According to my friends at Wikipedia (the open source online encyclopedia), the word "mantra" is defined as a word or phrase that, repeated enough, is "capable of creating transformation." If that is the case, then our mantra of late has been "sustainability." Sustainability is repeated as a theme across much of our current work described in this newsletter, we hope with transformative effect.
In Syracuse and Central New York, we are blessed with a fantastic infrastructure of arts and culture organizations. Arguably, we have a better and more vibrant arts landscape than similarly situated metropolitan areas. Four years ago we embarked on the Program for Arts Capacity & Excellence (PACE), a grants initiative with the large arts and culture organizations, since expanded to smaller and grass-roots groups, which focuses on strategic issues and sustainability. Rather than supporting particular projects, as we had in the past, we made general operating grants to these organizations in return for their measurable progress towards systemic or strategic issues. In some ways, we looked at these grants the way a venture capitalist would when making an investment in a new company. We are interested in a social return and institutional change in exchange for what will be almost $2 million in investments over the life of the project. We’ve found that participating organizations have benefited by flexibility and a longer term, multi-year focus that enabled them to have strategic discussions with their boards. When we close out this project next year, we’ll be interested to see the results.
Sustainability can also mean nonprofits making hard choices that preserve mission while thinking differently about organizational structure and business operations. We developed our Strategic Partnership Fund as an economic crisis response in consultation with other foundations and funders. We think of this initiative, which makes grants in support of nonprofit mergers, consolidations, regionalizations, dissolutions and back-office partnerships, as a key resource that can help smooth the path towards tough decision making.
Lastly, Central New York has become a national center for not only talking about but also acting on economic and property development with environmental sustainability goals in mind. As we are now the proud owners of the former University Club building in downtown Syracuse, our board has concluded that we should join this movement and lead by example. Towards that end, we will complete our adaptive reuse of the building with the goal of becoming certified through the U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) program. As we begin our great adventure in renovation, sustainability will set the tone for our progress going forward.