Messages at Donors Forum’s 40^th Anniversary Luncheon looked at ways the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors can move forward together in stronger partnerships based on learning from the past. The luncheon was the result of creativity and work by Donors Forum 40^th Anniversary Committee, headed by Merri Ex, Family Focus, and Ernest Vasseur, Healthcare Foundation of Northern Lake County.

View event photos on Flickr here. 

View event photos on Facebook here. 

At the luncheon, Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan paid tribute to Valerie, saying “There is absolutely no question that the resources and support available to nonprofit organizations in the state have grown tremendously in Valerie’s time at Donors Forum.” She particularly cited the growth of the nonprofit sector and Donors Forum’s partnership with the state as being important to increasing the effectiveness of the sector. “The charitable sector is more robust than ever, and the role of Donors Forum is more critical than ever,” Attorney General Madigan said.

Handy L. Lindsey, former Donors Forum Board Chair (and Board Chair when Valerie was hired in 1987), also paid tribute to Valerie when welcoming her to the Luncheon stage. He described his experience on the search committee that hired Valerie, saying “She was this tiny, blonde bundle of energy and enthusiasm that made the search committee want to stand up and cheer after she left the interview. What she accomplished exceeded what we could have envisioned,” adding that she provided exactly the type of leadership Donors Forum needed.

Mae Hong of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors then led a conversation with Valerie, in which Valerie spoke on her career in philanthropy and with Donors Forum. In thinking about changes over the past decades, Valerie noted that there had been an encouraging increase in gender diversity in the field, but in general the larger work of diversity still needs to be accomplished. Greater diversity of race, ethnicity, disability, and sexual orientation is needed, and while gender diversity has increased in the philanthropic sector, it has made slower progress in executive suites and boardrooms, Valerie said. She also noted that she would like to see more money supporting programs specifically directed toward women and girls.

Valerie noted that the recent changes to Donors Forum, including the new Membership model and creating more spaces for communication between funders and nonprofits, only happened because of seeds planted years earlier. She said the continuing effort is important: “We need to really think about how we can come together and have different types of substantive conversations about our relationships with each other and how we can work closely on the issues we all care about.”

Valerie also took advantage of the opportunity to talk about some weaknesses she perceived in the philanthropic sector and improvements that could be made. She discussed how the “command-and-control” profile of some foundations, along with their need for detailed evaluation, can lead to problems for nonprofit organizations. “Often what organizations are asked to do around measurement is different from what is really meaningful for them to measure. And grants don’t include costs of evaluation,” she said. “The vast number of organizations work in a complex world, and there are so many factors that are outside of their control. We all know that social change is not expressed in a linear cause-and-effect relationship.” She added that “Funders need to consider how they fund as much as they consider what they fund.”

In her concluding remarks, Valerie gave special thanks to her family for their years of support. She also thanked everyone who had served on Donors Forum’s board during her tenure for their dedication and commitment, and then turned her attention to the vital group that makes Donors Forum work: its Members. “You are Donors Forum. You are why Donors Forum exists. It exists to help you build your capacity, fulfill your mission, advocate for policy, and build an ecosystem that can help us all,” she said. “I loved this work, I loved this community of people. It has been such a privilege to work with you side by side all these years.”

Valerie concluded with a call to action: “It’s up to you. You have to take this organization and activate it for social change, and be a model of how funders, nonprofit organizations, and advisors can work together on the issues that bedevil our work. If you do, this will make an amazing difference.”

— Jason Hardy, Member Services Support

40th Anniversary Sponsors

Impact

Premier

Platinum Plus

Platinum

Gold

Crown Family Philanthropies

John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Mondelez International

PepsiCo

Polk Bros. Foundation

Silver

Allstate Insurance Company
Hillshire Brands Foundation
Microsoft
The Albert Pick, Jr. Fund
Pierce Family Foundation
Quarles & Brady LLP
Steans Family Foundation
United Airlines
Walgreens 

Bronze

Bank of America
Baxter International Inc.
Chicago Tribune Foundation
Crowe Horwath
D & R Fund
Gaylord and Dorothy Donnelley Foundation
The Richard H. Driehaus Foundation
Duchossois Family Foundation
Lloyd A. Fry Foundation
Jewish Federation of Metropolitan Chicago
The Joyce Foundation
Kraft Foods Group Foundation
Motorola Solutions
New Prospect Foundation
Peoples Gas
Prince Charitable Trusts
The Seabury Foundation
Wieboldt Foundation
Woods Fund of Chicago 

Copper

Advocate Health Care
Alexander Macnab & Co.
Arabella Advisors
Campbell & Company
CCS
The Chicago Bar Foundation
CME Group Foundation
Kellogg School, Center for Nonprofit Management
McDougal Family Foundation
Oppenheimer Family Foundation
Plante Moran
Serve Illinois Commission on Volunteerism and Community Service
The Siragusa Foundation
Strategic Philanthropy, Ltd.
VNA Foundation
Wolf & Company LLP