You have some direction. You’ve made choices regarding the causes you’ll support and the communities and populations that your philanthropic activities will serve. You’ve decided how directed your approach will be, what philanthropic plays you will use, and whether you might invest in commercial enterprises alongside philanthropic gifts and grants to achieve social impact. Now it’s time to find the talent to help you implement. Since you can’t identify the talent you need until you first understand the job that needs to get done, this section begins with describing the four implementation “jobs” that someone needs to do.

No matter what cause areas, communities, or high-level approaches characterize your philanthropy, when it comes to implementing philanthropic activities, four responsibilities need to be fulfilled, whether by one person or a full team.

WHAT IT ENTAILS:

A needs assessment is a systematic approach to understanding the cause areas and communities you wish to serve. Specifically, it involves getting a baseline assessment of the current situation and identifying the gap between the current situation and the better situation you hope your philanthropy will create.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

An effective needs assessment requires skills in gathering and synthesizing information from a variety of sources for practical use. Some of this information can be found in published reports, websites, and articles, while other information will come from the perspectives of stakeholders and those most directly affected, such as potential beneficiaries.

It also requires broad knowledge of the cause area and intended beneficiary population. Such broad knowledge can help get this job done well and quickly. The more relevant and broader a person’s knowledge is, the faster that person will find the reports, websites, articles, and people that are most authoritative and relevant. Such broad knowledge can also help prevent that person from being distracted by the latest fad or being overwhelmed or confused by the volume of potentially helpful information out there.

WHAT IT ENTAILS:

A landscape scan is a review of the key players — people, programs, organizations — already working in the cause areas and communities your philanthropy will serve. While a needs assessment helps you understand the gap you might fill, a landscape scan identifies the partners and other assets you might tap to fill that gap.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

All the skills listed under needs assessment also help with conducting a landscape scan. In addition, look for functional experience in evaluating nonprofit organizations and social sector practices.

Longtime funders, nonprofit leaders, relevant journalists, and public policy analysts can bring those capabilities and provide answers to some of these questions. Consultants and well-trained graduate students bring functional capabilities in conducting social sector landscape scans.

WHAT IT ENTAILS:

This refers to the process of assessing organizations and determining which will ultimately be the recipients of your philanthropic funding.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

Look for people with experience in developing and implementing processes for identifying and assessing prospective recipients of philanthropic funding.

Professional grantmakers, experienced donors, nonprofit leaders, and those most directly affected, such as potential beneficiaries, can help you design due diligence practices that give you sufficient confidence to make funding decisions without placing undue burden on potential grantees in ways that undermine their ability to do their work well. Current and former nonprofit leaders, in particular, can help you find the right balance.

See resources for people and processes that can help.

WHAT IT ENTAILS:

This involves both a transactional component — i.e., tracking and processing the money that will go to your grantees — as well as a relationship component — i.e., communicating with

representatives of the organizations you fund. On the website that accompanies this guidebook, you will find a review of 14 of the most widely used grants management systems, using criteria developed by consultants, vendors, foundation program officers, and systems administrators.

WHAT TO LOOK FOR:

The relationship component requires excellent communication skills — both verbal and written — to interact with grantees in ways that foster learning, trust, and accountability. It also requires management and planning skills to handle both the relationship aspects of grantmaking, alongside the financial transaction. A demonstrated ability to work with others to achieve a common goal is an especially helpful capability since grantees are the partners that translate your money into impact.