Advanced Grant Portfolio Management is a sequence of two separate but connected courses for program officers (or other foundation professionals with grantmaking responsibilities) with three or more years of experience.
We piloted the course with invited participants at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund Conference Center at Pocantico in October 2007. Subsequent sessions will be held two times per year.
Advanced Grant Portfolio Management I: A Framework for Strategic Grantmaking
Las Vegas, Nevada
October 22-24, 2008
This 2.5 day session focuses on strategically managing a portfolio of grants. Specific topics* include:
- Incorporating the Four Tenets of portfolio management:
- Theory- guidance from a theory of change
- Added Value- complementary work beyond the grant funds e.g. deploying all types of assets, advancing knowledge in the field, enhancing grantee work with convening, technical assistance, etc.
- Sustainability- strategic techniques to support foundation investment e.g. building capacity, infrastructure, and addressing systems and barriers
- Leadership- complementary investments in foundation leadership, cultural competency
- Incorporating evaluation practices into your portfolio
- Gaining deeper understanding of nonprofit capital structure
- Managing typical portfolio issues:
- Inheriting a portfolio
- Maintaining relevancy
- Balancing strategy and flexibility
- What to do when a strategy fails
- Strategic communications
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Advanced Grant Portfolio Management II: Creating and Leading a Strategic Grantmaking Process
This 1.5 day session focuses on managing the development of a strategic grants portfolio. Specific topics include:
- Using the Strategic Learning Process to build a grantmaking strategy
- Techniques for developing expertise in your issue
- Tailoring plans to your foundation's specific circumstances
- Building a strategic pathway through a theory of change
- Developing implementation strategies
- Incorporating evaluation frameworks
- Building in continuous learning to refine approaches
- Communicating and marketing of your strategy
- Gaining deeper understanding of two strategic approaches:
- Social change and public policy
- Grassroots funding
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*Titles and session content preliminary- subject to change
Faculty for The Grantmaking School are drawn from among respected national practitioners in the field.
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