Dorothy Reynolds at the Council on Foundations

Dorothy Reynolds spoke at the Council on Foundations on Tuesday December 15. We were a small group of community foundation leaders discussing opportunities and challenges around the community leadership role. Dottie is a reflective nonprofit leader who has run community foundations and consulted with such organizations all over the world.  Currently she is a consultant with the Mott Foundation. 

My primary take away from the session:  Look for leadership opportunities and pursue the ones in which you can make a difference, but never, never, never take your eye off the unrestricted fundraising ball!

The Balancing Act - Community Foundations as Community Leaders, by Dorothy Reynolds

This is the third and last monogram in the series written by Dorothy Reynolds and published by the Mott Foundation last year, currently available on their website. Highlighting the uniquely broad perspective of community foundations and their resultant ability to take the long view, the author argues that we are well positioned for a “community leader” role, a name that implies active participation. She described the role as identifying an issue, having a general sense of the desired outcome, and conducting a process that includes many stakeholders. Can we remain independent and still advocate for the best possible community outcome? Ms. Reynolds thinks so. Appropriateness for leadership on a particular issue and organizational capacity for leadership are factors to consider. But dealing with the consequences of leadership can be the most difficult aspect of the role when the issue is controversial or divisive among board members and donors.

The Balancing Act - Community Foundation as a Vehicle for Philanthropy, by Dorothy Reynolds

This is the second monogram in the series written by Dorothy Reynolds and published by the Mott Foundation last year - available on their website.

Here Ms. Reynolds highlights the benefits of having both donor advised funds and permanently endowed unrestricted assets and the synergy that can occur between them.  In recent years, the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia has experienced just such a synergy, especially when we share our grant applications for which we have insufficient discretionary funds with our donor advisors. More and more of our advisors are responding to our requests for help, thus growing our impact on community needs.

I especially appreciated this one comment: “If professional advisers understand the flexibility and stewardship of a community foundation, if they understand that the foundation is not just another charity to give to, but rather to give through, they will be comfortable discussing it with clients.”

The Balancing Act - Community Foundation as a Grantmaker, by Dorothy Reynolds

This monogram, which was published by the Mott Foundation last year and is available through their website, argues that good grant making is a good asset development tool.  One feeds the other.  As community foundations grow and mature, they must address the work of assessing community needs, deciding what they care about, and setting grant making priorities. While awarding grants is so much more pleasant than fundraising, unrestricted asset development is KEY to the future growth of the community foundation. The author makes a great point that grant making should never distract the foundation from its unrestricted fundraising activities.

Dorothy Reynolds encourages us not to fret about the size of our assets or reduced endowment values, but to primarily focus on what is possible. What niche can we fill with the assets we already have.