In December 2013, NCRP released a report about the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation’s grantmaking. This review was commissioned by the foundation to assess the success of its 2008-2013 “Moving the Needle” (MTN) agenda to reduce poverty and support education, community change and nonprofit capacity. As president and CEO Sherece West-Scantlebury noted, WRF has already used the findings and recommendations to inform its new strategic plan, MTN 2.0.
In conjunction with the release of this assessment, NCRP asked three of WRF’s longstanding nonprofit partners to reflect on the impact of Moving the Needle for Arkansas communities. Specifically, I asked them to answer these four questions:
- Today, as a result of MTN, what are the tangible signs of impact in Arkansas communities?
- Can you share a story that would illustrate what has changed for individuals and families in the last five years?
- What has changed in the way nonprofits operate – both internally (e.g. capacity, effectiveness) and externally (e.g. relationships, collaborations)?
- What is your specific advice for the foundation as it embarks on another five-year plan?
In the first of four short videos, Rich Huddleston, executive director of Arkansas Advocates for Children and Families, Renee Carr, executive director of Rural Community Alliance and Bill Kopsky, executive director of Arkansas Public Policy Panel discuss how WRF’s support helped their organizations engage Arkansas residents in the democratic process.
For these leaders, civic engagement is itself a significant impact, because rural and low income residents become more informed voters, develop their capacity to fight for better laws and policies and mobilize together to hold policymakers accountable.
As a result, Rich Huddleston observes early in this video, “Low-income citizens, groups of color, are no longer content to just sit on the sideline and let bad decisions be made at the state and local levels, bad decisions that fundamentally hurt their ability to move ahead.”
Stay tuned! In the second video, Renee, Rich and Bill share specific examples of new local and state policies that are benefiting, rather than harming, residents – thanks to community engagement, organizing and advocacy funded by the Winthrop Rockefeller Foundation.
Lisa Ranghelli is director of foundation assessment at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy(NCRP). Follow NCRP on Twitter (@ncrp).
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