Tending to our Relationships by Removing Unnecessary Barriers to Funding
A letter from Aditi Vaidya, President
These are unpredictable and trying times. There is so much that feels out of our control right now, as we attempt to do the work of keeping our communities, families, and neighbors safe in the face of emerging threats and attacks. There is real fear, especially for our grantee partners and community members who are on the frontline. As funders, while we cannot control everything, there are some things we can control, including how we partner with grantees at this moment and use our voice to defend their work.
Now, more than ever, we must continue to be rooted in our relationships with each other and to recognize where, as funders, we can make it easier to move resources.
Over the last 65 years, one of the throughlines of the Mertz Gilmore Foundation has been a relational approach to our work. Whether it was the foundation’s early investments in peace education or our continued support of democracy, community power building, the arts and New York City, we have always believed that impact comes from collaborating with and supporting our partners on the ground.
If you know us, this probably isn’t news to you. While we’ve focused so much of our efforts on doing the work, that has translated to less time communicating about it. Our relational approach has not changed–but the times have, and they require us to be more connected as a united front with our partners, and communicative about the ways we approach solutions. That means sharing our questions, ideas, and responses with one another as the context we work in evolves –especially with our grantee and philanthropic partners.
In these urgent and fast-changing times, you will be hearing more from us when we have updates to share, and we hope to hear from you too.
Updates to our grantmaking application process
As we shared with our grantee partners recently, we’re excited to announce changes to our grantmaking requirements. What exactly does this mean? Moving forward, Mertz Gilmore is eliminating narrative proposals and budgets from our application requirements for general operating support grants. Narrative and financial reports will no longer be required at the end of the grant period for any grant. Instead, grant applicants will only be asked to complete a short questionnaire and budget for project grants or fiscally sponsored work. Applicants will still show that they have satisfied the grant’s terms, including their role in furthering charitable purposes.
This streamlining has been in the works for some time. Considering the ways the external climate is impacting our partners’ work to advance equity and justice, these updates are intended to be responsive to the needs of our partners. Leading up to these changes, we worked with grantee partners to understand the biggest pain points they were experiencing and brought in additional insights in partnership with legal counsel, staff, and board. We hope this shift offers an example to other private foundations, and counters the notion that foundations are required to make grant applications burdensomely long and complex.
Part of what made this decision so clear for Mertz Gilmore is that it is an extension of our relational approach, which also recognizes that grant applications are not the only source for funders to learn about the work of our partners. We know there are better ways to deepen our understanding of and connection to grantee partners than through grant application requirements. As a team that comes from and is committed to the fields we support, we are confident in the relationships we have with the partners and wider ecosystems within which they work, and are excited to dramatically reduce the burden on our nonprofit partners. For more information, please see FAQs about our updated application requirements.
Honoring Larry Condon
The staff and board of the Mertz Gilmore Foundation mourn the passing of Larry Condon, who died on December 30, 2024.
Larry was a dear friend to many of us, and a guiding presence at the Foundation for over 40 years. Following in the footsteps of Robert Gilmore, a philanthropic mentor, Larry was the first non-family member to serve as president of the Mertz Gilmore Foundation, beginning in 1984 and continuing to 1996. We will miss Larry’s steadfast presence, his admonition to honor the privilege of being a funder, and his example of trusting and partnering with grantees. He set a tone that continues to this day.
Staff celebrations & transitions
This past fall, senior program officer Leah Krauss was honored by Dance/NYC with a Dance Catalyst Award and by The Chocolate Factory with an Industry in Artist award. We were thrilled to cheer Leah on as she was recognized by longtime community partners for her tireless support of artists, especially independent artists and artists of color. Leah’s vision continues to bring all of us toward a philanthropic dance ecosystem committed to excellence, artistry, and equity.
After nine years at the Foundation, trellis stepter left the Foundation in January. trellis worked tirelessly with grantee partners to build progress for communities. We are grateful to trellis for his contributions to help advance efforts toward climate solutions and democracy and are looking forward to building from the strong foundation he helped create.