Member Opportunities

GRANTMAKERS of Oregon and Southwest Washington offers a series of dynamic programs, workshops, and events that address community issues, explore solutions, celebrate successes, and outline best practices.


Third Thursday Monthly Programs
These educational lunchtime programs explore a range of topics including: Core Competencies of Grantmaking, Current Philanthropic Issues and Trends and Community Concerns and Funding Interest Areas.  GRANTMAKERS staff and members of the Program Committee identify the issue areas and develop the programs, calling on regional and national experts to serve as speakers. We are dedicated to continually improving both the quality and accessibility of these programs. To view a current event offerings please access the calendar on the left hand side of the screen.

Regional Conferences
Held bi-annually, conferences are a chance for funders from around Oregon and southwest Washington to come together and explore regional philanthropic issues. Conferences involve multiple plenary and breakout sessions, cover a broad range of topics, and focus on the grantmaking community.

Summits
Starting in 2007, GRANTMAKERS of Oregon and Southwest Washington plans to begin using one-day summits to convene funders, service providers, and policy makers. These summits will be chances for the community to explore the breadth and depth of a single issue.

Skill Building Workshops
GRANTMAKERS offers a one-day workshop for new grantmakers or those wishing to refresh their skills: Grantmaking 101. Generally offered once a year, the workshop covers: analyzing financial statements, a review of legal issues, grant proposal analysis, and the nuances of grantseeker/grantmaker relationships.

In response to member request, GRANTMAKERS also offers periodic Skillbuilding Sessions. These sessions give members an opportunity to spend time focusing on specific skill sets. Past sessions have focused on everything from effective research via the web to exploring evaluation techniques.

Special Events
Members of the grantmaking community generously share information and speakers with one another.  From time to time, a member bringing a consultant or speaker to town will offer to make that person available for a special gathering for GRANTMAKERS.  Members may also host Member Briefings to introduce a research report or to focus in-depth on a specific topic for a targeted group of members.

Social Events
Each year, GRANTMAKERS hosts one or two social events because we know some of the best connections are made when members are simply enjoying themselves. Whether it’s hip cuisine at an eatery with a cause or cocktails & a cutting edge documentary - funders really do know how to have fun!

GRANTMAKERS is a member-directed organization and the strength of our organization lies in the involvement and commitment of our membership. Opportunities for increased involvement are plentiful.  Members may coordinate a monthly program, attend affinity groups and learning exchanges, and/or serve on one of the many GRANTMAKERS committees.


Learning Exchanges
Our members represent the broad spectrum of funders in Oregon and Southwest Washington - private and public foundations; corporate giving programs and foundations; trustees and staff; large and small organizations; urban and rural funders; grantmakers who fund in a variety of areas and those focused on a particular need. Through self-organized, member led learning exchanges, members are encouraged to come together by donor type to take advantage to targeted programming, discussions and collaborations.

Family Foundation Learning Exchange
The Family Foundation Learning Exchange brings together members from family foundations with few or no staff. Meetings are held every other month. This a neutral environment highlighted by targeted programming that is meant to encourage conversation and allow members to learn from one another’s experiences.

Corporate Funders Learning Exchange
Our membership includes corporate foundations and giving programs. These members come together every other month to explore issues and discuss best practices.

Affinity Groups
The breadth of our membership extends over 100,000 square miles of funding area. To increase accessibility and strengthen the GRANTMAKERS community outside of the metropolitan area, we support three geographically based funding networks: Southern Oregon, Central Oregon and Southern Willamette Valley Affinity Groups. Like learning exchanges, affinity groups are self-organizing and member led.

Committees
Community members, drawn from our diverse membership, guide the organization by serving on our Board of Directors. Standing and ad hoc committees compliment the Board’s efforts to advance our strategic and organizational objectives. These committees develop and implement GRANTMAKERS’ objectives in the areas of programming, membership, finance, sponsorship, communications, public policy, leadership, and special events & initiatives.