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accessHealthNews.net
Nov/Dec 2024
Volume 11 | Issue No. 90
Originally published by Grant Makers in Health
The REACH Healthcare Foundation's mis-
sion is to advance health equity through
coverage and care for underserved peo-
ple. A regional foundation granting about
$4.5 million annually, REACH recently cel-
ebrated its 20th anniversary. To mark this
milestone, Board and staff leadership re-
flected on the foundation's evolution from
a highly politicized health care conversion
foundation at its inception to a philan-
thropy striving to reshape its actions and
practices to reflect a more reparative ap-
proach focused squarely on health equity.
The journey has been long and, at times,
tenuous, and continues to evolve. It has
been joyful, inspiring, messy, painful, and
exhausting. As the CEO and Vice President
of Programs, we would like to share some
of the lessons learned along the way and
the internal and external changes made in
the hopes of becoming a better partner to
our grantees.
Since its earliest grantmaking days, REACH
has prided itself on being transparent and
"fair."
At the time, this meant having firm rules
that applied to all, exhaustive guidelines,
lengthy applications and review process-
es, specific eligibility requirements, and a
high rating on GlassPockets.
We engaged in rigorous strategic plan-
ning, implemented philanthropic "best
practices," and were upfront and unapol-
ogetic about our funding priorities and the
strategies we advanced. The Board and
staff generally felt positively about our ef-
forts to be accessible and approachable
while demystifying the grantmaking pro-
cess.
Like most funders, we always received far
more requests than we could possibly fund
but were relatively satisfied we were "do-
ing good where we could."
Our most recent results from the Center for Effective Philanthropy's
Grantee Perception Report, which included participants from the CBV pilot,
also give us encouragement that we are moving in the right direction.
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