Amy Anenberg ’13
My Experience
Robin Hood Foundation grantees are extremely strong programmatically, but the jury was still out on their ability to fundraise. My project explored development office productivity among 17 Robin Hood grantees, primarily in the Jobs & Economic Security portfolio. Robin Hood has invested cash and pro bono resources into many development offices and this project explored what can realistically be expected of development professionals as well as what factors influence a group’s ability to raise public and private money.
To accomplish this task, I first analyzed the financials of 17 organizations to determine revenue stream mix (% private, public, foundations, corporations, individuals, etc.) and revenue source number. Next, I conducted 13 interviews with Executive Directors and Development staff to get a sense of development department structures and fundraising processes. Third, I analyzed the financial data and interview transcripts for themes and findings. I presented these findings at an all-staff meeting, wrote a 10 page final report and created a deck for Robin Hood’s toolkit, which is designed to help grant recipients strengthen their fundraising efficacy.
My project fit within the organization’s mission because it allowed Robin Hood’s grantees to make better use of limited resources. Additionally, program officers and senior management consultants will have a better sense of management assistance interventions that are ‘effective’ for improving the rate of return from fundraising departments.
I was able to apply my project management skills because I owned all parts of my internship project. At the onset of the project, I knew that Robin Hood was seeking answers to several key questions about development efficacy, but I did not know the best way to go about finding these answers. I laid out a clear project plan and took ownership of each step in the project’s execution—including research, interviews, data analysis, and written and oral presentations. In addition to developing my ability to communicate and project manage, this internship honed my critical thinking and research skills. I developed the ability to perform fiscal and programmatic analysis and this internship allowed me to reflect on my previous fundraising experience in a more analytical and quantitative way. Finally, I was able to work on my presentation skills. I gave a 20-minute presentation to all program staff and fielded questions from a highly engaged audience.
One challenge I faced during my project was prioritizing the findings for my final presentation. I had extensive and detailed data from which I could draw conclusions, and I found it challenging to prioritize which findings to pursue and which to disregard. Robin Hood has a considerable amount of financial information on file from each of its grantees and I conducted 13 one hour-long interviews with Executive Directors to obtain even more information. I had enough data to run analysis for an entire month. When I found myself getting overwhelmed with the amount of data, I made sure to set up a meeting with my supervisor and discuss what findings she saw as most valuable. We made a list of the assumptions guiding the research and then looked for data points that confirmed or rejected these assumptions. This was a very helpful way to structure my final presentation and made for a more cohesive and organized final deliverable.
I have long considered Robin Hood to be the “gold standard” in the nonprofit sector and was not disappointed. The caliber of people working for this organization is outstanding and it was refreshing to work for an organization that has such a clearly defined mission. I also learned that nonprofits should not shy away from tough decisions. Robin Hood has a fairly cut-throat reputation, but its razor sharp focus is what makes it so successful. Robin Hood’s aim is to spend dollars that powerfully affect poverty. Helping the poor requires spending money where it does the most good. If handing over dollars to a large agency does not substantially affect the outcomes that the agency generates – if R.H.’s grant does not substantially affect the well being of poor individuals -- then there’s no good reason to fund. Finally, nonprofits are facing a real human capital challenge. Nonprofit managers are poorly compensated given their responsibilities, which makes it difficult to attract and retain top talent. Robin Hood has a number of Management Assistance programs in place to develop leadership capabilities for nonprofit leaders, but there should be grants investing in the human capital of a nonprofit as well.
