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Program Peer Community

Philanthropy-serving organizations offer thousands of programs throughout the year for members, nonmembers, grantmakers, and nonprofits. These programs take many forms, from intimate brown bag lunches to elaborate annual conferences. As the hub of the network, the Forum has collected program agendas, ideas, notes, communications pieces, and more to help regional associations replicate successful programs and better serve their members.

Below you'll find some of the best practices and program ideas developed by PSOs through the years. If you have resources to share, please share them online or by emailing Courtney Moore.

Program Peer Community

The Program Peer Community is for those who are responsible for their PSO’s member programming, educations and partnerships.

  • Program Listserv (programs@lists.unitedphilforum.org)- You must be a member of the Forum & this Peer Community to post to this list.
  • Three round-robin calls per year
  •  Forum’s Annual Conference virtual session

Interested in joining this Peer Community? Submit your email address on the form at the bottom of the Our Networks page

Forum Staff Lead: Traci Slater-Rigaud, (202) 457-8784

Co-Chair 

Daria Teutonico, National Center for Family Philanthropy

Daria Teutonico is a Director of Programs at the National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP). In her role, Daria works in collaboration with NCFP’s Program Team to develop and execute a variety of learning opportunities for NCFP’s community. She is responsible for implementing systems to support feedback generation, data collection, and analysis to improve NCFP’s offerings and promote ongoing learning. In addition, Daria partners with the Communications and Development Teams to ensure that NCFP’s communication and programming supports strong community engagement.

Daria has spent more than 20 years in the nonprofit sector, directing programs and leading multi-sector collaboratives in health, education, and philanthropy, including creating and implementing professional development and learning programs. Her background includes significant experience in the philanthropic sector, including experience at the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers (now United Philanthropy Forum) where she led the New Ventures in Philanthropy Initiative, and at the Council on Foundations, where she worked with community foundations throughout the country.

Prior to joining NCFP in February 2022, Daria was the Director of Programs at the PenFed Foundation, leading the Foundation’s needs-based grantmaking programs and the cultivation and stewardship of the organization’s program partners. Before her time at the PenFed Foundation, Daria was the Vice President of Community Engagement and Operations at Challenger Center, a STEM education nonprofit that uses space-themed simulated learning and role-playing strategies to help students bring their classroom studies to life. In that role, Daria led the programmatic and technical support of the global network of Challenger Learning Centers and the growth of new Centers, directed the professional development and shared learning strategy for Challenger Learning Centers, and managed and coordinated the efforts of members of the Community Relations, Technical Support and Network Engagement teams. She also led the operations of the Challenger Center headquarters office, including oversight of the information technology infrastructure and facilities.

Daria is a native New Yorker, currently residing in Falls Church, VA. She holds a Master of International Affairs from Columbia University, a Master of Arts in Russian language and literature from the University of Iowa, and a Bachelor of Arts in mathematics from the University of Pennsylvania. Daria is the proud spouse of an Army veteran and mother of two sons.

Eliane Walters, Philanthropy Colorado

Eliane supports and manages our programs, services, member engagement and various IT systems. She is currently the staff lead for three of our peer groups: Human Resources/Operations, Executive Admin and the Information Technology Roundtable. She has worked at the Denver Children’s Museum, as a Montessori co-teacher, and as an English teacher in Hanoi, Vietnam. She has also been a pastry chef. She is bilingual (English/Spanish) and has an interdisciplinary bachelor’s degree in Biology, Chemistry and English from Texas Tech University.

By Foundation Type

Community Foundation Centennial
Resources for philanthropy-serving organizations and your members to promote the community foundation field's 100th anniversary.

Corporate Foundation Programming
Sample materials and event descriptions of programming for Corporate Foundations.

Family Foundation Programming
Sample materials and event descriptions of programming for Family Foundations.

Disaster Preparedness and Recovery

During local and national emergencies, grantmakers provide substantial funding for short-term disaster relief and long-term recovery efforts. Here, you can find some practical tips and tools for your grantmaker members on:

  • disaster communications
  • disaster grantmaking
  • disaster preparedness
  • disaster relief
  • sample philanthropic responses

Center for Disaster Philanthropy
The Center for Disaster Philanthropy offers the tools, expert analysis, and advisory services to maximize the impact of dollars given for disaster preparedness, relief, and recovery.

Opportunities from the Unpredictable
From GrantCraft's Reflection on Practice Video Series, this video follows a team of international grant makers as they respond to a natural disaster, laying the groundwork for local cooperation. It looks at how grant makers can promote collaboration among local grantees — helping them build a common vision, address long-term recovery, and develop their own capacity to meet future challenges.

Arabella Advisory Disaster Response Resources
A collection of disaster response resources from Arabella Advisors.

Disaster Grantmaking: A Practical Guide for Foundations and Corporations
Foundations are becoming more active in disaster-related grantmaking. Find eight key principles of good disaster management and practical suggestions from the European Foundation Centre and the Council on Foundations.

Philanthropy News Digest: Disaster Relief 
Coverage of the philanthropy's response to major natural and manmade disasters as relief and recovery efforts unfold from Philanthropy News Digest.

Disaster Recovery Plans for Foundations
Sample disaster preparedness and recovery plans for foundations.

Conferences and Annual Meetings

Philanthropy-serving organizations regularly convene their members in-person for networking and knowledge exchange. Below are resources from PSO annual events and other conferences including agendas, invitations, and sponsorship packages.

Agendas and Brochures
Explore brochures and agendas from past conferences and annual meetings.

Conference Invitations
Invitations and promotional materials for annual meetings aimed at reaching members and prospective members.

Conference Sponsorship Packages
Review the different sponsorship opportunities offered to raise funds for their conferences and annual meetings. 

Programming for New Grantmakers

Many philanthropy-serving organizations offer a training program or series for philanthropy professionals who are new to the field or are looking to update their skills and knowledge.

Evaluation

Of course, no matter how good or poorly your program was recieved, you'll never know until you evaluate. Philanthropy-serving organizations regularly evaluate their programs big and small. Evaluation may be a small as a comment card left on the chairs in meeting room or as complex as an independent long term evaluation study.

PSOs can find samples and template from their colleagues for all types of evaluation tools by clicking through below.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Programming

Serving diverse communities can be both a challenge and an opportunity for enrichment. Philanthropy-serving organizations encourage explorations of diversity in grantmaking, staffing, and representation. 

As PSOs share their best programs with the Forum, they can be replicated in other organizations across the country. 

Program Design

What process does your philanthropy-serving organization use to develop a program? How do you set goals and learning objectives? How do you share those with your program committees and speakers?
 
See examples from other PSOs on what they are using to guide this process.