Effective funders provide more than grant dollars. Developing trust and collaboration with grantees, decision makers, and other community leaders is as important as the money you give. The best practices detailed below apply to all areas of grantmaking, but are especially relevant when funding public policy.

• General operating support—general operating grants provide grantees with needed flexibility, the power to make decisions about programming, and the ability to dynamically respond to changes.

• Multiyear funding—public policy change can take years to achieve. Reliable, multiyear support is often key to nonprofit organizations' ability to stay engaged in long-term efforts.  

• Portfolio diversity—since policy change often results from varied activities, funding a variety of complementary strategies can be the most effective approach in the long run.

• Encourage grantees to engage in advocacy— foundations' attitudes and actions can often hinder or encourage grantees' engagement in public policy advocacy. For more information on this issue, please visit the Building Capacity page

• Evaluation—as demonstrated in our section on Assessing Public Policy Grantmaking, effective public policy funders encourage grantees to evaluate themselves through ongoing assessment of their efforts.

A recent study by the National Center for Responsive Philanthropy demonstrates that a number of conservative foundations have followed these best practices in their public policy grantmaking over the last few decades. These practices have yielded some impressive results. In fact, the NCRP report's findings mirror similar, older studies which demonstrate that public policy change can best be achieved through long-term, general support grants from a few strongly committed funders.

Resource Links
On providing core support:

• "Core Support Helps Safety Net Providers Sustain Services in Challenging Times" The California Wellness Foundation Portfolio
• "Reflections - On the Safety Net: A Case for Core Support" by Ruth Holton, The California Wellness Foundation

General resources:

• The Foundation Consortium for California's Children and Youth has articulated a set of key values which reflect general best practices.
• "Guidelines for the Funding of Nonprofit Organizations" Independent Sector