Why do you fund in a range of areas? 
We believe that innovation is generated by cross-fertilization across fields and networks and so we embody that in our grants portfolio.

Does the developmental stage of an organization figure into your decision making?
Generally, we begin supporting organizations or projects that are in their emergent phase. We think coming in at this time adds value to our resources, not only because early money can be hard to come by but also because our support may help attract other funders.

Do you provide multi-year funding commitments?
Yes, we do. Generally, we do not make one-year grants. While we have had multi-year relationships with many of our grantees, in 2008 for the first time we began making three-year grant commitments. We believe providing this kind of ongoing commitment contributes greatly to an organization’s ability to plan and to be effective. The downside is that our commitment to multi-year funding locks up our limited portfolio in terms of being able to respond to new initiatives – something we also think is important.

So when do you decide to end support for a grantee?
This is a hard question and there is no standard answer. Ending is a judgment call that can take different factors into account, including: an organization has a diversified base of support and can handle the loss of income; an organization is not accomplishing the goals it set for itself (e.g. programmatically, organizationally, financially); or conversely the grant accomplished its original catalytic aim. No matter the reason, however, ending is always a difficult process – and one  that cannot be avoided if we are to seed new work over time.