Feelings about the Affordable Care Act were mixed in Illinois when the health reform law passed in 2010. Many state leaders opposed the law, and members of the public health community were unsure where to turn for the best information about how to implement the changes it required.
“We couldn’t look to government to set the stage that we would really need,” said Claudia Baier, MPH, an APHA member and program officer with the VNA Foundation of Chicago, a philanthropy that funds health efforts in underserved populations in the city and surrounding counties. “So we came together as a group.”
VNA Foundation and a number of other funders joined with public health advocates and providers to form Starting Strong in Illinois, a collaborative that directs public health funders to health reform work where the funds will be best used. Baier presented on Starting Strong’s successes at APHA’s 141st Annual Meeting and Exposition in Boston in the fall.
The effort is one of many that seek to match the needs of public health groups with philanthropies. One benefit of working with philanthropic organizations is their ability to fund smaller projects than those typically addressed by federal funders.
According to the Foundation Center report “Key Facts on U.S. Foundations, 2013 Edition,” there were more than 81,700 foundations in 2011 with $49 billion in giving. Of these foundations, 50 percent reported funding issues important to public health, with total giving of more than $12 billion.
Philanthropies are also nimble — better able to see a need and react quickly, said Lyndon Haviland, DrPH, MPH, a former APHA Executive Board member who funds two APHA philanthropic efforts.
“Foundations who make a priority out of an issue...they call attention to that issue,” she told The Nation’s Health.
In that role, philanthropies can fund new research or programs that have not yet been proven. Once that research or those programs show a real ability to improve public health, those organizations can go to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or another governmental entity, with data needed to secure further funding.
Haviland highlighted former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s work on international traffic safety: His charitable foundation, Bloomberg Philanthropies, has funded more than $130 million for work on projects focusing on traffic policy and road safety. Such safety matters were often overlooked until he called attention to them, at which point CDC and other groups took up research.
“It’s like the canary in the mine,” Haviland said. “It’s a signal that something is important.”
Foundations and other philanthropic groups also have the ability to delve into politically difficult subjects, such as gun violence, Haviland noted. The federal government can be limited by what Congress will allow funding for, but a philanthropy can respond without fear of alienating an electorate, she said.
Brian Castrucci, MA, chief program and strategy officer at the de Beaumont Foundation and a participant at the Annual Meeting session, noted that approaching Congress or federal agencies for funding can be difficult without a record of proven successes.
“But philanthropic boards are there to take some risks,” he told The Nation’s Health. “We tackle some of the hardest problems with money given to us for that purpose.”
Starting Strong is implementing its plan in three stages. The first involved convening local funders and funding advocacy groups to map strategies and short-term plans in consultation with state public health agencies.
In phase two, the collaborative worked to fund consultants to help the state apply for federal grants and test new service models. It also funded advocacy organizations and work on legislation and other efforts needed for successful implementation of the Affordable Care Act, and it funded nonprofit groups and Chicago’s Cook County Health System to prepare for implementation.
In phase three, the group is supporting efforts — such as training for navigators — to enroll people in health insurance.
Starting Strong’s quarterly meeting brings together groups with sometimes-disparate skill sets and, among other things, helps them see how they can develop projects together and apply for funding.
According to Margie Schaps, MPH, executive director of the Health & Medicine Policy Research Group, which is part of Starting Strong, such collaborations can be mutually beneficial by bringing together people who otherwise might not meet.
At one session, a funder approached Schaps with an idea — to fund a conference to help federally qualified health centers and managed care groups figure out the best way to work under health reform — and the two were able to make it happen.
The key to such success is to make philanthropy a two-way street, Castrucci said. Groups should not overlook the institutional knowledge already present within foundations. Many of the funders working for foundations were once public health practitioners themselves, and they bring knowledge with them.
“It’s like when kids play baseball,” he said. “They (don’t) go ask another kid for a bat and ball and then say to him, ‘Oh, no, we don’t want you to play. You stay here and we’ll give you a report later on how it went.’ Philanthropy is changing. We can be partners more than just funders.”
APHA is also playing a role. The roundtable where Starting Strong in Illinois and four other coalitions presented their successes was an outgrowth of an effort to better integrate funders into the APHA community, said Torrey Wasserman, MBA, MHA, APHA’s development manager. Moving forward, she said, the Association hopes to serve as a gathering point for funders and groups seeking funding.
Generosity can also come from within. Haviland is setting the example with two projects she helps fund within APHA. The first is an annual public health mentoring award, which was created to honor public health professionals who are helping to inspire the next generation of public health leaders.
The second is a scholarship that, for the past three years, has paid for 60 public health students who are members of the Student Assembly to attend APHA’s Annual Meeting. In years past, Haviland has put up $5,000 and sought matching funds from members of APHA’s leadership, but the program will get even bigger in 2014. In addition to her $5,000, Executive Board member Ayman El-Mohandes, MBBCh, MD, MPH, will add another $5,000 and leaders will be challenged to match that, for a total of $20,000. That will allow 40 student members to take advantage of the scholarship in 2015.
Attendees at APHA’s 141st Annual Meeting and Exposition in Boston in November discuss the Starting Strong in Illinois collaborative during a scientific session. The collaborative directs health funders to areas that will benefit health reform work.
Photo courtesy EZ Event Photography
For more information, visit www.apha.org/about/donate. To learn more or to join APHA public health philanthropy community discussions, call 202-777-2486 or send an email to development{at}apha.org.
Editor’s note: This article was corrected post-publication.
- Copyright The Nation’s Health, American Public Health Association
