Philanthropy and Online Collaboration Webinar

Philanthropy and Online Collaboration Webinar

June 23, 2010

Amy Gipson, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Global Libraries program, on the Global Libraries Toolkit.

Melissa Schoen, California Healthcare Foundation’s Innovations for the Underserved program, on the Community Clinic Voice.

Presenters

The Global Libraries Grantee Toolkit

Amy GipsonAssociate Program Officer

Philanthropy and Online Collaboration

June 23, 2010

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Thank you Joe and Heather and thanks to everyone for being here. I’m really excited to be here today, it’s my first webinar! I plan to share with you a little bit about the Global Libraries Grantee Toolkit and will look forward to answering any questions you may have during the Q&A.

Agenda

Overview of Global Libraries (GL) The need for a GL Grantee Toolkit Overview of the Toolkit Progress to date Challenges, realities and rewards

© 2010 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation | 4June 23, 2010

Presenter

Presentation Notes

I have about 15 minutes to talk about our Toolkit. I’ll start with an overview of Global Libraries to set the context for the Toolkit How the need arose

Global Libraries

An initiative of the foundation’s Global Development Program, Global Libraries works to open a world of knowledge, information, and opportunity for communities around the world.

5© 2010 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation |

Presenter

Presentation Notes

An initiative of the foundation’s Global Development Program, Global Libraries works to open a world of knowledge, information, and opportunity for communities around the world. GL forms partnerships with select countries to help public libraries provide access to computers and the Internet, and to train library users on how to take advantage of these tools. Aiming to transform public libraries into vital centers that connect millions of people to information technology, and the economic and educational benefits that access enables. Chile, Mexico, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Ukraine, Botswana, Vietnam

GL program needs drove the idea Growing team (staff, consultants) More grants being launched and implemented Losing knowledge of past grantees Reinforcement from the GL Peer Learning Meeting November 2007 the GL Toolkit was launched to provide a secure

collaboration space for GL staff and grantees Driving forces behind the Toolkit were:

• To support frequent sharing of documents and resources across continents and time zones

• To enable ongoing collaboration among grantees and the strengthening of their social network following workshops

• To enable grantees to access and adapt high-quality resources to help ensure their programs develop on schedule and on target


Presenter

Presentation Notes

Growing team: needed to institutionalize knowledge and reduce duplication of effort More grants: GL team needed to do more, better and faster / grantees needed templates, clear guidance Losing knowledge: missing opportunities for peer learning Reinforcement: an annual face-to-face meeting of all grantees / amazing experience for both GL staff and grantees / deep discussions about program challenges, realities, opportunities / true peer learning, shared ideas, learning together / desire arose to continue strong relationships established

Overarching goals for the Toolkit

Connect members with one another to exchange knowledge, share approaches and benefit from each others’ experience Provide a curated repository of resources that

members can access and adapt in core program areas


Presenter

Presentation Notes

Thus, increasing effectiveness and efficiency of the grant making process Improving transparency and communications among grantees and GL team And building grantee capacity in program planning, implementation and sustainability

Taking into account…


Geographic spread of Toolkit users Disparity in technical infrastructure Diversity of technical skills Range of languages All users are already busy

Presenter

Presentation Notes

For additional maps, please direct your request to the Foundation Communications Service Desk. EDITABLE MAP: You can color it in as required. To select an individual country, click on the map, then click again on the country outline you wish to color. To select smaller areas that are hard to reach, use the zoom slider at the lower right of the window to get a close-up view. Use either the + or − buttons or the slider control to fine-tune the amount of zooming. Then click on the exact area needed. To color the selection, on the Home tab, in the Drawing section, use the Shape Fill (Paint Bucket) to select a color. Your selection will fill with the selected color.

What is the Toolkit?

0%

20%

40%

60%

80%

100%

2003 2005 2007 2009 2011

Online discussion space for peers to share experience, Q&A, celebrate successes and learn from challenges

Private online workspaces for program officers and grantees to do project work

Curated repository of quality examples of documents, case studies, templates and other resources


Presenter

Presentation Notes

Online discussion: place for informal discussions on whatever topics are important to grantees at the moment / opportunity to exchange ideas and knowledge across GL grantee teams that used to occur in 1:1 email exchanges and was often lost / connects grantees together without the need for program officer involvement Private: where program officers and grantees can do project work / more efficient sharing and collaboration on documents / range of options available to choose from including calendars, task tracking, email notifications / email is integrated between Outlook and the Toolkit for more seamless exchange of information Repository: resources identified, adapted, created for use by GL grantees / support materials for core program areas such as: program planning, impact assessment, procurement etc. / grantees encouraged to contribute (but need to help some grantees understand the value of their own materials) grantees will use and borrow from documents and adapt to local situations, sparking new ideas, saving time and effort

Toolkit’s progress since launch

Using Central Desktop platform, the Toolkit is providing international web access to knowledge, resources and collaboration tools

Nearly 275 individuals, from over 30 organizations, representing more than 20 nationalities with in excess of 14 first languages have become members of the Toolkit

Many different applications can be found:• Announcing events to encourage participation• Sharing files to enable collaborative working• Discussing questions and responses on grant planning and

implementation• Sharing news with the community of relevant external events• Locating contact details of individuals and organizations• Sharing documents and tools to build capacity


Challenges, realities… Content is king—if it is useful it will be used Language is another challenge Encouraging grantees to see the value in their own

materials, experiences and ideas User frustration with functionality limitations Lots of lookers, fewer contributors Recognize the challenges of creating a vibrant online

discussion space Value for grantees and GL staff alike is the key

− Program planning, implementation and sustainability are improved− Connections to peers means they are no longer alone− Resources strengthen grantee staff capacity− Knowledge is captured and shared− Less duplication of effort in creating tools and resources for grantees


Presenter

Presentation Notes

Real challenges We recognized that it would only succeed if everyone showed up and used it in their day-to-day work Content: continues to be a challenge due to limited staff time and resources allocated to management and facilitation of Toolkit Language: language issues may limit some participation / question of translation of documents into English to make them more accessible Encourage: grantees needed to be assured that brining up challenges with their program is okay / especially in front of their PO—the foundation Frustration: user frustration with functionality limitations encountered on initial use of the Toolkit has now been transformed into pragmatic suggestions for incremental changes to enhance the Toolkit Lookers: 90: 9: 1 rule (90 lookers, 9 contribute infrequently, 1 really active participants) Discussions: need to seed discussion and topics until users became comfortable

…and rewards Comment by Karolina A. (Ukraine)

• As a member of the Global Libraries Ukraine team, which is just starting its planning period, I appreciate materials shared by our Chilean colleagues. In particular, “Biblioredes strategic planning” is a resourceful and inspirational document that provides useful advice for the planning part.

Comment by Pilar P. (Chile):• We are happy to share what we have learned, thus far, and

also share our ideas and plans for the future. It is very likely that we asked ourselves some of the same questions you might be asking yourself now, so the idea of sharing our “lessons learned” and showing samples of how we solved some of our issues, may give you and your team ideas to plan your project. Best of luck!

Independent evaluation of Toolkit paints positive and optimistic picture


Presenter

Presentation Notes

I thought the rewards are best stated by two of our grantees. Beginning in 2008 GL commissioned a 12-month independent evaluation to measure success and provide feedback on the GL Toolkit to help refine and improve the site for its users. (Institute of Development Studies) The evaluation process included document review, user surveys and interviews, usability test and focus groups. The evaluation team made 39 recommendations for the future development of the toolkit in five areas (strategy, management, content, functionality and capacity development). Importantly the findings provided evidence that in its first year the Toolkit established itself as a useful and valued space for international collaboration between the partners in the GL initiative. It has engaged a cross section of actors who are now enthusiastic about sharing knowledge and beginning to take a stake in the Toolkit’s future. Which suggests that the Toolkit is increasingly seen as a common asset of the GL Community.

Thank You

© 2010 Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. All Rights Reserved. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation is a registered trademark in the United States and other countries.

Contact Information

Amy GipsonAssociate Program OfficerBill & Melinda Gates [email protected]

Supporting Website Development:A Funders Perspective

Melissa SchoenCalifornia HealthCare FoundationJune 23, 2010

CHCF- Who we are and what we do

Private, non-profit foundation, created when Blue Cross of CA converted from non-profit to for-profit

In operation since 1996

Approximately $40m per year in projects and grants - mostly “strategic” rather than unsolicited grants

Three major programs:

Innovations for the Underserved

Better Chronic Disease Care

Market and Policy Monitor

CalQualityCare.org

16

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Publically available data Geared to consumers

CalHospitalCompare.org

17

Presenter

Presentation Notes

More recently – in 2007 – CHCF launched a website on hospital quality. Where the long-term care site relies exclusively on public data, the hospitals quality site is a voluntary effort which brings together a number of stakeholder groups to provide comprehensive data from many different sources in one convenient place. We support the site because we know that hospital quality improves faster when there is lots of sunshine. The site was designed to be easy for consumers to use and we incorporated the most recent research into how consumers interact with such websites. We are, however, continually balancing the needs of two key audiences ---- hospitals who vote for very specific measures of quality they can use for improvement vs. consumer preferences for composites.

PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:COMMUNITY CLINIC VOICE

Community Clinic Voice WebsiteHistory Started in 2001 as an extranet for grantees for Tides

Foundation program: Community Clinics Initiative

Tides Program: Community Clinics Initiative expands to more programs

Expand extranet services to create a site that will build a community, enhance networking, and provide a place to exchange and share ideas

Membership grows, increased participation and member management: active on-line community

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Started in 2001 as an extranet for grantees of the Community Clinics Initiative (CCI): a communication tool with focus on IT, Capital Development & Capacity Building . (200 members)� Community Clinic Voice expands to include broader health care safety net and adds coverage of clinical, operations, finance, fundraising and quality improvement.� Expands extranet services to create a site that will build a community, enhance networking, and provide a place to exchange and share ideas� Membership grows (2000+), increased participation and member management: active on-line community

Community Clinic Voice WebsiteGeneral Operations

Staffing: Full time community manager plus part time business manager, admin support (1.35 FTEs)

Member Engagement:- Annual member meetings- Volunteer Committees (oversight, editorial board, welcome wagon)

Member driven content

Current membership: well over 2000 members

Community Clinic Voice Enhancement Project Why we got involved A clear need defined:

User surveyTechnology development for future portability

CHCF used this site in the past to share information

Match with CHCF goals: - improve clinic operations - encourage partnerships- infrastructure support

Community Clinic Voice Enhancement ProjectWhat we supported Support audience engagement (staff time + incentives)

Face-to-face meetingsEditorial boardAdvisory committee to oversee project

Explore new technology platform

Improve site design

Utilize outside expertise to guide the process

Develop sustainability plan

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Member Support: development of functionality that the community wants and needs

COMMUNITY CLINIC VOICE:“PRE”

ENHANCEMENT PROJECT

COMMUNITY CLINIC VOICE:“POST”

ENHANCEMENT PROJECT

Funder Support – Considerations Three key words: audience, audience, audience

Scanning the environment: What else is out there?

Don’t bite off more than you can chew

Build or buy?

The right partners

Branding: How should the funder be involved?

Time and money for audience participation

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Voice is the only on-line community meeting the need of this group�plus Voice allows space for other groups to use their site if needed� - The right partners both in the grantee, but also with the website design support. - Funding should include support for member/consumer engagement: staff to do this, but also incentives to do this

Contact Information

Melissa Schoen

Senior Program Officer

California HealthCare Foundation

[email protected]

www.chcf.org

www.communityclinicvoice.org

mailto:[email protected]�

http://www.chcf.org/�

http://www.communityclinicvoice.org/�

Discussion

36

About Us

About Forum One

Presenter

Presentation Notes

Internet Consulting Firm Headquartered in Alexandria, VA www.forumone.com

Education

Philanthropy and Online Collaboration Webinar