System Change Agents: A Profile of Policy-Focused Grantmaking Foundation Engagement in Public Policy

Authors

  • Peter R. Elson Mount Royal University University of Victoria
  • Sara Hall McGill University

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.22230/cjnser.2016v7n2a222

Keywords:

Grant-making foundations, Public policy, Canada / Fondations subventionnaires, Politique publique, Canada

Abstract

This study profiles the engagement of policy-focused Canadian grantmaking foundations in public policy. Policy-focused foundations now realize that downstream community issues are not isolated from upstream policy and regulatory practices. Foundation policy engagement has been measured across five policy streams: research and issue identification; policy entrepreneurship and convening; advocacy; implementation; and evaluation and impact. Themes emerging from this research include: 1) a migration from program into policy engagement; 2) the utilization of multiple soft and hard policy tools; 3) simultaneous engagement across multiple policy streams; 4) engagement with both systems and agents; 5) engagement in policy implementation; and 6) a long-term commitment to a focused policy issue. This research opens the door to a rich analysis of public policy engagement by grantmaking foundations.


Cette étude décrit la participation aux politiques publiques de la part de fondations subventionnaires canadiennes axées sur les politiques. On reconnaît de plus en plus que les questions communautaires en aval ne sont pas isolées des pratiques reliées aux politiques et aux réglementations en amont. Dans ce contexte, la participation a été mesurée par rapport à cinq domaines : la recherche sur les politiques et le repérage de problèmes; l’entreprenariat et la convocation en matière de politiques; la défense des politiques; l’application des politiques; l’évaluation et l’impact des politiques. Les thèmes soulevés dans cette recherche comprennent : 1) le passage d’une participation aux programmes vers une participation aux politiques; 2) l’utilisation de multiples instruments politiques durs et doux; 3) une participation simultanée dans divers champs politiques; 4) une participation à la fois avec des systèmes et des agents; 5) une participation dans l’application de politiques; 6) une participation à long terme vis-à-vis de problèmes politiques spécifiques. Cette recherche ouvre la voie à une riche analyse de la participation aux politiques publiques de la part de fondations subventionnaires.

Downloads

Download data is not yet available.

References

Alliance for Justice. (2004). Investing in Change: A funders guide to supporting advoacy. Washington, D.C.

Anheier, H. K. (2005). Nonprofit Organizations: Theory, Management, Policy. New York: Routledge.

Barata, P., & Murphy, C. (2011). Foundations for Social Change : Reflections on Ontario’ s Poverty Reduction Strategy. Canadian Review of Social Policy, 65/66, 16–30.

Canada Revenue Agency. (2003). Political Activities [CPS - 022]. Ottawa: Charities Directorate, Canada Customs and Revenue Agency.

Canada Revenue Agency. (2016). T3010 Registered Charity Return. Retrieved April 6, 2016, from http://www.cra-arc.gc.ca/E/pbg/tf/t3010/

Carter, T. S., & Rains, L. E. C. (2015). Separating Fact from Fiction: Political activities revisited. Charity Law Bulletin, 361(February 26, 2015), 8.

Chase, S., & Peritz, I. (2015). Thalidomide survivors to meet minister on day House votes on support. Retrieved March 4, 2015, from http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/politics/thalidomide-survivors-to-meet-health-minister-house-to-vote-on-aid-next-week/article21819113/

Coffman, J. (2008). Foundations and public policy grantmaking. James Irvine Foundation. Los Angeles, CA. Retrieved from http://www.mcf.org/system/article_resources/0000/0669/PublicPolicy_Coffman.pdf

Deakin, N. (2001). Putting Narrow-mindedness out of Countenance - The UK voluntary sector in the new millennium. In H. K. Anheier & J. Kendall (Eds.), Third Sector at the Crossroads: an International Nonprofit Analysis. London: Routledge.

Imagine Canada, & Philanthropic Foundations Canada. (2014). Assets & Giving Trends of Canada’s Grantmaking Foundations.

Kendall, J. (2000). The mainstreaming of the third sector into public policy in England in the late 1900s: Whys and wherefores: Civil Society Working Paper 2. London: London School of Economics: Centre for Civil Society.

Kingdon, J. W. (1995). Agendas, Alternatives, and Public Policies (2nd ed.). Harper Collins College Publishers.

McIlnay, D. P. (1998). How Foundations Work: What Grantseekers Need to Know About the Many Faces of Foundations. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Meehan, E. J. (1985). Policy : Constructing a Definition. Policy Sciences, 18(4), 291–311.

Sabatier, P. A., & Mazmanian, D. A. (1979). The Conditions of Effective Implementation: A Guide to Accomplishing Policy Objectives. Policy Analysis, 5(Fall), 481–504.

Stacey, R. D. (1995). The science of complexity: and alternative perspective for strategic change processes. Strategic Management Journal, 16(6), 477–495. doi:10.1016/0024-6301(95)99970-B

Stacey, R. D. (2007). Strategic management and organizational dymanics: The challenge of compexity (5th ed.). London, UK: Pearson Education.

Suarez, D. F., & Lee, Y. (2011). Participation and Policy: Foundation support for community organizing and civic engagement in the United States. Public Management Review, 13(8), 1117–1138. doi:10.1086/292085

Turgeon, L. (2014). Activists , Policy Sedimentation , and Policy Change : The Case of Early Childhood Education in Ontario. Journal of Canadian Studies, 48(2), 224–249.

Waddell, S., Waddock, S., Cornell, S., Dentoni, D., McLachlan, M., & Meszoely, G. (2015). Large Systems Change: An emerging field of transformation and transitions. The Journal of Corporate Citizenship, 58(June), 5–30.

Westley, F., Zimmerman, B. J., & Patton, M. Q. (2006). Getting To Maybe: How the world is changed. Toronto: Random House Canada.

Wheatley, M. (2006). Leadership and the New Science: Discovering order in a chaotic world (3rd ed.). San Francisco: Berrett-Koehler.

Yin, R. K. (2009). Case Study Research: Design and Methods (4th ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Downloads

Published

2017-02-08

Issue

Section

Articles