As we near the end of 2023, we are excited to step back into our strategic visioning work and share with you all, in the spirit of transparency, what that’s looked like and what it might mean for our work going forward.
Building an Equitable and Just Society
Year-End Wishes & Six-Word Memoirs
After a year like none other, it’s hard to know quite what to say. “Have a happy holiday season” feels insufficient; “thanks for fighting through a global pandemic to serve the community while also engaging in a continued racial reckoning” feels closer to sufficient, but an email newsletter also doesn’t seem like quite the right vehicle to deliver that message.
Rather than using more words to try to express everything this year has meant, both individually and as a collective, we’ve taken inspiration from this New York Times op-ed* and instead offer you just six words each to summarize our experiences of 2020:
An Update on 2021 Grantmaking & Priorities
Updates to Our Annual Grantmaking Timeline
In 2019, we’ll be piloting a new timeline for our grants program: our Spring 2019 cycle operated as usual, with LOIs accepted from any eligible organization. Our Fall 2019 grant cycle will operate by invitation only (and most invitations will be extended to renewing grant partners from previous years).
What You Should -- and Shouldn't -- Do When Meeting with Our Foundation for the First Time (or Any Time)
The Chronicle of Philanthropy recently ran an Op-Ed offering fundraisers advice for first-time meetings with a potential donor. While every funder operates somewhat differently, much of the advice offered there would not apply to a meeting with the staff or board of The Helen J. Serini Foundation. Our Program Officer wrote a response adjusting these "expectations" for funders entering into first-time meetings, but we thought it could be helpful to expand upon the response to give current (or prospective) nonprofits an idea of what to expect when meeting with any of our team, be it staff or board.
Our First "Annual" Report: 2013-2017
In 2017, we celebrated (quietly!) our fifth anniversary. Our organization was founded in 2012, and started activities in 2013, and we couldn't be happier to be looking back at what we've done over the last five years--and our hopes for the upcoming year--in our first-ever "annual" report (that just happens to cover five years).
Take a look, see what some of our partners have been up to, and let us know what you think!