Pfizer Foundation — Developing a Strategy Beyond Grantmaking
Over the last five years, the Pfizer Foundation and Pfizer Worldwide Philanthropy department has developed platform focused on investing the full range of the company's resources — people, skills, expertise and funding — to broaden access to medicines and strengthen healthcare delivery for underserved people around the world. The new philanthropy platform, Pfizer Investments in Health, offers a more coordinated approach to contribute to society beyond medicines, centered around developing stronger relationships with their partners (grantees, field experts, etc.) and including cash grants, capacity building/technical assistance, product, skilled volunteers and stronger networking. This has resulted in mutual benefits for Pfizer and for its philanthropic partners.
Introduction
The Pfizer Foundation, the philanthropic arm of the world-leading pharmaceutical company, Pfizer Inc, is committed to addressing global health needs through community programs that also leverage its corporate resources and connections. Pfizer had successfully implemented international and smaller scale domestic HIV/AIDS programs, but recognized the need for greater national attention. In 2002, the Pfizer Foundation developed the Southern HIV/AIDS Prevention Initiative (SHAPI) in reaction to the growing HIV/AIDS epidemic in the southern United States. HIV/AIDS rates were still alarmingly high and growing, especially in the U.S. South. SHAPI, a three-year program from 2003 to 2006, provided more than $3 million in program investments and $3 million in capacity-building opportunities. To further develop the program and assist in its strategic planning and implementation the Foundation engaged TCC Group in 2002.
Developing Focus and Goals
In response to TCC Group's research and facilitated discussions with stakeholders, the Pfizer Foundation focused SHAPI on prevention programs in small to mid-size AIDS Service Organizations (ASOs), particularly those working with minorities and women. With TCC's help, the Foundation developed a clear set of goals for SHAPI. The core strategy focused on building relationships and supporting a targeted number of organizations, and included investments focused on direct services in local prevention and education programs and additional investments designed to create longer lasting impact through organizational capacity building and regional networking opportunities.
Together, TCC and the Pfizer Foundation selected 23 grantees and 39 additional finalists. Grantees were provided annual grants of up to $50,000 for prevention programs, and all grantees and finalists were provided with opportunities to improve organizational effectiveness and be a part of the SHAPI network. TCC managed the overall initiative and worked closely with grantees to achieve the SHAPI goals of capacity building and networking.
Opportunities Beyond the Grants
In order to offer grantees tailored capacity building opportunities, TCC Group developed a new, comprehensive assessment tool for nonprofit organizations that was based on best practices in the field and tested by leading ASOs (now further developed, available on-line and called the Core Capacity Assessment Tool (CCAT)). Using the CCAT, TCC identified target areas for capacity building in each participating organization as well as cross-cutting needs for clusters of organizations. Each SHAPI grantee was offered annual customized capacity building recommendations and funding support (which often was nearly equal to their program grant) as well as general opportunities, such as board development, peer mentoring, software and technology training, financial management, and evaluation technical assistance.
In addition, TCC worked with the Foundation to provide networking opportunities to the SHAPI grantees and finalists, such as training sessions, teleconferences, and peer exchange. In particular, the Pfizer Foundation sponsored its SHAPI partners to attend the annual United States Conference on AIDS and hosted its own annual HIV/AIDS prevention conferences focused on HIV/AIDS prevention and capacity building needs identified throughout the year. During these networking opportunities, the Pfizer Foundation invited and introduced Pfizer Inc's HIV Community Liaisons (HCLs) to SHAPI partners to be able to foster more localized relationships with Pfizer Inc and to provide access to Pfizer Inc's local resources, such as training materials, mini-grants/sponsorships and volunteers. Through these networking opportunities, grantees and finalists shared ideas, information, and inspiration. "Long after Pfizer's funding relationship with [us] has concluded, the skills and expertise culled from these capacity-building efforts will continue to make [us] a trusted and well-respected organization." – NC Grantee
Lasting Social Impact
Through ongoing qualitative and quantitative evaluations, the SHAPI evaluation partners at the Morehouse School of Medicine and TCC Group determined that the SHAPI program had an overwhelmingly positive impact on their local at-risk communities. After three years of intensive grant and capacity building support, the majority of Southern HIV/AIDS Prevention Initiative grantees demonstrated:
- Stronger programs and organizational capacity, including significant improvements in program evaluation skills and technology
- Stronger networks with local and regional AIDS service organizations; beyond the Initiative, 18 grantees and finalists worked together on collaborative projects in 2007
- Stronger abilities to leverage resources; SHAPI grantees leveraged approximately an additional $1m in resources over the course of the Initiative
In addition, the social impact of the Initiative has been significant. More than 1,000 individuals were trained as a peer educator or peer mentor, 3,000 individuals were provided with testing and/or counseling, more than 11,000 referrals were made, and more than 50,000 community members have been reached with prevention materials.
Grantees reported great achievements in capacity and networking and were grateful to Pfizer and the Pfizer Foundation for providing long lasting benefits beyond the grant money. One anonymous grantee stated, "Pfizer has gone so far above and beyond to provide its grantees with support and resources that are more valuable than money."
Beyond Grantmaking as a Strategy
Since the experience of SHAPI as well as other Pfizer Philanthropy projects, the Pfizer Foundation and Pfizer Worldwide Philanthropy department has focused on building stronger relationships with their partners by investing the full range of the company's resources – people, skills, expertise and funding. The new philanthropy platform, Pfizer Investments in Health, offers a more coordinated approach to contribute to society:
- Treat: Improving access to medicines and healthcare services
- Teach: Expanding healthcare worker training and patient education on disease prevention and treatment options
- Build: Strengthening the capacity of healthcare organizations to support prevention, diagnosis, treatment and care
- Serve: Advocating and sharing best practices to improve healthcare for the underserved
Embracing this new approach, when the Pfizer Foundation began exploring new approaches in 2006 for a domestic HIV/AIDS strategy after SHAPI, they continued to work with TCC Group to develop a comprehensive, "beyond grantmaking" initiative – ConnectHIV, a $7.5 million investment in program grants, evaluation and technical assistance over three years. ConnectHIV supports 20 mid-size ASOs across the country with annual program grants of up to $100,000, provides specialized evaluation and programmatic technical assistance from the Academy of Educational Development (AED) and the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and leverages key internal resources such as Pfizer's HIV Community Liaisons and Global Health Fellows (GHFs are skilled Pfizer colleagues who commit to up to 6-month to work on assignments with NGOs to addressing core diseases like HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.). Currently, TCC manages the day-to-day functions of the ConnectHIV initiative, including communications with grantees, the capacity building strategy, and coordinating the national evaluation.
