The INNW Fund

Investing in the environment
by Zoe Kersteen-Tucker

With success of his money management firm, Value Monitoring, Inc., assured, Peninsula resident Robert Levenson turned his attention to the question, "What do you do once you win?" The result was the founding, along with his wife Susan Lang, of The INNW Fund, a nonprofit foundation. Appropriately, INNW is an acronym for "If not now, when?"
With an enduring commitment to environmental education and land stewardship, these innovative thinkers began to ponder new models of strategic philanthropy some 10 years ago. Levenson and Lang, along with Board member Howard Smith and Foundation Vice President Joan Libman, have crafted a quiet and powerful local foundation that provides problem-solving, mentoring, and money to help nonprofits in challenging times. Backers of The INNW Fund seek ways to leverage their investments by providing technical assistance and building organizational capacity.

Unlike community foundations, The INNW Fund does not solicit or review grant proposals; rather, The Fund seeks out organizations with programs of regional significance, a history of success, and committed board and staff members.

The Committee was first approached by The Fund with an offer of technical assistance in 1999. At that time, the Committee's infrastructure hadn't kept up with the organization's tremendous growth. We had survived years of shoestring budgets and protracted David and Goliath land-use battles. Our (almost entirely) volunteer-run organization was exhausted. Our Board of Directors and single staff person, Denice Dade, were ready to make a serious commitment of time and energy to strengthen the Committee for future years. (Long-time CGF members may recall that Denice was then working half-time as our office coordinator and half-time as Santa Clara County Legislative Advocate.)

Joan Libman, The INNW Fund's Vice President, called in consultants to help analyze our organizational infrastructure with an assessment of financials, job descriptions, bylaws, board committees, and technology. The INNW Fund and their consultants helped us create and implement a comprehensive action plan that included the following elements:

• The Fund provided a $5,000 matching grant to overhaul the office computer system. At the time, the Committee was functioning (barely) on a single antiquated computer, a shared printer, and a 28k modem.
• The law firm Silk, Adler & Colvin was retained to assess and update Committee and Green Foothills Foundation bylaws and to create legal instruments to govern the sharing of funds and resources between the Committee and the Foundation.
• Tanya Slesnick, a CPA specializing in nonprofits, worked with Committee and Foundation treasurers and board members to implement state-of-the-art bookkeeping software and charts of accounts for both organizations. Full disclosure compilations were conducted for both organizations.
• Management consultant Marge Sentous was brought in to assist with updating our staff and volunteer job descriptions and board committees.
• Development consultant Andrea Zafer was employed to work with board members to create and implement a comprehensive fundraising strategy starting with our year-end campaign in 1999. Andrea continues her development work with the Committee and Foundation.
• A plan was created and is being implemented to add key staff over time and as fundraising capacity develops.

With two years of hard work behind us, a partial list of our organizational accomplishments include the following:

• Paid staff was increased to include a first-ever, full-time Legislative Advocate for Santa Clara County, an Executive Director, and Director of Education and Outreach.
• Office hardware and software computer systems were upgraded to include four new networked computers, a laser printer and high-speed Internet connections.
• Fundraising results were increased four-fold.
• A wage and fringe benefits analysis was conducted to ensure that the organization's job descriptions, salary structure and benefits reflect current industry standards.
• Foundation and Committee bylaws have both been updated.
• A comprehensive Personnel Handbook and Office Manual have been created.
• Financial and legal relationships between the Green Foothills Foundation and the Committee for Green Foothills have been strengthened so that we are able to maximize the community impact of this unique 501(c)(3)/501(c)(4) combination.

The theme of our relationship with The INNW Fund has been that they provide funding, expertise, and guidance; the Committee makes the decisions and does the work. From the beginning, the goal of The Fund has been to build new expertise into the Committee's board and staff so that ultimately we become self-sufficient at a higher level of capacity. INNW does not seek seats on boards of directors of organizations they assist; rather they are committed to helping organizations be accountable to themselves and their supporters.

The Committee for Green Foothills is profoundly grateful to The INNW Fund for their open-hearted, wise, and generous support of our work and our organization. They have offered their assistance in the spirit of partnership and with an ethic of trust and respect for the uniqueness of our organization. The model of philanthropy manifested by The INNW Fund is all about long-term investment. By building additional capacity into organizations devoted to regional environmental education and land stewardship, The INNW Fund is able to maximize their investment in an irreplaceable environmental legacy - the San Francisco Peninsula.
Thank you, Joan!
We offer special thanks and acknowledgement to Joan Libman for her personal and professional commitment to our organization. Joan is The INNW Fund's Vice President and chief management consultant.

In a recent interview, Joan shared the following thoughts: "I look at a nonprofit organization like a potential donor. Donors want to know that their money is being used in the most productive and prudent manner possible. I ask myself, 'Would I want to give money to this organization? Do the board and staff feel a passion for carrying out this mission?' If the answer is 'yes,' then the next question is, 'is it possible to help this very fine program become self-sustaining?' I recognize that there is an element of creativity and passion in the nonprofit world that too often makes volunteers disinclined or too embarrassed to talk about money. However, I believe that organizational effectiveness coupled with sound fundraising practices makes a nonprofit more effective and better able to carry out their important mission." Thank you, Joan!

More about The INNW Fund
The mission of The INNW Fund is to foster environmental awareness, through grants supporting education and land conservation. Organizations they have helped include: Hidden Villa, Environmental Volunteers, Peninsula Open Space Trust, East Bay Depot for Creative Reuse, Center for Investigative Reporting. The INNW Fund also founded the Friends of Huddart and Wunderlich Parks.