Assessing Your Readiness for a Stronger Anti-Poverty Role

Going Deeper

We've borrowed some of this section on readiness (and other sections) from CFC's workshop on "Strategic Community Investments." It leads participants through a strategic planning process that is an excellent fit for expanding work in poverty. Contact CF-LINKS to have the workshop tailored for your foundation.

The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation's report, "Hard Lessons about Philanthropy and Community Change from the Neighborhood Improvement Initiative" is an unflinching look at a ten-year initiative they describe as not meeting the expectations of its many stakeholders. "When this happens, we should seize the opportunity to understand the causes in order to improve our own performance and benefit others working in the field," the Foundation's CEO writes in the introduction to the report. There are very useful reflections here for anyone contemplating a collaborative, multi-stakeholder initiative.

In order to assist community foundations to have internal discussions about deepening their role in social justice and poverty reduction, CFC has developed a Social Justice Discussion Guide, published in 2006.