Organizational Effectiveness
The Problem
Effective and sustainable partners are key to solving complex social, economic, and environmental challenges, yet the nonprofit and public sector has chronically underfunded investments in organizational capacity.
Our Vision
Our partners will have the organizational strength and agility to pursue big ideas and take risks in service of accelerating achievement of their strategic priorities.
Four primary areas of focus
Leadership and Governance
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- Diverse, high-performing leaders
- Collaboration and access to networks
- Board development and engagement
Priority: Diverse, high-performing leaders – Attracting and retaining diverse, high-performing leaders who have the vision and capacity to pursue big ideas and risks
Priority: Collaboration and access to networks – Access to effective communities of practice and collaboration among nonprofit leaders, and stronger networks and collaborations across the region
Priority: Board development and engagement– Fostering collaborative, future-oriented boards with the necessary expertise to provide effective oversight
Human Capital Management
- Talent acquisition and retention
- Diversity, equity and inclusion
- Competitive nonprofit career paths
People are what make nonprofit organizations go – however, resources for investing in the growth and development of the nonprofit workforce are limited. Organizational capacity, turnover, burnout, and other challenges plague the nonprofit sector. Through the Human Capital Management investment area, the Foundation aims to support our nonprofit partners in attracting and retaining high-performing staff and investing in their organizational culture, with a focus on creating diverse, equitable, and inclusive organizations. We aim to support the development of competitive nonprofit career paths within organizations and the sector as a whole. The Foundation’s priorities within the Human Capital Management investment area are below.
Priority: Talent acquisition and retention – Attracting and retaining high-quality talent with needed expertise
Priority: Diversity, equity, and inclusion – Fostering organizational cultures and processes that result in diverse, equitable, and inclusive organizations and improved diversity, equity and inclusion across the region
Priority: Competitive nonprofit career paths – Attractive nonprofit career paths that are competitive with other opportunities in Southwestern Pennsylvania.
Strategy and Learning
- Culture of learning
- Impact measurement
- Adaptive strategy
- Resilient, balanced financial structure
Nonprofit organizations operate in complex environments, requiring nimble and adaptive strategies to achieve impact over time. Through the Strategy and Learning investment area, the Foundation aims to support nonprofits in developing organizational strategies and resilient financial structures. We aim to support investments in impact measurement and an adaptive approach, facilitating continual learning over time. The Foundation’s priorities within the Strategy and Learning investment areas are below.
Priority: Culture of learning – Creating an organizational culture of learning that values data-driven decision making in creating and executing strategy
Priority: Impact measurement – Creating an organizational ability to measure and articulate impact
Priority: Adaptive strategy – Generating organizational strategies that reflect the complexity of the challenges being addressed, ensuring experimentation and flexibility in identifying creative solutions
Priority: Resilient, balanced financial structure – Identifying operating models that are right-sized for an organization’s strategy, with resilient, balanced funding.
Communications
- Brand strategy
- Contemporary storytelling
Effective communication defines, cultivates, and understands important audiences, allowing organizations to build relationships, deploy influence, and increase impact. We aim to support nonprofit organizations in crafting high-quality brand strategies and telling their stories effectively through contemporary channels. The Foundation’s priorities within the Communications investment area are:
Priority: Brand strategy – Brand strategy that enhances the effectiveness of both an organization’s advocacy and its ability to rally others to support its work, yielding meaningful ongoing organizational returns
Priority: Contemporary storytelling – Replicable means of crafting and distributing the organization’s brand through contemporary channels, e.g., digital media
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Our Impact
The Foundation approved 21 Organizational Effectiveness grants in 2021, totaling more than $2.6 million.