Seven Habits of Highly Effective Grants Managers and Successful Structures:
Rethinking the Role of Grants Managers
THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE GRANTS MANAGERS
When it comes to organizational learning and continuous improvement, grants managers are at the center of the action. Based on conversations with members, GEO has identified seven habits of highly effective grants managers who play a critical role in helping their foundations become learning organizations. Which habits are already a part of your work? Which ones do you need to develop? This discussion challenges conventional expectations and presents a different way of thinking that empowers grants managers to define their roles as “Learners-in-Chief.”
Attendees will:
- Develop an understanding of the learning cycle – what is it and how it relates to the things grants managers do on a daily basis
- Recognize the importance of figuring out what you want to learn and why
- Learn the habits of grants managers who are helping their foundations become learning organizations
SUCCESSFUL STRUCTURES: Rethinking the Role of Grants Managers
Is it true that all foundations are unique and special snowflakes? Maybe, but GMN has been working on a project that underscores just how alike foundations can be if they are deliberate and intentional when creating their grantmaking structure.
The revelation: putting grantmaking practice closer to strategy and impact leads to better outcomes, both for funders and the nonprofits they support.
Through our work to identify Successful Structures, GMN learned that in some organizations, the practices, processes, and systems that get money out the door to support important work in communities are informed, assessed, and strengthened using timely data about grantmaking effectiveness. In these organizations, thoughtful conversations about how to make grants most effectively are everyone's business: programs, operations, finance, and executive staff work together to analyze and improve grantmaking practice.
In the workshop on Successful Structures, we will review the five key indicators of the necessary organizational and cultural shift required to implement a successful structure.
Attendees will:
- Understand what makes a successful structure possible and practical
- Compare their current structure to a successful structure and know where they are on the scale
- Learn how to implement elements of a successful structure
- Report on successes in creating structures that support grantmaking strategy
- Get a sneak peek at some case stories GMN will be highlighting in Fall 2016
Join your GMN Northern California Chapter colleagues for this two-for-one educational session and don’t forget to join us after the event for a networking happy hour nearby.
BIOGRAPHIES
Michelle Greanias
Michelle Greanias, Executive Director of GMN, is a passionate advocate for efficient and effective grantmaking and is deeply committed to elevating the value of grantmaking practices in philanthropy. Hired in 2008 as the organization’s first employee, Michelle has led the explosive growth of GMN, making it one of the largest networks in the field. Michelle speaks and writes regularly on effective grants management practices and has consulted with government and private sector grants programs to increase the effectiveness and efficiency of their grantmaking operations.
Heather Peeler
Heather Peeler is vice president of member and partner engagement at Grantmakers for Effective Organizations. She leads GEO’s efforts to engage and mobilize members in adopting grantmaking practices that make the biggest impact on nonprofit performance. Heather serves GEO’s “networker in chief,” deepening the organization’s relationships with members, forming new partnerships, and helping members forge connections between peers. In this role, Heather regularly speaks for GEO at events and in the press about what steps grantmakers are taking to improve their effectiveness.