HOW FUNDERS CAN EFFECTIVELY SUPPORT VOLUNTEER-LED MOVEMENTS

EPIP Webinar September 30, 2015 EPIP Host: Biz Ghormley Presenter: TCC Group & Wikimedia Foundation

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Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP) is a national network of foundation professionals, social entrepreneurs and other change makers who strive for excellence in the practice of philanthropy.

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Connect with others

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leadership skills

Inspire emerging ideas in the social sector

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Speakers TCC Group: Marieke Spence Rika Gorn

Wikimedia Foundation: Winifred Olliff

How Funders Can Effectively Support Volunteer-led Movements EPIP Webinar September 30, 2015

Presenters: Winifred Olliff, Wikimedia Foundation

Marieke Spence, TCC Group

Deepti Sood, TCC Group

Rika Gorn, TCC Group

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SESSION AGENDA

Part I: Consider the role of volunteer-leaders in movements

Part II: Engage in a discussion of volunteers and organizations in the movement context, with a spotlight on The Wikimedia Foundation and the Wikimedia movement

Part III: Provide practical advice on how funders can support volunteer-led movements, focusing on organizations

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INTRODUCTIONS

Winifred Olliff, Program Officer

Deepti Sood, Consultant Marieke Spence, Consultant

Rika Gorn, Analyst ?

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POLL #1

Which of the following best describes your role in philanthropy? (check all that apply)

a)  Staff at a foundation (or other grantmaking organization)

b)  Staff at an “infrastructure” organization

c)  Staff at a nonprofit organization

d)  Board member of a foundation/nonprofit

e)  Other

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Part I: WHAT IS A MOVEMENT?

•  A group of people working together to advance their shared political, social, or artistic ideas.

•  A campaign undertaken by a group of people working together.

!  Ex. 1: The Labor Movement

!  Ex. 2: The Civil Rights Movement

Source: www.google.com

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Part I: VOLUNTEERS, LEADERSHIP, AND MOVEMENTS

Why are volunteer leaders so important to movements? Image: www.blacklivesmatter.com

Why are volunteers so important to movements?

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POLL #2

What do you see as the most common role that volunteer-leaders play in movements?

a)  Community organizer

b)  Project manager

c)  “Content engine” (skills-based, creates projects or materials)

d)  Strategist

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LEADER #1: COMMUNITY ORGANIZER

•  Informs others

•  Brings people together (e.g. events)

•  Inspires others to take action

•  Brings new people into the movement

•  Cultivates relationships with partners and other volunteers

Saul Alinsky, advocate for the poor and founder of modern

community organizing

Image: raymondpronk.wordpress.com

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LEADER #2: PROJECT MANAGER

•  Sets goals and establishes timelines

•  Mobilizes resources, holds others accountable

•  Works on the ground to get projects done

Cristina Jiménez – Managing Director

Image: www.unitedwedream.org

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LEADER #3: CONTENT CREATOR

•  Creates projects, services, or materials

•  Frequently contributes with skills-based knowledge and work

•  Curates knowledge

•  Develops infrastructure

•  May operate “behind the scenes”

Grace Lee Boggs, author and activist

Image: www.deborahmeier.com

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LEADER #4: STRATEGIST

•  Long-term thinker, visionary

•  May be a prominent voice of the movement

•  Liaises with formal groups, and/or governments

•  Activates other volunteer-leaders toward a common goal

Cesar Chavez

Image: www.biography.com

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WAYS TO SUPPORT VOLUNTEER LEADERS

Funding

Connecting leaders Online resources

In-kind support

Networking

Fundraising

Mentorship

Training

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Part II: VOLUNTEERS AND ORGANIZATIONS

Volunteers need organizations because…

1.  Organizations can provide consistency needed for high-value, long-term projects.

2.  Organizations can provide necessary infrastructure to a volunteer-led movement, such as that needed to collect and disseminate funds or participate in a legal action.

3.  Organizations can bring specific expertise to the movement.

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POLL #3

What do you think is the single biggest value of organizations in movements?

a)  Aggregating and disseminating funds

b)  Bringing new volunteers into a movement

c)  Using organizational clout, or status, to lobby etc.

d)  Keeping consistency for high-value projects

e)  Specific expertise

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WIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION

The Wikimedia movement consists of the people and groups of people sharing

common goals and activities with regard to creating and supporting

free knowledge educative content.

The mission of the Wikimedia Foundation is to empower and engage people around the world to collect and develop educational content under a free license or in the public domain, and to disseminate it effectively and globally.

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Part III: WIKIMEDIA FOUNDATION

The Foundation’s Community Resources team supports volunteers in the following ways:

1.  General support funding

2.  Specific capacity-building work

3.  Participatory grantmaking process

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SPOTLIGHT ON STAFF AND VOLUNTEERS

Wikimedia organizations use staff and volunteers in different ways.

Amical Wikimedia Wikimedia Austria Personnel •  1 paid employee, meets with

institutions and partners 9am-5pm; volunteers set all organizational priorities

•  2.5 full-time employees; volunteers always tapped first for jobs; staff fill in gaps

Volunteer Support

•  Only pursues initiatives that can be supported and sustained on a purely volunteer basis

•  An active Wikipedia contributor, Amical’s employee has credibility within the movement and is part of it

•  Flexible, low-key approach to keep volunteers engaged

•  Volunteers encouraged to specialize in areas leveraging their strength and passion (avoiding “burn out”)

•  Proactive outreach to connect volunteers and stakeholders across organizations

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TYPES OF WMF SUPPORT: TESTIMONIALS

Participatory grantmaking "…With funding we made a process in which no one person necessarily holds the decision making power, but rather it's a consensus-driven process by the communities that are local, on the ground, working alongside these projects."

In-kind "…It would be great to provide access to [the Foundation’s] technology staff, for grantees. For example, allow grant applications to include money to “buy back” time of tech staff for programming."

General support "The biggest issue for us is course correction…and the fact that [with GOS] we can do everything in one batch, instead of per-project."

Quotes have been abbreviated for presentation purposes.

Capacity building "We need more tools, advice and consultation for organizational development….the WMF should support this - apart from financial support ,this is the most important way to support sustainable development of emerging chapters and communities."

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REVISITING SESSION AGENDA + TAKEAWAYS

Objectives Takeaways Part I: Consider the role of volunteer-leaders in movements

"  Common roles include community organizer, project manager, content creator, strategist

Part II: Engage in a discussion of volunteers and organizations in the movement context, with a spotlight on The Wikimedia Foundation and the Wikimedia movement

" Organizations can be useful for providing consistency, infrastructure, and specific expertise

Part III: Provide practical advice on how funders can support volunteer-led movements, focusing on organizations

"  Funders can provide in-kind resources and support capacity building, GOS, and participatory processes - with an emphasis on prioritizing volunteers and their needs whenever possible

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QUESTIONS & RESOURCES

Any Questions? Resources:

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Organizational_effectiveness/Learning_center

https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Grants:IdeaLab/Reimagining_WMF_grants/Outcomes

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/d/dc/Funding_Free_Knowledge_the_Wiki_Way_-_Wikimedia_Foundation_Participatory_Grantmaking.pdf

http://www.idealist.org/info/VolunteerMgmt

www.tccgrp.com

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CONTACTS

Marieke Spence TCC Group

mspence@tccgrp.com

Rika Gorn TCC Group

rgorn@tccgrp.com

Deepti Sood TCC Group

dsood@tccgrp.com

Winifred Olliff Wikimedia Foundation

wolliff@wikimedia.org