Facebook ‌ Twitter ‌ LinkedIn ‌
December 2020
View as Webpage
‌
Greetings!

On behalf of the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers, we’d like to thank you for being part of our growing network!

NNCG’s mission is to increase the quality, effectiveness and capacity of grantmakers by mobilizing and strengthening the work of knowledgeable, ethical and experienced consultants.

Thanks to the efforts of our members, one of our biggest achievements this year included helping fellow philanthropy consultants and their foundation clients navigate the Covid-19 and Racial Justice moments through a series of virtual conversations and webinars that lifted up tools, resources, and practices to support self-care and strategic visioning for the future of philanthropy. 

This year’s highlights include:
  • We released a webinar companion to our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) Toolkit, in partnership with our colleagues at 21/64. This webinar, which is available as a recording to our members on the NNCG Intranet, helped consultants consider ways to assess their DEI competencies and leverage the resources in the toolkit for deeper learning. We also featured two philanthropy consultants who are using the toolkit’s resources to help philanthropy navigate the current moment. These consultants shared their personal and professional DEI journeys as they helped foundations and donors with decision making, strategic planning, grantmaking, community leadership, and development of organizational culture.

  • We launched our very first Bootcamp Series to help both new and seasoned philanthropy consultants focus on the business side of consulting: branding, client development, and organizational structure. We also used the Bootcamp Series to have informal, virtual networking among our members and non-members through virtual cafés. Our Bootcamp Series had over 200 attendees and was so successful that we plan to have another series next year!

  • With grant support from the Ford Foundation, we convened an amazing group of philanthropy and nonprofit consultants to lead our learning journey around disability inclusion and disability justice. This learning and action group spearheaded the release of a working paper, Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy released by NNCG in October of 2020. They helped guide the planning for a session at the 2020 Alliance for Nonprofit Management conference, where three of the group’s members shared findings from NNCG’s landscape analysis on disability inclusion in philanthropy and helped other consultants and practitioners identify the importance of disability inclusion to the critical challenges faced in our communities. The group also developed NNCG’s learning agenda on disability inclusion, which will be launched in 2021.

  • And of course, we hosted our signature webinar series with field leaders on topics that ranged from supporting the systems change efforts of philanthropy clients to managing family dynamics in philanthropy. For a sneak peek at next year's line-up, go to the events page on our website.

  • An updated website is in process, and we hope to launch by end of the month!

We're very excited about our plans for the future, but we can’t do it without our members! Our members support NNCG programs and help us elevate and strengthen the field of philanthropy. Thank you!
Mary Phillips, Chair
NNCG Steering Committee
Welcome New Steering Committee Members
Tony Macklin
At-Large Pro
Tony Macklin Consulting
Marcia Coné
President
Marcia Coné Consulting
Dawn Franks
President
Your Philanthropy
One of Our Faves in 2020:
A Conversation with Carol Larson
Title slide of Carol Larson webinar
Earlier this year, we sat down with Carol Larson, former president and CEO of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Joined by her colleagues Irene Wong, Director of Packard’s Local Grantmaking Program, and Alexa Cortes Culwell, co-founder of Open Impact, Carol reflected on the arc of grantmaking in her sixteen years as president, with special attention to how the Foundation grew its global grantmaking but also held firm and expanded its commitment to the local nonprofit community. Did you miss this webinar? It was definitely one of our favorite webinars this year! We are now making available to all! Click here to watch the presentation, or view the slide deck here.
Disability Inclusion Resources
Cover of Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy working paper.
Have you downloaded our new working paper? It is available here.
Headshot of Sofiya Cheyenne
Sofiya Cheyenne is a consultant
Leaning Into Disability Inclusion. Read more.
Logo of Presidents’ Council on Disability Inclusion in Philanthropy
NNCG, along with The Disability & Philanthropy Forum, presented a real-time tour of the new Disability & Philanthropy Forum website and explained more about the benefits of applying for free membership to the Forum. View here.
NNCG & Alliance for Nonprofit Management
Letter to the Editor
Chronicle of Philanthropy Logo
NNCG and the Alliance for Nonprofit Management Respond to “What Role Should Consultants Play in the Nonprofit World?” by Leah Reisman in The Chronicle of Philanthropy
Consultants are crucial, supportive change agents in the ecosystem of philanthropy, yet we are so rarely written about. It is unfortunate that attention has come from “What Role Should Consultants Play in the Nonprofit World?” (July 28), by Leah Reisman.

We feel it is important for the Chronicle’s readers to hear other expert voices on this topic as a balance to Ms. Reisman’s article. Read more.
New & Renewing Members
New Members
Coby Williams
Emily Harris
Renewing Individuals
Jessica Bearman
Kathy Session
Suzanne Callahan
Becky Lentz
Seema Shah
Amy Main Morgenstern
Lynda Frost
Rebecca Van Sickle
Renewing Firms
Colorado Health Foundation
The Giving Practice
Advocacy & Communication Solutions LLC
COVID-19 Resource Central Webpage
Headshot of Brittany Kienker
NNCG member Brittany Kienker, Ph.D., (Principal and Owner, Kienker Consulting LLC) serves as an expert-in-residence for her client, the Council of Michigan Foundations (CMF). 

Through her work with Ask CMF, a technical assistance service for Council of Michigan Foundation members, she and the CMF staff launched a COVID-19 Resource Central webpage, designed to provide instant access to urgently-needed answers and resources for grantmakers, as well as a full listing of Michigan-based relief funds and policy updates. It’s been a great resource for philanthropy consultants and their clients outside of Michigan as well!
Join our LinkedIn Group
LinkedIn Groups logo
Are you on LinkedIn? We hope that you join us for lively discussion, updates, and professional development on our LinkedIn Group for NNCG members!
 
Let's get you started! It's easy. If you are on LinkedIn, please visit this page and request to be added. You have to be a member of NNCG to join our LinkedIn Group.
 
Let us know what you think and feel free to post and chat with fellow members!
New Logo & Email Signature
Being a member of NNCG not only provides you with a network of like minded grantmakers and philanthropy consultants who are determined to expand their knowledge and elevate their effectiveness, it also shows the world you care. A membership with NNCG tells clients, potential clients, funders, foundation leaders and donors that you mean business about making a greater philanthropic impact.

One way to let others know you are a member of NNCG (and to invite others to join the network alongside you!) is to display our new logo and tagline in your email signature and on your website. It's easy! Follow these simple steps.

Step 1: Download our logo (Open image page, right-click to save to your computer).
Step 2: Pick your favorite tagline from the list below:
* Where consultants and grantmakers work together to make the world a better place.
* Elevate your work. Expand your knowledge. Inform the field.
* Committed to quality and effectiveness in philanthropy consulting.
* Like-minded colleagues joining together to create greater philanthropic impact.
* Ethical. Collaborative. Effective. Philanthropy to change the world.

Step 3: Embed logo and tagline at the bottom of your email signature. Link logo back to our website

Step 4: Add logo and tagline to the bottom or on a resource page of your website, and link back to nncg.org

Step 5: Share with us!  Send us an email with your updated signature, or post it to our LinkedIn page!
Sample:
‌
Facebook ‌ Twitter ‌ LinkedIn ‌