Knight Foundation
Reinventing a Foundation While Maintaining Its Focus
A highly regarded national philanthropy founded by brothers who built a newspaper empire, the Knight Foundation had a complicated mission involving support for journalism and grantmaking in 26 communities that are home to Knight newspapers. Like most foundations, the Miami-based institution saw its endowment rise substantially during the 1990s. It decided to use the occasion of its 50th anniversary to take stock of all its operations, build on its successes, and chart a course for the future.
Planning a Vision for the Future
Through interviews with 176 stakeholders, surveys of 328 grantees and a review of the funding environment in Knight's core communities, the TCC team gathered and synthesized a wealth of information. With this background, TCC assessed the Foundation's programs and operations, examined funding trends, summarized critical issues, and offered alternative scenarios for the future. TCC Group then facilitated a retreat for the Foundation's Board that included a discussion of these findings and a "visioning" exercise. The Board reached agreement on five new goals for the Foundation and asetofkey strategies that would enable the Foundation to reach them by 2005. Following the retreat, TCC guided the Board and staff in drafting the strategic plan. Once the Board formally adopted the plan, TCC Group worked with staff on an implementation process that is still ongoing.
Sharper Focus, Greater Impact
The strategic plan eliminated two grant programs, restructured Foundation staff and revamped criteria to meet grantees' needs in a more focused way, without abandoning the Foundation's twin focus on a free press and grantmaking in 26 core communities. These changes positioned the Foundation as a partner with local stakeholders in identifying needs and focusing on results. "We have much greater impact now," says Penny McPhee. "That wouldn't have been possible if we had cut corners in the planning process."
