module – and shifted from a focus on support for legacy organizations toward an emphasis on support for emerging and Black-, Indigenous-, and people of color-led (BIPOC-led) organizations, including intentional efforts to shift power away from the Foundation through the use of intermediaries. Multi-year general operating support and flexible project support remained hallmarks of the team's approach. As of June 2020, the JAM strategy had made 174 grants totaling just under $116 million in approved funding across the three modules.The goal of this paper is to provide the latest information from the ongoing evaluation of the JAM strategy, facilitate learning, and serve as one input that contributes to the strategy review process. The evidence presented explores the evolution of the landscape and resulting windows of opportunity, the strategy's progress to date, and the validity of its theory of change and key assumptions.Synthesis report: https://search.issuelab.org/resource/the-john-d-and-catherine-t-macarthur-foundation-journalism-and-media-enduring-commitment-synthesis-report-2015-2020 

Seizing Opportunity: A Practitioner’s Guide to Supporting Market Systems Change toward Inclusion and Equity

January 11, 2021

The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated and highlighted the inequities that perpetuate harmful outcomes for billions of people around the globe. A growing number of voices call for global leaders to seize this crisis as an opportunity to "rebuild better." However, this is easier said than done.How can leaders help markets achieve systemic transformations toward inclusion and equity?In this report, we provide guidance for philanthropic actors seeking to be more effective in supporting such changes in market systems, based on the Market System Innovation (MSI) approach first developed by FSG and the Rockefeller Foundation in 2017. Here, we share lessons from our work supporting partners across the globe in applying MSI in a range of real-world scenarios and offer practical suggestions for others involved in similar work.

The Business Imperative of Enabling Peace and Prosperity

October 29, 2020

A case study on Energía para la Paz, a shared value initiative of Grupo Energía Bogotá.After Colombia's historic 2016 peace agreement with the FARC guerrilla group, people in rural areas heavily affected by the conflict began dreaming about a different future. However, decades of violence had left hundreds of landmines, thousands of deaths, and millions of people displaced, in addition to high levels of poverty and a weakened social fabric.To tackle some of the challenges from decades of conflict, Grupo Energía Bogotá (GEB)—a leading energy and natural gas multinational company—launched Energía para la Paz. This shared value initiative revolves around landmine clearance and trust-building to increase the safety and prosperity of communities in post-conflict areas. Developing Energía para la Paz required a mindset shift to how GEB embedded social impact at the heart of its business's success.This case study is available for download in English and Spanish. Este estudio de caso se encuentra disponible para descargar en español y en inglés.

How Innovative Community Responses to COVID-19 Support Healthy Aging

October 28, 2020

Faced with the COVID-19 crisis, communities in Massachusetts have come together in inspiring ways to assess emerging needs, provide credible information, expand access to services, and provide opportunities for older adults and caregivers to connect with each other and with their neighbors.FSG partnered with the Massachusetts Executive Office of Elder Affairs, Massachusetts Healthy Aging Collaborative, and Tufts Health Plan Foundation to create a resource that can be used to understand older adults' experiences of the pandemic; learn from community adaptations during the COVID-19 crisis response; and act on the programs, policy and funding changes, relationship-building efforts, and other steps required to reach a desired future.The piece includes practical tools for prompting reflection, making commitments, and taking action. We hope this resource will support cross-sector collaborative efforts underway in many communities.

Hybrid Metrics: Connecting Shared Value to Shareholder Value

September 4, 2020

Today, investors are able to identify "good" companies and "profitable" companies but not companies doing the most good most profitably which is a missed opportunity for business, investors, and society.In Hybrid Metrics: Connecting Shared Value to Shareholder Value, we introduce a new approach that combines companies' social and environmental impact with standard measures of financial performance, making the connection between the two explicit. Hybrid metrics are still in the nascent stages, but the benefits and potential they hold are promising. We hope this report inspires companies, analysts, and investors to experiment with this concept and bring us closer to demonstrating the causal link between social/ environmental and financial performance — underscoring the importance of creating shared value.