Page 36 - January Report 2025

Page 34 January Report
The session on seed grants captured the essence of bold philanthropy, showing how small, strategic
investments can spark transformative change. Malcolm presented with John Richardson, director of
the Blackstone Ranch Institute, as seed grant funders along with David Flink, Founder and CEO of The
Neurodiversity Alliance (formerly known as Eye to Eye) and Lesli Allison, CEO of Western Landowners
Alliance, whose organizations both received seed grants.
Seed grants help nascent nonprofits to establish and prove themselves. Most grantmakers are wary
of unproven ideas and organizations. The first grants are the most difficult to obtain; without them,
most new organizations cannot continue. New ideas and organizations often bring fresh approaches to
longstanding problems and can have a high impact.
Malcolm and John shared how investing in seed grants helps grantmakers catalyze change and make
an impact. Catalyzing change is a high calling for grantmakers. However, investing in new organizations
and ideas is riskier than making grants to something tried and true. Investing in seed grants requires
knowledge of one’s field of interest, diligent inquiry and analysis, and, most of all, gumption.
Grantmakers can drive meaningful change by embracing risk and learning from potential failures.
Attendees collaborated to design potential seed grants, with
ideas ranging from supporting grassroots nonprofits to scaling
innovative community solutions. The discussion highlighted a
room full of excellent ideas.
The session ended on a high note as one funder shared their seed
grant, resulted in “GivingTuesday”. GivingTuesday 2024 estimated
a record-breaking $3.6 billion was donated in the US alone,
which brought the sum of GivingTuesday donations since its
launch in 2012 to more than $18.5 billion. A very successful seed
grant!
Friday’s lunch featured speaker Mark K. Updegrove, a renowned
presidential historian and the President and CEO of the LBJ
Foundation. His conversation was engaging and interesting as he
discussed the challenges and opportunities ahead.
The conference included their Annual Board Meeting and the
election of new board members. They also unveiled Exponent
Philanthropy’s refreshed strategic plan. John Richardson, director
of the Blackstone Ranch Institute, spoke about the organization’s
commitment to fostering leadership through the Catalytic
Leadership in Philanthropy (CLIP) initiative. With nearly 200 participants to date, CLIP is equipping
funders with tools and strategies to adopt a community-centered leadership approach that is reshaping
the philanthropic sector. With the promise of continued collaboration, the 2025 Annual Conference in
Columbus, Ohio, offers exciting opportunities to build on these achievements.
EXPONENT PHILANTHROPY CONFERENCE REPORT (2)
David Flink,
The Neurodiversity Alliance