The Foundation's sole current program, the Youth Development Fund, and its grantmaking strategy of investing in high-performing nonprofits to assist them reach greater scale and impact, began as a pilot in 1999 by (then EMCF President) Michael Bailin and Nancy Roob to test a new strategy of grantmaking at the Foundation. This new strategy sought to see if the Foundation's resources could be put to more effective use by finding and supporting a select group of youth-serving organizations develop and implement sophisticated business plans, and then investing in these plans to support their growth, rather than attempting to reform large (often intractable) public systems. Based on the success of this pilot, the Foundation's board formally adopted this grantmaking strategy in 2000, and decided to end work in its other program areas.

This section provides reports and essays documenting the Foundation's experience (and lessons learned) adopting its new  grantmaking strategy.

Essays by Former EMCF President Michael Bailin

Michael Bailin served as President of the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation from 1996 to 2005. In the Foundation's 1999 to 2004 annual reports, he reflects on the progress at the Foundation during this transition.
EMCF Annual Reports

In addition to his annual report letters, Michael Bailin has written several essays about transformation at the Foundation during his tenure as President, as well as observations on trends in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors:

Great Expectations Versus Getting the Job Done In this piece in State of Philanthropy 2004, published by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy , Michael Bailin argued that even though philanthropy is capable of truly great achievements every now and then—such as the Carnegie libraries, the Rockefeller Foundation’s yellow fever vaccine, or the Ford Foundation’s seminal investments in community development—those moments of "philanthropic derring-do, remarkable as they are, were not the norm, and should not be." In fact, said Bailin, there's a danger that these enormous feats may encourage others to try to match them with initiatives of their own on as grand a scale. That, he added, only served to distract foundations from the more "pressing work" society needed them to do.

Hooked on Change In this column from 2004, Michael Bailin presented the current status of the Foundation's grantmaking efforts to strengthen the operations of a select group of youth-serving organizations. In his words, the Foundation had, in many ways, kept to the original goals and strategies that he first outlined when it undertook our approach several years ago; however Bailin noted that the Foundation also learned several key lessons and made key adjustments to its work along the way. Moreover, he stated that this process of continually learning and adjusting wouldn't end anytime soon.

Focusing In On An Effective Grantmaking Strategy Speaking to foundation executives at a seminar held by the Center for Effective Philanthropy in New York City, October 9-10, 2003, Michael Bailin said that one of the keys to a successful grantmaking strategy was “focus, focus, and focus.” Bailin also said that “the best strategy will remain unrealized without incredibly skilled and dedicated people to bring it to life.”

Re-Engineering Philanthropy: Field Notes from the Trenches In a speech at Georgetown University, part of the Waldemar A. Nielsen Issues in Philanthropy Seminar Series, Michael Bailin discussed the Foundation's transformation to a new way of grantmaking and why the introspection that led to the change is a healthy process that more foundations should undertake.

A High-Engagement Approach to the Field of Youth Development In a wide-ranging interview with the Foundation Center's Philanthropy News Digest , Michael Bailin discussed why the Foundation made the decision to focus solely on strengthening youth-serving organizations and what differentiates its new grantmaking approach from traditional philanthropy.

Guidance Counselor In the October 2002 issue of Worth magazine, Michael Bailin described how the Foundation's approach to grantmaking, and its focus on achieving specific outcomes, is designed to help youth-serving organizations grow stronger and provide better services to more young people in need.

Crossing from the Private Sector   In the premiere issue of the Venture Philanthropist , a publication of The Entrepreneurs Foundation, Michael Bailin talked about the lessons learned so far from the Edna McConnell Foundation's grantmaking strategy–particularly what those discoveries mean for business executives and others from the for-profit sector interested in helping strengthen nonprofit organizations.

The Changing Landscape In this 2001 essay that appeared in Venture Philanthropy 2001 (published by Venture Philanthropy Partners) , Michael Bailin wrote about how the Foundation saw venture philanthropy contributing to the development of its new grantmaking approach but not replacing tried and true philanthropic practices.

Reports and Case Studies on the Foundation's Transformation and Lessons Learned

The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation's Learning Series is a collection of two reports that documents and shares lessons emerging from our work.

The first, Trusting in Change, explores the Foundation's transition to a new way of grantmaking. The second, Making Evaluation Work, discusses how the Foundation integrated evaluation into its grantmaking.