Read about our 2017 activities in our annual report and executive summary and see a few highlights outlined below.
- A total of 249 funders and philanthropic advisors participated in the our network, with 47 new members, representing 18 new foundations or affinity group partners joining in 2017.
- We planned four meetings and eight webinars, engaging nearly 550 grantmakers and cosponsored an additional thirteen events led by affinity group partners. Planning committees were formed that engaged members, funder colleagues and affinity group leaders in the development of meeting agendas to help ensure diverse perspectives and varied formats were incorporated into our events.
- The Annual Budget and Tax Briefing continues to be an anchor event, now in its fifteenth year. Local viewing parties have been increasing in number and attendance since initiated in 2014 and offer a valuable way to partner with foundations and affinity groups and expand programming to a larger and more diverse group of participants. In 2017, 24 individuals registered for the live webstream and watch parties were held in 6 cities.
- We supported five working groups, providing a neutral platform for grantmakers to convene and supporting continued connections and discussions: The EITC Fund, Mapping Project, Funder Strategy Room, Communications Collaborative, and Budget Working Group.
- New programming was developed in 2017 as part of our work with the Funder Strategy Room. Four state deep dive discussions were facilitated for the states of Maine, Ohio, North Carolina and Arizona. Deep dive discussions provided an opportunity for national, state and local funders to discuss current strategies for building the capacity of nonprofit policy, advocacy and engagement efforts in a specific state and highlight needs and ways to strengthen these efforts.
- The EITC Fund, now in its sixth year, continues to expand in size and scope. In 2017, The Fund awarded $705,000 to ten state networks: $105,000 in rapid response funds to HI, MI, and MT, $150,000 in campaign funds to MO, OK, WA, and $450,000 in policy development funds to AR, GA, VA, WV. Notably, new state EITCs were enacted in MT and HI and in policy development states important groundwork was laid through new research and coalition building.
- We maintained an online mapping tool to illustrate to funders where investments are being made in policy, advocacy and communications work in the states, and to help foster connections across these efforts. There are 39 national networks and 1,382 state policy and advocacy groups currently represented on our map. Watch a brief video on our web site highlighting key features and illustrating how this tool can be used to help shape and inform your grantmaking. The mapping tool will be updated with 2018 data in early February.