Our Spend-Down Journey
The first step in the journey, after funding the foundation, was to establish an ad hoc workgroup of representatives from New Jersey nonprofits and faith-based organizations, and researchers and government officials. We had a definite goal: To establish a 10-year spend-down plan in line with our mission to promote the integrity, independence, and well-being of working low-income intergenerational families.
The workgroup recognized that to promote systemic change, we needed to catalyze and nurture a change in mindset. We believe the social services system, focused currently on individuals’ specific problems, would be more effective if focused on families and caregivers. Since financial security, housing security, healthy relations, physical well-being, and other factors are interrelated, both children and adults would more likely prosper if all were addressed in line with their family’s priorities.
Accordingly, our goal became to make the Whole Family Approach, focused on working low-income families, accepted as part of our American culture and social service delivery system. We decided to begin the work in rural southern New Jersey.
I quickly realized that I could not handle this effectively alone, so the foundation began to contract with individuals and companies. We were forced to grow to meet the ad hoc workgroup’s goals.
In addition to developing an infrastructure, we gradually refined the Whole Family Approach as we learned what worked best and what agencies needed to practice it. We gave annual grants renewable for seven years to collaborations that addressed local issues and were willing to commit to adopting the Whole Family Approach, and embrace its principles:
- Focus on working low income families;
- See families as formative entities;
- View individuals holistically and also as part of their entire family, and expect all family members to work together to accomplish their goals;
- Begin to establish social capital by considering only families with at least two dependable consistent adults responsibly contributing to family and child well-being;
- Engage life coaches to guide families so they can navigate the systems within and outside the welfare system to achieve their goals; and
- Establish benchmarks for behavior changes and use indicators to measure the family’s progress on its path toward achieving its long-term goals.
By using this approach, we believe we address the root causes of working families’ challenges.
Our foundation expected all collaborating agencies to use a common database to enter information, and meet regularly to discuss families, share resources, and analyze data. Together we would evaluate and adjust activities along the way, as appropriate.
From New Jersey to National Success
During the first few years, we met resistance. Both agencies and funders thought we were misguided. We did not focus on crisis but on preventing crises and moving ahead. We focused on family as the most important element in all areas, whereas others believed education, health, financial security, and other needs could be addressed in isolation, without dealing with their interconnectedness or with families.
Two years ago, I received a shock. National foundations and state agencies were encouraging a milder form of the Whole Family Approach, the 2 Gen Approach. We had catalyzed a grassroots effort; now other larger and more powerful funders were also adopting it. The mindset and approach we championed are catching on. Our plan for leveraging our foundation’s spend-down to achieve systemic change is succeeding.
What lessons have we learned? What can we pass on to other foundations or individual donors who want to close their doors feeling satisfied that they met their mission, made the impact or influence they sought, or established the kind of legacy they envisioned?
Stay tuned for the third and final blog in the series.
