Rural Philanthropy Roundtable

A Perspective on Rural Philanthropy and Community Investment

With funding support from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, FRL is endeavouring to develop a Rural Philanthropy Roundtable (Roundtable) comprised of private foundation, corporate and community leaders and rural practitioners for the purpose of listening to a leadership perspective on rural and rural investment, sharing information about rural conditions and garnering ideas for future change.

The aim is to improve understanding and raise awareness, stimulate investment toward rural concerns and build community capacity through education and tools that link philanthropic interest to effective strategic grant making and community opportunity.

Rationale

Rural communities and agencies have many assets on which to build and opportunities to preserve.  Research undertaken by the Foundation for Rural Living in partnership with the Imagine Canada (Formerly the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy) highlighted the small scale of rural non-profits, the lack of infrastructure to drive strategic philanthropic pursuits and limited levels of investment. 

The Concept

 

A Rural Philanthropy Roundtable is a consultation process involving  facilitated dialogue with select philanthropists, community leaders and rural practitioners.  An initial one-year phase will emphasize dialogue, the development of a position on rural and rural philanthropy, the development of a framework for a strategy for change and identification of champions to lead the change.  The future direction may involve a series of targeted communications to all formal grant-makers to encourage greater participation in advancing the quality of rural life. 

 

Objectives

·         To engage leading philanthropists and community champions in a dialogue about rural and rural community investment toward a better understanding of the issues, opportunities and solutions

·         To improve the understanding of rural social, cultural and economic conditions

·         To identify leaders in rural investment and create a forum to provide guidance and modeling for change and growth

·         To provide guidance to a targeted communications strategy aimed at relevant individuals, foundations and corporations seeking specific action in giving rural more consideration

·         To improve investment to rural nonprofits and registered charities.

 

 Project Description

a) Explore Other Leadership/Collaborative Models

A careful review of the insights gained so far will be undertaken by establishing a collective of funders working together, along with practitioners, to expand resources for rural. 

 

b) Develop Opening Position:  Conditions in the Rural Non-profit Sector

A position paper describing the social, cultural and economic concerns in rural will serve to create an awareness platform for growth in investment and sustaining worthy programs.  The goal is to select key and relevant information that will provoke good discussion and motivate change.

 

c) Recruit Dialogue Participants

The careful recruitment of 15 to 18 philanthropy and community leaders will be critical to the success of the project.  Candidates must be recognized in their fields and known as champions of change, and be active in the following constituencies: private foundations, agribusiness and other corporations, individual philanthropy, research and community development.

 

d) Conduct Key Informant Interviews

The Foundation launched a full-scale research initiative: A Portrait of the Rural Non-profit and Voluntary Sector in partnership with The Imagine Canada (Formerly the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy) in Feb 2003.  The aim of the research is to provide an accurate picture of the issues and opportunities affecting the rural non-profit and voluntary sector and establish a measurable baseline for growth.  Roundtable participants, if consistent with the research requirements, will be invited by CCP to undertake key informant interviews.  These more formal consultations will be organized into a research report and will complement the findings and documentation arising from the dialogue.  Following the Roundtable process, an opportunity will exist to repeat these interviews in order to attempt to measure change. 

 

e) Facilitate Dialogue

Roundtable members will be invited to participate in one to two full-day sessions in the fall and winter of 2004 at an accessible rural location.  The second session may involve connecting technology and possibly a forum presented through the media.

 

Select keynote presenters will be invited to position issues and stimulate discussion. An important component of the process will be the careful positioning of critical rural concerns and assisting participants to look at society through a rural lens. The meeting will be carefully organized to encourage maximum participation and listening.  On-line and other forms of ongoing communications will connect and engage the group in the periods between dialogues.  A report or position paper highlighting the perspectives gained and recommendations for change will be produced and carefully disseminated through the media and targeted communications.

 

f) Engage Leaders in Change

The goal will be to evolve from discovery and insight to strategy development.  Specific recommendations to improve rural investment and quality of life will be developed.  Consultants and staff will formulate formal strategic planning documents for review by Roundtable members.   It is anticipated that select members of the Roundtable will be inspired to make rural a greater priority and may in turn agree to champion strategies.

 

g) Advance Rural Interest and Investment – Phase II, 2005 and Beyond

The long-term goal of this program is to develop a series of initiatives that will have a direct impact on stimulating investment and interest in the rural non-profit and voluntary sector.  Specific objectives for growth will be established eight to ten months from the inaugural dialogue.  Qualitative baseline information will be available from the formal research while more subjective understanding of the opportunities will emerge from the dialogue.  A “give to rural” awareness strategy focusing on a targeted group of private and public foundations, individuals and corporations may be developed to encourage more specific funding interest. 

 

Measures

Several good data sources provide important insights in to funders' activities and patterns.  The research project undertaken in partnership with the Imagine Canada (Formerly the Canadian Centre for Philanthropy) will provide a series of baseline facts for growth and evaluation of outcomes such as the number of funders with rural criteria, grant levels to rural charities, giving by geography.

Conclusion

A Rural Philanthropy Roundtable could reasonably be expected to encourage funders to use a rural lens, share information and learn together, invest in projects that may identify pockets of extreme need or special opportunity and innovation in rural, leverage funding, encourage new investment and improve the quality of rural life.