How They Do It: Pennsylvania Funders on Engaging the Public Sector
Philanthropy professionals in Pennsylvania understand how state policy affects the nonprofit sector, and many have a history of engaging and educating state policymakers. Even given private foundations’ constraints on lobbying, there are numerous opportunities for communication between philanthropy and the public sector that are permissible and can serve to build relationships and advance important issues.
A number of Pennsylvania funders work to ensure that both public and private dollars are used effectively to promote quality results, to the benefit of both taxpayers and communities. Funding organizations that work regularly in fields like public education, healthcare or workforce development often house deep knowledge, expertise and connections that can be useful to fellow funders whose work is place-based or occasionally touches upon these fields.
The Keystone Policy Series of conference calls/webinars has been developed by Grantmakers of Western Pennsylvania and Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia to inform all Pennsylvania funders about how their colleagues are working on selected statewide policy issues. Funding organizations across the state will:
- Learn background information about a community issue from a statewide perspective
- Hear about work undertaken by Pennsylvania funding colleagues to address a policy challenge
- Learn about potential solutions in Pennsylvania and potential roles for philanthropy
- Build/ strengthen working relationships with other funders across the state
You will find an archive of resources and audio recordings of the calls in this series. Please use the links in the sidebar.