How can funders spark more information-sharing and connections among grantees and others in the sectors they fund? Can online collaboration build stronger relationships between funders and grantees?Our two presenters will share their successes helping grantees collaborate more effectively online: * Amy Gipson of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Libraries program, on the Global Libraries Toolkit. * Melissa Schoen of the California Healthcare Foundation’s Innovations for the Underserved program, on the Community Clinic Voice.Following the presentations, we’ll have an open discussion of challenges and best practices for funders seeking to stimulate collaboration.This webinar is sponsored by Forum One Communications, a web strategy and design firm focused on the public sector, and foundations in particular. Among our clients are the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the New York State Healthcare Foundation, and the California State Healthcare Foundation.
Philanthropy and Online Collaboration Webinar June 23, 2010
Transcript
Philanthropy and Online Collaboration Webinar
June 23, 2010
Amy Gipson, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Libraries program, on the Global Libraries Toolkit.
Melissa Schoen, California Healthcare Foundation’s Innovations for the Underserved program, on the Community Clinic Voice.
Presenters
The Global Libraries Grantee Toolkit
Amy GipsonAssociate Program Officer
Philanthropy and Online Collaboration
June 23, 2010
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Thank you Joe and Heather and thanks to everyone for being here. I’m really excited to be here today, it’s my first webinar! I plan to share with you a little bit about the Global Libraries Grantee Toolkit and will look forward to answering any questions you may have during the Q&A.
Agenda
Overview of Global Libraries (GL) The need for a GL Grantee Toolkit Overview of the Toolkit Progress to date Challenges, realities and rewards
I have about 15 minutes to talk about our Toolkit. I’ll start with an overview of Global Libraries to set the context for the Toolkit How the need arose
Global Libraries
An initiative of the foundation’s Global Development Program, Global Libraries works to open a world of knowledge, information, and opportunity for communities around the world.
An initiative of the foundation’s Global Development Program, Global Libraries works to open a world of knowledge, information, and opportunity for communities around the world. GL forms partnerships with select countries to help public libraries provide access to computers and the Internet, and to train library users on how to take advantage of these tools. Aiming to transform public libraries into vital centers that connect millions of people to information technology, and the economic and educational benefits that access enables. Chile, Mexico, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Botswana, Vietnam
GL program needs drove the idea Growing team (staff, consultants) More grants being launched and implemented Losing knowledge of past grantees Reinforcement from the GL Peer Learning Meeting November 2007 the GL Toolkit was launched to provide a secure
collaboration space for GL staff and grantees Driving forces behind the Toolkit were:
• To support frequent sharing of documents and resources across continents and time zones
• To enable ongoing collaboration among grantees and the strengthening of their social network following workshops
• To enable grantees to access and adapt high-quality resources to help ensure their programs develop on schedule and on target
Growing team: needed to institutionalize knowledge and reduce duplication of effort More grants: GL team needed to do more, better and faster / grantees needed templates, clear guidance Losing knowledge: missing opportunities for peer learning Reinforcement: an annual face-to-face meeting of all grantees / amazing experience for both GL staff and grantees / deep discussions about program challenges, realities, opportunities / true peer learning, shared ideas, learning together / desire arose to continue strong relationships established
Overarching goals for the Toolkit
Connect members with one another to exchange knowledge, share approaches and benefit from each others’ experience Provide a curated repository of resources that
members can access and adapt in core program areas
Thus, increasing effectiveness and efficiency of the grant making process Improving transparency and communications among grantees and GL team And building grantee capacity in program planning, implementation and sustainability
Geographic spread of Toolkit users Disparity in technical infrastructure Diversity of technical skills Range of languages All users are already busy
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For additional maps, please direct your request to the Foundation Communications Service Desk. EDITABLE MAP: You can color it in as required. To select an individual country, click on the map, then click again on the country outline you wish to color. To select smaller areas that are hard to reach, use the zoom slider at the lower right of the window to get a close-up view. Use either the + or − buttons or the slider control to fine-tune the amount of zooming. Then click on the exact area needed. To color the selection, on the Home tab, in the Drawing section, use the Shape Fill (Paint Bucket) to select a color. Your selection will fill with the selected color.
What is the Toolkit?
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2003 2005 2007 2009 2011
Online discussion space for peers to share experience, Q&A, celebrate successes and learn from challenges
Private online workspaces for program officers and grantees to do project work
Curated repository of quality examples of documents, case studies, templates and other resources
Online discussion: place for informal discussions on whatever topics are important to grantees at the moment / opportunity to exchange ideas and knowledge across GL grantee teams that used to occur in 1:1 email exchanges and was often lost / connects grantees together without the need for program officer involvement Private: where program officers and grantees can do project work / more efficient sharing and collaboration on documents / range of options available to choose from including calendars, task tracking, email notifications / email is integrated between Outlook and the Toolkit for more seamless exchange of information Repository: resources identified, adapted, created for use by GL grantees / support materials for core program areas such as: program planning, impact assessment, procurement etc. / grantees encouraged to contribute (but need to help some grantees understand the value of their own materials) grantees will use and borrow from documents and adapt to local situations, sparking new ideas, saving time and effort
Toolkit’s progress since launch
Using Central Desktop platform, the Toolkit is providing international web access to knowledge, resources and collaboration tools
Nearly 275 individuals, from over 30 organizations, representing more than 20 nationalities with in excess of 14 first languages have become members of the Toolkit
Many different applications can be found:• Announcing events to encourage participation• Sharing files to enable collaborative working• Discussing questions and responses on grant planning and
implementation• Sharing news with the community of relevant external events• Locating contact details of individuals and organizations• Sharing documents and tools to build capacity
Challenges, realities… Content is king—if it is useful it will be used Language is another challenge Encouraging grantees to see the value in their own
materials, experiences and ideas User frustration with functionality limitations Lots of lookers, fewer contributors Recognize the challenges of creating a vibrant online
discussion space Value for grantees and GL staff alike is the key
− Program planning, implementation and sustainability are improved− Connections to peers means they are no longer alone− Resources strengthen grantee staff capacity− Knowledge is captured and shared− Less duplication of effort in creating tools and resources for grantees
Real challenges We recognized that it would only succeed if everyone showed up and used it in their day-to-day work Content: continues to be a challenge due to limited staff time and resources allocated to management and facilitation of Toolkit Language: language issues may limit some participation / question of translation of documents into English to make them more accessible Encourage: grantees needed to be assured that brining up challenges with their program is okay / especially in front of their PO—the foundation Frustration: user frustration with functionality limitations encountered on initial use of the Toolkit has now been transformed into pragmatic suggestions for incremental changes to enhance the Toolkit Lookers: 90: 9: 1 rule (90 lookers, 9 contribute infrequently, 1 really active participants) Discussions: need to seed discussion and topics until users became comfortable
…and rewards Comment by Karolina A. (Ukraine)
• As a member of the Global Libraries Ukraine team, which is just starting its planning period, I appreciate materials shared by our Chilean colleagues. In particular, “Biblioredes strategic planning” is a resourceful and inspirational document that provides useful advice for the planning part.
Comment by Pilar P. (Chile):• We are happy to share what we have learned, thus far, and
also share our ideas and plans for the future. It is very likely that we asked ourselves some of the same questions you might be asking yourself now, so the idea of sharing our “lessons learned” and showing samples of how we solved some of our issues, may give you and your team ideas to plan your project. Best of luck!
Independent evaluation of Toolkit paints positive and optimistic picture
I thought the rewards are best stated by two of our grantees. Beginning in 2008 GL commissioned a 12-month independent evaluation to measure success and provide feedback on the GL Toolkit to help refine and improve the site for its users. (Institute of Development Studies) The evaluation process included document review, user surveys and interviews, usability test and focus groups. The evaluation team made 39 recommendations for the future development of the toolkit in five areas (strategy, management, content, functionality and capacity development). Importantly the findings provided evidence that in its first year the Toolkit established itself as a useful and valued space for international collaboration between the partners in the GL initiative. It has engaged a cross section of actors who are now enthusiastic about sharing knowledge and beginning to take a stake in the Toolkit’s future. Which suggests that the Toolkit is increasingly seen as a common asset of the GL Community.
Private, non-profit foundation, created when Blue Cross of CA converted from non-profit to for-profit
In operation since 1996
Approximately $40m per year in projects and grants - mostly “strategic” rather than unsolicited grants
Three major programs:
Innovations for the Underserved
Better Chronic Disease Care
Market and Policy Monitor
CalQualityCare.org
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Presentation Notes
Publically available data Geared to consumers
CalHospitalCompare.org
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More recently – in 2007 – CHCF launched a website on hospital quality. Where the long-term care site relies exclusively on public data, the hospitals quality site is a voluntary effort which brings together a number of stakeholder groups to provide comprehensive data from many different sources in one convenient place. We support the site because we know that hospital quality improves faster when there is lots of sunshine. The site was designed to be easy for consumers to use and we incorporated the most recent research into how consumers interact with such websites. We are, however, continually balancing the needs of two key audiences ---- hospitals who vote for very specific measures of quality they can use for improvement vs. consumer preferences for composites.
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:COMMUNITY CLINIC VOICE
Community Clinic Voice WebsiteHistory Started in 2001 as an extranet for grantees for Tides
Foundation program: Community Clinics Initiative
Tides Program: Community Clinics Initiative expands to more programs
Expand extranet services to create a site that will build a community, enhance networking, and provide a place to exchange and share ideas
Membership grows, increased participation and member management: active on-line community
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Started in 2001 as an extranet for grantees of the Community Clinics Initiative (CCI): a communication tool with focus on IT, Capital Development & Capacity Building . (200 members)� Community Clinic Voice expands to include broader health care safety net and adds coverage of clinical, operations, finance, fundraising and quality improvement.� Expands extranet services to create a site that will build a community, enhance networking, and provide a place to exchange and share ideas� Membership grows (2000+), increased participation and member management: active on-line community
Community Clinic Voice WebsiteGeneral Operations
Staffing: Full time community manager plus part time business manager, admin support (1.35 FTEs)
Member Engagement:- Annual member meetings- Volunteer Committees (oversight, editorial board, welcome wagon)
Member driven content
Current membership: well over 2000 members
Community Clinic Voice Enhancement Project Why we got involved A clear need defined:
User surveyTechnology development for future portability
CHCF used this site in the past to share information
Match with CHCF goals: - improve clinic operations - encourage partnerships- infrastructure support
Community Clinic Voice Enhancement ProjectWhat we supported Support audience engagement (staff time + incentives)
Face-to-face meetingsEditorial boardAdvisory committee to oversee project
Explore new technology platform
Improve site design
Utilize outside expertise to guide the process
Develop sustainability plan
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Member Support: development of functionality that the community wants and needs
COMMUNITY CLINIC VOICE:“PRE”
ENHANCEMENT PROJECT
COMMUNITY CLINIC VOICE:“POST”
ENHANCEMENT PROJECT
Funder Support – Considerations Three key words: audience, audience, audience
Scanning the environment: What else is out there?
Don’t bite off more than you can chew
Build or buy?
The right partners
Branding: How should the funder be involved?
Time and money for audience participation
Presenter
Presentation Notes
Voice is the only on-line community meeting the need of this group�plus Voice allows space for other groups to use their site if needed� - The right partners both in the grantee, but also with the website design support. - Funding should include support for member/consumer engagement: staff to do this, but also incentives to do this