On The Foundation Freeway: Entering And Exiting Priority Areas With Caution

All funders, no matter their size, have big dreams and limited resources. I have yet to meet grantmakers—even the largest ones—that think they have sufficient money to tackle the myriad challenges that exist. This is certainly true for the New York State Health Foundation (NYSHealth). With an endowment of close to $300 million, we are usually considered a mid-size foundation. Yet, these dollars pale in comparison with the health and health care needs of a large and diverse state like New York. The state is home to more than 19 million people, including large populations of low-income and elderly people, immigrants, non-English speakers and undocumented people, homeless individuals, and people with complex and special needs. Our residents are spread over sixty-two counties, including the densest urban environments and intensely rural areas. When you combine a burning desire to make a real impact with the realities of our large state and the relatively modest size of this foundation, the only viable path is to focus our efforts. Our board and staff agreed from our inception that we could not be all things to all people and have the kind of deep impact we sought. We agreed to be a strategic organization that would practice discipline in the pursuit of clearly defined goals, strategies, and measures of progress. Therefore, we select a limited number of priority areas to which we make multiyear, multimillion-dollar commitments. For each area, we aspire to move the needle in a ...
Source: Health Affairs Blog - Category: Health Management Authors: Tags: GrantWatch Hospitals Insurance and Coverage Medicaid and CHIP Consumers Diabetes health insurance Health Philanthropy Health Promotion and Disease PreventionGW Health Reform Healthy Communities New York State Payment Primary Care Source Type: blogs