The more you know - lunch with Kristen Laskaris
The more you know - Lunch with Kristen Laskaris, Director of Institutional Giving at Chrysalis
Kristen has been working at Chrysalis for nearly 8 years. She’s educated as a lawyer, but quickly deflected and found her passion working for mission driven organizations. Organizations she’s worked at include here and here and mostly in the foundation relations/grant writing space (although she’s been a Director of Development and overseen volunteer programs too). She.is.smart. And a damn strong writer. On top of that, she understands that you can have the best narrative in the world written, but if you aren’t side stepping proposals with relationship building - you and your organization are less likely to develop partnerships with foundations that result in funding.
One of the things I find myself more and more interested in is the people within an organization that fire the engines. There is so much written about leaders, founders, and CEOs, but as we all know - it is the teams they put in place that often make these leaders look good.
Case in point: my friend, Kristen Laskaris. Kristen and I met about six years ago when I was working at Chrysalis, a 30+ year old Southern California (and expanding!) nonprofit that gets people back to work. They run one of the country’s oldest, most established and successful social enterprises and are admired by many.
On average, nonprofits raise roughly 15% of their budgets via institutions. According to the 2018 USA Giving Report, organizations raised $66.9B in 2017, up 6% from 2016. It’s safe to say - it’s a section of fundraising that needs to be paid attention to. I find with a lot of my clients - they want to dive into grant writing and I get it - these foundations have money to give and are giving it away. That being said, without getting organized or focused - it can be a big waste of time.
Over a rainy, dumpling filled lunch in Anaheim, where we were way too deep in shop talk, I asked Kristen to give me some nuggets when it comes to her expertise of institutional giving. Here is what she shared:
Organizations need to define what success means to them: Draw that line in the sand. Decide what, at the end of a given period of time, success means for you. Is that more people are being served? Is it retention? Is it graduation rates or academic scores? Is it less pollution emissions? Write down actual success rates, numbers or goals and work towards meeting them.
Be focused: Keep your eyes on that prize. Kristen has seen first hand how easy it is for organizations to get off track. They twist and turn their program or offerings to cater to funders instead of the other way around. Her advice is to stay focused - stay the course - and work hard to meet the success metrics you set out to achieve.
Say what you need to say in the least amount of words: More often than not, foundations apply a word count to narrative sections probably due to the fact that they are inundated with requests. Kristen says to be direct - it will serve you best.
Do your own research: Did you know that you can reach out to program officers at foundations for an introductory call? They might not always take it, but if they do - it’s a good place for you to ask questions such as: What does a strong LOI look like to you? Is there anything you recommend we include as a first time applicant? Make sure to do your own research in advance so you are prepared to ask smart questions.
Help yourself stand out: Kristen is a big proponent of relationship building with foundations alongside submitting mid-year and final reports. Unless a foundation explicitly says, “Don’t call me.”, she suggests doing things like 1) inviting program officers for a tour of your space or an opportunity to see you work in person or 2) send them an unsolicited handwritten note with your annual report attached and finally or even 3) if you see an article, event, or speaker you think the foundation or program officer might find interesting - shoot them that info out of the blue. They will appreciate your thoughtfulness - not to mention you not always reaching out to only ask for money.
Don’t be afraid to be adaptable - and communicate about it: A super important bit of wisdom Kristen shared was that in her experience, if the program you are working on isn’t working out or if you need to switch up your model mid-way through a grant period - don’t let failing prohibit you from your #1 goal of supporting your mission. Kristen says when her organization has made mid-way pivots - she’s communicated about it and the foundations have been not only receptive, but encouraging.
Is there anything in the foundation space that has you feeling stuck? Have a question you’d love answered? You can write your questions below or shoot an email to: jess@outintheboons.me.