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Oral Health Funders

WHY IT STARTED

Oral health, with its link to overall general health, has been a consistent need for low income people in Maine for many years. In 2002, several funders in Maine began to focus their efforts on Maine’s oral health system after the Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF) made its first significant oral health grant awards, dwarfing any philanthropic dollars previously targeted at improving the system. The Bingham Program, a charitable endowment dedicated to promoting health and advancing medicine in Maine, hired a consultant to conduct a scan of Maine’s needs in oral health, and a group of funders realized that they were each getting similar requests from nonprofits to support oral health work in Maine. As funders reviewed the many requests they were receiving individually and considered the overall needs of the oral health system, they began to talk among themselves about oral health issues, asking questions of those funders whose mission was more aligned with this public health problem. It became clear that philanthropic dollars could be spent more effectively if the funders themselves were more strategic in their considerations, worked to eliminate duplication, and used their collective thinking to address this seemingly intractable problem.

Lisa Miller of the Bingham Program convened the first meetings of the funders’ group, with the support of Wendy Wolf from the Maine Health Access Foundation. Initially, the purpose of the meetings was to share information about the types of oral health issues that were being funded. Early on members felt it was beneficial to include the Maine State Oral Health Program in the group so that funders could get a picture of the system landscape from the state government perspective. The expectation was that collaboration among funders would mean more clarity for nonprofit organizations seeking funding.  Funders routinely request collaboration by their grantees, so it made sense for the funding organizations to model that collaboration among themselves.

As the Oral Health Funders evolved, the group began to take on the broader perspective of public education and policy, looking to longer time horizons to address systemic issues. Group members felt that real system change would require having multi-pronged strategies in place over years. Grant dollars can only go so far; real change requires collective thinking and effort over time.

WHO IS INVOLVED

There are nine members of the Oral Health Funders, including General and Supporting Members. All members learn from one another and provide information, expertise, and advice to the group. Supporting Members make financial contributions to fund activities, such as hiring consultants or establishing pooled funding.

HOW THEY WORK TOGETHER

While there is a Memorandum of Understanding among the members, the group has consciously chosen to be non-hierarchical, with no committees or subcommittees. There is a strong belief that partnerships are the glue that holds the group together and drives the work forward. Early on trust was built among members through dialogue about their work and taking the time to develop relationships through informal gatherings, such as an annual meeting at a member’s home, where members hike, eat homemade food, and build the relationships that nurture and inform the work.

After three years of meeting together, group members decided that if they wanted to be more proactive, they needed to collaborate on funding a consultant who could follow-up on action items between meetings and bring system issues to the attention of the group. In the spring of 2008, Karin Anderson was hired as a staff consultant to the Oral Health Funders. Karin takes direction from the group as a whole through an annual work plan decided upon by members; Barbara Leonard from MeHAF serves as Karin’s direct liaison.

Through the work plan, Karin is able to play the role of integrating or weaving the people and activities of the funders. She often attends external meetings where she is able to bring back information to the group; for instance, she learned of the Maine Dental Access Coalition, dedicated to advocating for improved access to oral health care for all Maine residents. Participating in these coalition meetings allows her to learn about public policy issues and opportunities for public awareness and education and then to share this knowledge with the network.

Membership meetings are held quarterly. One meeting each year is dedicated to determining the strategic priorities for the year. Each year one member takes on the role of “convener,” facilitating the meetings and working with Karin to craft agendas. Members of the group try to make decisions and recommendations by consensus.

The following example illustrates the way members typically work together. In response to a growing number of requests to support safety net clinics, the Oral Health Funders created a clear process for these requests to be quickly and efficiently vetted within the group. Although each foundation still follows its own grantmaking guidelines, with this streamlined approach, potential applicants are likely to have a better sense of the possibility of funding in a timely fashion.

CHALLENGES

The greatest challenge the Oral Health Funders face is the fragile state of Maine’s oral health safety net. Members don’t anticipate that fact changing any time soon, especially with the current distressed economy. In addition, while providing access to service is important, encouraging prevention strategies and ensuring that prevention services and policies are in place continues to be a major focus.

Members feel that overall the challenges facing the group itself have been modest. Grantees are aware that funders are meeting and collaborating on funding approaches.  The Oral Health Funders are careful to note that each funder makes independent decisions about grant awards and that participation in the group does not necessarily mean that grant budgets to support oral health initiatives will increase.

With a view to being as inclusive as possible, the Oral Health Funders continually review the membership of this collaborative: Are there other funders or significant partners to include? What should the membership look like? Are the right people involved? Karin, in her role of integrating activities and partners, keeps the group informed about additional stakeholders in the oral health care system.

PROGRESS TOWARDS GOAL

The group is not set up to have specific goals, but to work together to focus on strategic priorities, with benchmarks reviewed along the way. Through their work, members agree that there has been better coordination of funding opportunities. For example, a provider in a local community with little access to dental care had already been funded by many members. This provider needed a large piece of equipment, so several members of the group came together and purchased the needed equipment.

The relationship aspect of the Oral Health Funders also gets high marks among members. Members routinely check-in and communicate with one another, even outside of regular meetings. The group has continued to maintain a high level of collegiality and trust; no one is interested in the group becoming too formal since it is the relationships among the members that helps to ensure coordination of funding.

While large metropolitan areas have had funder affinity groups for a long time, the Oral Health Funders have pioneered this state-wide approach in Maine that that can serve as a model for other funder groups. For instance, the Sam L. Cohen Foundation has recently convened a new funders group focused on the needs of early childhood. There was a crossroads a few years ago when some members wondered if the Oral Health Funders would continue; but the issues of the oral health system were too compelling for the group to disband.