06/08/11 – Connecting the Dots with Strategic Grantmaking
by Scott DownesSenior Project Director, The Colorado Trust
Last week in Pueblo, I had the fortunate opportunity to participate in a panel discussion during the It's About Kids (IAK) retreat. The retreat was hosted by the Colorado Children's Campaign and brought together their statewide grassroots advocacy network, which includes more than 1,400 health, early childhood, education, community and business leaders and many others working to protect the well-being of children in Colorado. It was not only a great discussion about addressing challenges in a number of different issue areas such as health care, education and fiscal reform, it was also a clear example of what strategic grantmaking looks like in practice. Within one room, four different but complimentary Trust strategies were represented.
My role in the panel discussion – which also included civic engagement expert John Creighton – was to share information about The Trust's public will-building grant strategy, which is a newly launched three-year, multi-faceted effort intended to help build the necessary awareness, understanding and support for the kind of policy and system changes that will help achieve access to health for all Coloradans. The Children's Campaign is one of 14 grantee partners funded through this strategy, and their particular public will-building project is focused in part on strengthening and expanding their IAK network, which is already comprised of volunteer leaders from 18 communities across Colorado.
As well, the Children's Campaign is funded by The Trust as part of the Looking Forward collaborative, along with the Bell Policy Center and the Colorado Fiscal Policy Institute, to advocate for needed fiscal and policy changes to help improve health care and expand health coverage.
Several of the participants at the IAK retreat also serve as coordinators for their local Early Childhood Councils, community-based collaboratives working to connect children and families to resources and quality services in early care and education, health, mental health and family support. Through its Early Childhood Council Health Integration strategy, The Trust is supporting 25 councils to better integrate health into their local early childhood system development efforts as a means of improving health outcomes for children.
Some of the IAK participants also represent organizations supported by The Trust's Outreach & Enrollment funding strategy. Using innovative, community-based, multi-ethnic outreach strategies, the Outreach & Enrollment effort supports 19 grantees working to identify and enroll eligible but uninsured children and youth in Medicaid and CHP+. Grantees represent county-coordinated collaborations; after-school programs; clinics; agencies serving low-income families, homeless families and abused children; a school district; and an affordable housing provider.
Throughout the discussion, representatives of the Children's Campaign highlighted how frequently they rely on the IAK network to connect with local communities, collect stories to bring data to life and provide critical feedback about what changes need to happen to help kids in Colorado.
Many of the IAK participants voiced the importance of the Colorado Children's Campaign for strategic guidance, communications support, advocacy and education resources and other tools to help more people get engaged and involved in critical issues within their communities.
The resources that The Trust has dedicated to supporting advocacy, public will building, systems integration and outreach and enrollment are helping local community leaders to reach, educate and assist members of their communities, which also compliments and augments the work of statewide advocates and champions. Along with the work of many other key stakeholders, the collective impact of these and other interconnected strategies will help move us closer to making sure that every Coloradan can get the coverage and care they need to stay healthy.
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