Starting the Initiative

All initiatives, in a very literal sense, start at the end. That is, they begin when a program officer visualizes a positive outcome in society that could be effected by a well-planned and well-executed initiative. It then becomes necessary to work backwards, as it were: to plan all the operations needed to achieve the desired outcome. Plan is the operative word: in order to make the many and complicated pieces of the initiative work together, planning is utterly essential. In many ways, the planning process is like that described for cluster grantmaking in Chapter One. You need to identify a niche, review the literature, scan the field, consult those most affected, and possibly make a few learning grants. You should also go beyond merely consulting with those who will be affected by the initiative and include their representatives on the management team for the initiative.

The need for a management team also differentiates initiative-based grantmaking from cluster grantmaking. Whereas a single program officer is sufficient to take the lead on a cluster of eight to twelve projects, the more intensive management demands of an initiative require that a team of program officers manage its activities. Ideally, the team should include a program officer with expertise in each of the major subject areas covered by the initiative; at least one representative of the stakeholders; and professionals skilled in evaluation, strategic communications, social marketing, and policy issues. A single person may cover more than one area, of course, and not all team members need be foundation employees; consultants are frequently required to provide expertise not available on the foundation staff. In smaller foundations, nearly everyone on the initiative team may be a consultant. It is important to designate a clear leader or coleaders for the team, and the leader or leaders must make it a priority to manage the team for harmonious working relationships and high productivity. Many a conceptually sound initiative has foundered on the rocks of management team discord.

The entire team must avoid the temptation to begin programming too fast. It is not unusual for the preliminary research, stakeholder work, and planning to take a year or even longer. Initiatives have a lot of “ducks,” and it is simply not possible to get them all in a row in a matter of weeks. In the meantime, opportunities to make grants beckon on the outside, while pressure to show results can build on the inside. The temptation to prematurely start grantmaking, therefore, is very strong, but it must be resisted. The motto of program officers running initiatives should be, “We will make no grant before its time.”