Q1 Impact Summary
Rethinking Philanthropy During Challenging Times
It has been a beginning of the year full of changes and challenges that have led us to rethink how we do philanthropy. Luckily, this is at the core of our organizational mission and something we have consistently dedicated efforts to over the course of the past few years. As we begin the year, we continue creating spaces and promoting conversations that allow us to think and strategize the most effective ways to do philanthropy as a collective.
Thanks to all our members who renewed their membership one more year and have stayed committed to being a part of the on-going conversation about how to improve philanthropic practices in Puerto Rico.
Below we share some highlights of the first quarter of the year with you!
Serving Philanthropy
Building Relationships
Our first members brunch of the year was focused on discussing the social sector’s financial landscape. Members exchanged their perspectives on the changing landscape and freeze on federal funds. Some members shared how they are collecting more information from their beneficiaries to get a better sense of what would be most helpful in the current context. There was general consensus about the need for organizations to look at their budgets and consider how to prioritize their financial sustainability. This members brunch served not only to build relationships but also as a key space for sharing strategies and perspectives on how to tackle the current changing landscape of the sector.
Collective Capacity
We opened up the year with the event Pivot 2025: Nuevos paradigmas de política pública y abogacía para el sector filantrópico, facilitated by Amanda Rivera of Causa Strategies and public policy strategist Ataveyra Medina Hernández. This learning session was focused on understanding the nuances behind doing public policy work and how to advance these types of efforts in upcoming years. Members learned about the different aspects of creating a public policy agenda, the different roles entities can play in advancing public policy work, and the tactics that can be implemented. This was a rich dialogue that motivated our members’ to keep the conversation going and stay engaged with the monitoring of public policy changes in upcoming months.
Building Strategies
Our learning session Pivot 2025 led to the creation of an Action Dialogue focused on Monitoring Public Policy. In our newly formatted action dialogues, members have been meeting to get updates about the legal aspects of different public policy matters and the specific impact that different changes can have on the social sector. Some of the topics we have focused on include policy changes impacting education, environmental, and DEI work. Through the creation of this ad-hoc action dialogue, members have been able to stay updated on the most current policy shifts in order to develop informed strategies to support their beneficiaries.
Expanding Philanthropy
Raising Awareness
As part of our continued efforts to raise awareness about Puerto Rico’s social sector, we launched The Data Observatory this quarter. Our new platform was created for those committed to strengthen and expand the philanthropic field by using data in the development of their strategies. After five years of creating tools, collecting data, and publishing research, we have designed a unique user-friendly platform where you can access data about Puerto Rico’s social sector in a single place. The Data Observatory includes data access and visualization, data collection, research, and a virtual community, among other tools. One of the most exciting features of our newly launched observatory is your data bestie, FiPi, a chatbot that was trained with all the data we have collected and published over the years.
Our friends at Fundación Ángel Ramos wrote a piece about the Data Observatory and FiPi’s impact on the social sector.
This tool will save you time when it comes to finding specific resources and data. If you ask FiPi anything about the data we have collected, you will get an answer in seconds and integrate it into your organizational needs, whether that is a strategy, a presentation, or a research report.
The Data Observatory has been visited more than 1,200 times since its initial launch.
In addition to all the different research tools in our observatory, we also developed our first live poll to collect data on current issues. Our first poll focused on the effect of the federal funding freeze to learn how the U.S. President’s recent executive orders are affecting nonprofit organizations’ work. Understanding this impact can support us as a sector in defining next steps to strengthen the ecosystem. More than 100 organizations contributed with their data providing key findings to understand how these changes impact them. Through these polls, we seek to obtain quick and relevant data on the current state of the sector. This type of data can inform how the social sector defines priorities, measure its reach and impact, and understand its challenges.
The Collective Intelligence Hub and Data Facts for Systemic Change, both housed in our Observatory now, continue to grow. We have increased the number of available resources in the hub from 178 to 209, allowing users to explore more data and research developed by the social sector. This expansion enhances our ability to uncover trends, evaluate impact, and drive evidence-based decision-making for systemic change. To support informed actions and strategic decision-making, we have expanded our Data Facts for Systemic Change tool to include over 135 facts from trusted and reliable sources.
Attracting Resources
We continue to strengthen and grow our networks through our participation in key sector events and conversations. Our executive director Glenisse Pagán participated in the event Simposio de Industrias Creativas in a panel dedicated to thinking about the importance of collaborations in different sectors. Additionally, Glenisse also attended the quarterly meeting of Education Funders Strategy Group (EFSG) held in Puerto Rico during march. During this event we learned about the group’s initiatives and members as well as shared lessons on addressing critical challenges faced by communities in PR and the US.
Transparency
In finding possibilities and opportunities for growth through emerging challenges, we remain committed to hold spaces for dialogue, analysis, learning, and strategic thinking to maximize our resources in service of the philanthropic sector in Puerto Rico. We continue to do this through a wide array of areas and activities, from the development of open access digital platforms that expand the impact of our membership’s efforts to the creation of spaces for the development of strategies that can keep our work moving forward during challenging times.
As a non-profit, we also remain committed to leading in a responsible and transparent way. As part of this effort, we have been developing policies and procedures for the ethical management of information and data to ensure the publication of impartial and reliable information. Moreover, we also seek to be an example when it comes to fiscal transparency, which is why in January of 2025 we also published our most recent audited financial report and taxes.
In times such as the ones we live in, operational and fiscal management becomes increasingly key to ensure the sustainability of our organizations. We reiterate our commitment to keep moving our operations and services forward to advance our mission of building a better future for all.
