Team Members:

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Team Members California Womens
Funding Network Christine Grumm Emily Katz
Kishawi Ripple Effect Consulting Lisa Spinali
Hayley Mortimer The FM Group Elizabeth Seja
Min   Chicago Morten Group
Mary Morten   Iowa Clohesy
Consulting Stephanie Clohesy, Dylan Arnett,
Stacy Van Gorp, Jessica Schacterle Molly Clubb
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The SMART GROWTH Project had three
objectives     Research the field of
organizational development, especially
life-stage ideas Analyze the real-life
patterns of womens foundations Create a
tool to help womens funds in their
organizational development process
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Out of the project we created 4 products  
The SMART GROWTH Model A Life Stage
Approach to Organizational Development
The REPORT The QUICK QUIZ The
ASSESSMENT TOOL WORKBOOK
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What is the context for these products? Womens
funds are relatively small in size but
growing The largest endowment of a member fund
is 19,000,000 The largest annual
grantmaking is 4,000,000 (from a foundation
with a smaller endowment but large
pass-through partnerships. Two of the oldest
womens funds were created in the 1970s and
have been created steadily since then.
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Typically womens funds are created with these
traits in common Passionate dedication by
founders to deeply help equality and justice
values A feminist consciousness of diversity,
inclusiveness, empowered participation and
life choices Commitment to cross-class
philanthropy A belief that advocacy social
change are not strategically separable from
direct service.
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Many womens funds have voice and leadership
power that exceeds their size. Womens funds
have leveraged their funds to make gains on
enormous economic and humanitarian
issues   International trafficking of women and
girls Human rights of women, especially in war
zones Intervention in global epidemic of
domestic violence Financial literacy of
women Education of girls Creation of micro
enterprise and literacy programs for poor
women Health and reproductive choice
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Womens funds help demonstrate that   Solving
the problems and engaging the resources and
talents of women and girls go beyond issues of
equality and fairness. They encompass broader
possibilities for transforming larger social and
economic trends in community and society.
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In a recent press release, the World Bank
re-stated its commitment to keeping gender at the
center of its own social and economic analysis
and development strategy   Armed with studies
showing that equality between men and women
improves the economic viability of poor
countries, reduces poverty and encourages good
governance, the World Bank has decided that all
of its projects will be evaluated for their
effects on women and girls.
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The significance of dealing with the issues of
women and girls as a means to getting to bigger
and more pervasive problems in a community means
that womens funds need to be up to the
task.   This means they have to grow.   To grow
they need tools for assessing their growth and
development and charting their plans for growth.
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The major steps in the SMART GROWTH Project
included A literature search on life stage
development theory and models to locate a
philanthropy-specific model A search for
organizational assessment methodologies and
tools. The development of a draft life stage
model and areas of skills/capacities needed to
build a womens fund. A series of 19
interviews with womens funds to test the draft
model meetings and feedback discussions with WFN
subgroups (Executive Directors attending Fall
Forum New Economy Project
participants WFN Board).
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Redevelopment of the stage and skills
matrixthe basic components of the SMART
GROWTH Model A Search for skill-based
resources to accompany the assessment
process Development of the SMART GROWTH Quick
Quiz Development of the SMART GROWTH Assessment
Tool Workbook Creation, production, and
distribution of the SMART GROWTH Project Report
and Assessment Materials.
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SMART GROWTH Project began with some knowledge
and assumptions that had come to WFN through an
earlier predecessor of this project. We built on
these assumptionsmany of which have been
accepted as shared knowledge among womens
funds   Fundraising will stall without
staff Foundations cannot do everything
therefore FOCUS Boards need terms limits and
succession planning Fundraising requires
designated staff and revenues Administrative
systems wear out and need to be
expanded Collaboration is easy to value and
difficult to do.
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Explore Life Stage Models Understand how other
models were developed Compare profit and non
profit models Analyze the models for their value
for womens funds Decide if any of the models
could simply be adapted by womens funds  
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What did we learn by studying many other
life-stage models?   Organizational development
is a systemic process affected by external
forces as well as the internal realities of the
organization In order to deal with external
realities, organizations often leap beyond their
capacities, pressuring every one and everything
in the organization. Eventually a leap
requires that an organization back-track and
strengthen its systems, infrastructure, and
people in order to sustain the desired
workload/work pace. Ultimately growth unfolds in
recognizable stages The transitions in and out
of stages are as important as the stages
themselves.
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The funds were diverse and size and type in order
to mirror the membership diversity of WFN
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The Model There are five big concepts that
summarize the life-stage model developed for WFN
members External Forces and Core Internal
Identity Define the Course of Development There
are Six Life Stages That Unfold The Transitions
Between Stages Are as Important as the
Stages At the End of Stage 5 A New Cycle
Begins Every Stage of Organizational Life is Fed
by 10 Essential Capacities and Skills
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What else does the Report Do?   FAQs Explores
Issues of Fast/Slow Growth Real-Life Voices
and Advice
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FAQ Examples But Arent We Too Different to
Benefit from a Single Model? Do the funds find
the same skills easy or difficult to acquire?
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Characteristics of Fast Moving Funds Stage 1
Generosity of Parent, Host or Founders Stage 2
Strong Board Leadership Strong Community
Interest Stage 3 Committed Staff Board Good
Strategic Planning Visible Successful
Grantees Stage 4 Founder Empower others to Lead
the Foundation Use of Research to Fuel Planning
Grantmaking Strategies Stage 5 Flexible Staff
Leadership Engagement of High-quality Volunteers
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Characteristics of Slow Moving Funds Stage 1
Constantly Resolving Chicken or Egg Dilemmas
Endowment? Grantmaking? Stage 2 Lack of
Fundraising Planning Timidity about
Fundraising Stage 3 Weak Board Leadership
Perceived as Small Stage 4 Weak Financial
Infrastructure Inability to Launch
Endowment Stage 5 Failure to Make Appropriate
Staff Changes Lack of Good Management
Continuing Fear of Money
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Real Life Examples Stage Three Delegate
Evaluate Advice - Be visible Be a magnet for
financial and advocacy support Best Practice
- Prioritize resources to support your three
strongest assets. - Add the staff you need
Monitor performance Inspire
accountability
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Appendix A Description Best Practice-Tips for
Smart Growth
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The Basic Matrix Capacity II Staffing
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The Assessment Tool Begin Your Assessment Here!
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Conclusions Trends Now Future Grantmaking
Focus Grantmaking Process Grantmaking
Financial Resources - The Dilemma of Designated
Funds Research Knowledge Evaluation Technolog
y
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Thank You
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The SMART GROWTH Quiz
The SMART GROWTH Quiz Answer Key
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Steps Fill in your answers on the quiz itself
(follow quiz instructions) Transfer Answers to
the Answer Key Tally your numbers Find your life
stage Look at the Life Stage Description in the
REPORT, pgs. 20-21 and interpret your
results Does this sound like your fund? For an
in-depth analysis of your capacities go to the
SMART GROWTH Report and the SMART GROWTH
Workbook