Edward Skloot, Surdna Foundation

“Our money will have far more resonance if we find our voice.”

Since 1989 Edward Skloot has been executive director of the $850 million Surdna Foundation, which makes grants to programs in the environment, urban revitalization, youth organizing, arts, and philanthropy and the nonprofit sector. His experiences at the foundation, as well as in earlier positions in charitable organizations and government, have convinced him that foundations should not simply fund the issues they care about—they must also advocate for them.

“We pay nonprofits to advocate for us. That’s not good enough,” Ed explains. “We need to help governments and the public understand both policy and operational issues from philanthropy’s perspective, and to put our thumb on the scale.”

These beliefs explain why Ed sees the Panel on the Nonprofit Sector, of which he is a member, as such an important step for the charitable community. “The Panel worked proactively and positively with Congress on issues crucial to the sector. That effort has increased our standing in Washington -- and with our members around the country too.”

The Panel highlights another element crucial to the sector’s ability to change society: collaboration. Surdna has been committed to bringing together grantmakers and grant seekers and to creating broad coalitions. In the 1990s, for example, Surdna sparked and led a broad group of nearly a dozen funders, a half-dozen community development corporations, and numerous government agencies to revitalize a large part of the South Bronx. “We ‘leveraged’ each other’s money and expertise. None of us could have achieved our collective impact had we free-lanced.”

Speaking out and working together are methods for fulfilling what Ed sees as the primary roles of the nonprofit sector: “protecting the social compact, advancing equality and opportunity and, ultimately, holding American culture together.”

Learn more at www.surdna.org.