Healthy Families America

	Network Resources: Innovative Strategies
	Peer Mentoring Network Innovative Strategies Regional Resource Centers Quality Assurance/ Credentialing Training State Systems Funding Events	Developing and Nurturing Relationships with Foundations Barbara Rawn, Vice President of Programs and Chapters at Prevent Child Abuse America would like to offer some lessons learned from her experiences working with foundations. Remember that all relationships take time, care and feeding! Reach out to your loyal and long-term funders and don’t take them for granted. Try: Calling them once a quarter; Dropping them a note to offer an exciting finding from your program or describe an anecdote or accomplishment about one of the families you serve; Forwarding any media references you see about the foundation or other topic you think they would be interested in. Honesty works best - particularly when you have to deliver bad news. When you’re struggling with a problem, don’t forget to seek out the counsel of your grant manager who is likely to have some great suggestions and valuable contacts. Send a thank you note afterwards. Know your grant manager as a whole person. Be a partner with the foundation. Volunteer to serve on a conference planning committee if the foundation hosts a grantee workshop; Offer to host a meeting at your office to save a small foundation money; or Invite your grant managers to speak at your conferences or community meetings to give them visibility and opportunities to interact more directly with staff and families.
Copyright 2003-2008 PCA America. All rights reserved. Healthy Families America is generously supported by the Freddie Mac Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, and Ronald McDonald House Charities. Healthy Families America is a trademark of PCA America.