Schott Foundation Launches the Sustainable Grantmaking Benchmark
The Schott Foundation for Public Education announced the Sustainable Grantmaking Benchmark, a tool that measures the most basic of a foundation’s activities: grantmaking. It assesses whether a foundation provides flexible, long-term, and responsive support; funding that allows organizations not just to survive but to lead system change, especially important for racial justice grantees. The Benchmark’s inaugural cohort is a diverse mix of foundations whose willingness to share their results set a powerful example for the field.
Why This Matters for Philanthropy
Philanthropy is being tested at this moment. Traditional, short-term grantmaking cannot meet today’s challenges. The Benchmark highlights to donors and foundations the use of multiyear, flexible, and innovative funding strategies at other foundations, and provides suggestions on how to use the benchmark and its contents.
“The Sustainable Grantmaking Benchmark is more than a report, it’s a call-in to philanthropy,” said Dr. John H. Jackson, President & CEO of the Schott Foundation. “Participation from this cohort signals a growing movement toward, durable , equity -driven philanthropy and sets a powerful exmaples for peers across the sector.”
Celebrating Leadership and Transparency
The Benchmark’s inaugural cohort includes some of the most influential names in philanthropy:
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, The California Endowment, The California Wellness Foundation, The Grove Foundation, Woods Fund Chicago, Communities for Just Schools Fund, and Schott Foundation for Public Education.
Expertise Behind the Benchmark
The Benchmark was shaped by an Advisory Group of sector leaders, including ABFE, GEO, Bridgespan, United Philanthropy Forum, and others, ensuring credibility, fairness, and alignment with the values of equity and sustainability.
What the Benchmark Offers Funders
- A strategic tool to assess and strengthen grantmaking portfolios.
- Clear guidance on practices that matter most for grantee resilience: multiyear commitments, unrestricted support, flexible disbursements, and expanded funding tools like endowments and PRIs.
- A pathway to signal leadership and accountability in advancing equity-driven philanthropy by highlighting transparency.
Source: Schott Foundation for Public Education
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