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Episode 11: Keeping it Local - Philanthropy in School-Based Mental Health
198 Plays1 year ago
In 2021, the WEA Member Benefits Foundation began an initiative to support School-Based Mental Health in Wisconsin. Today’s guest, Steve Goldberg, works with funders to engage them in trust-based philanthropy and provide support to local school districts. Julie Hueller, Coalition Chair, worked with Steve and the Foundation during the initial phase of their funding pilot in Racine. Listen in to discover how schools and communities invite local business and philanthropy to become long-term partners in sustaining school-based mental health.
Show Notes
Coalition for Expanding School-Based Mental Health in Wisconsin
Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction - Comprehensive School Mental Health
Wisconsin School Mental Health Framework
WEA Member Benefits Foundation School-Based Mental Health Initiative
SHAPE System School Mental Health Quality Guide - Funding and Sustainability
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction to School of Mental Health Works Podcast
00:00:17
Speaker
Welcome to School of Mental Health Works, a Quick Dip monthly podcast presenting dialogue on school mental health in Wisconsin. Our mission is to share the successes and challenges experienced by a range of partners in Wisconsin as communities continue to collaborate and show that school mental health works.
00:00:36
Speaker
This series is a product of the Coalition for Expanding School Mental Health in Wisconsin, a statewide coalition with the mission to advance and support expanded comprehensive and integrative mental health services within the school setting through school, home and community partnerships.
Sustaining Mental Health Services in Schools
00:00:54
Speaker
And today, my name is Julie Hiller and I am the chair of the Coalition for Expanding School Mental Health and I come out of Racine Unified School District in Racine, Wisconsin.
00:01:05
Speaker
And today our topic is a really important topic. It's been a topic across our state in looking at building comprehensive mental health systems and the big question being around how do we continue to sustain the services that we have built. I am very honored.
00:01:22
Speaker
to bring in a colleague that I have been personally collaborating with across the state, Steve Goldberg, who is an executive director of the WEA Members Benefit Foundation, and I am going to say content expert
00:01:37
Speaker
on philanthropic efforts and really want to engage you in a great conversation just around how we can do things differently in fund development.
Securing Funds for School Mental Health Initiatives
00:01:49
Speaker
And it's one of those things that as I started coming out of my background being healthcare coming into the education system,
00:01:56
Speaker
It's really not a strength of educators to ask local foundations and business foundations for money. That's not our strength. And so I want to kind of introduce Steve Goldberg today to kind of take us through
00:02:12
Speaker
an experience he's had through the state of Wisconsin and really kind of helps school districts today learn how they can leverage funding to sustain their school-based mental health. So, Steve, I just want to first of all give an introduction in your background in the work that you've done in the philanthropy field within the state. Well, thanks, Julie. Great to be here.
00:02:38
Speaker
The WEA member benefits foundation a couple years ago, actually right during COVID, launched an initiative to help school districts secure additional funding from private philanthropy sources, mainly in their own communities, but with a kind of a jump starter grant from us to prime the pump for more private funding.
00:03:02
Speaker
And we found that a lot of funders did not have school-based mental health on their radar.
00:03:10
Speaker
But they wanted to learn more, they were interested in understanding where to send a check and how much would make a difference and how do we evaluate the effectiveness of school-based mental health practices in a particular community.
Understanding Braided Funding for Schools
00:03:23
Speaker
So we offered to be the liaison between school districts, specifically their mental health programs and private funders. So we started with five pilot school districts.
00:03:36
Speaker
including Appleton, Madison, Racine, Sun Prairie and Watertown. And during the first phase of this effort we helped those five school districts raise an additional one million dollars from mainly from local sources and they're using that money to serve about five thousand additional students. So my job is to kind of be the the matchmaker if you will between school district mental health programs and primarily local sources of
00:04:05
Speaker
Funding in the private sector and I'm having fun doing it One thing I want to talk about is as school districts Have really learned a lot about supporting comprehensive mental health systems by using braided funding And when I just want to define that for our listeners today for those who may not be familiar what braided funding is Really we look at you know, what does the school district offer and pay for?
00:04:33
Speaker
And what do we look at for our local environment? So looking at our local foundations, our business foundations, those people that really are interested in supporting our school-based mental health programs within a community setting. But we also look at state. We've had a lot of great movement with some funding coming out of our state budgets, grant opportunities for school-based mental health.
00:04:59
Speaker
really kind of living in that space. And then also looking at there's always federal opportunities as well. And so when we start to look at just putting that whole picture together for school districts, it can be it can be confusing. I know that school districts really feel a little shaky on just using grant funding.
Building Long-Term Relationships with Funders
00:05:21
Speaker
And so, you know, Steve, how do we really start to look at how does this model for your donor funding
00:05:28
Speaker
fit into that braided funding for schools? Well, I think it's a unique component of braided funding. A lot of braided funding is keyed to a specific project with restrictions and limitations. Not that that's a bad thing. Those kinds of specific grants are very important.
00:05:51
Speaker
And some of those grants are very limited in terms of their time frame. It might be one year or two years and then they go away. So by adding private funding to that mosaic, it's possible to get unrestricted funds instead of restricted funds. It's possible to get multi-year funding instead of single-year funding. It's also possible to get funding without having to complete a 40-page grant application.
00:06:21
Speaker
What we're doing with this initiative is we're telling funders that there's no application process. It's proactive on our part to identify and vet the school district mental health programs and assure the funders that they can trust the mental health practitioners and coordinators in the school districts to make the right decision about how to use private money.
00:06:45
Speaker
and that funders are not experts in the best way to structure and deliver mental health services to our students. The school districts are in a much better position to make that decision. So one, I think you need component of this particular kind of funding.
00:07:03
Speaker
is that it can be unrestricted. It can be burdened light, where there's a light burden on the school district. And we know that school district mental health coordinators have enough on their plate already without having to complete a 40-page grant application for a $5,000 gift. So those are some of the unique elements of this. Also, what happens with
00:07:25
Speaker
A lot of local funding is it can be long-term if the school district takes advantage of the opportunity to really connect with the funder and make the funder part of the school district's thought process and celebrating milestones and achievements
00:07:42
Speaker
and success stories being involved in community forums on mental health and so on. So we can talk a little bit later about how a school district can fully engage a private funder, maybe in a way that they can't engage a public funding source.
00:07:57
Speaker
So Steve in this process and what I hear you saying is it's a really a change because you know we're so used to filling out that 40 page application and it takes school districts a lot of time to pull it together and the amount of data that's required.
00:08:15
Speaker
And just the amount of time has been a limiter for many of our school districts across the state. And so how do you really start to start the process? What you're talking about is trust that school districts know what they're doing.
Storytelling as a Tool for Fundraising
00:08:32
Speaker
And I love that approach. And it's completely different than our typical fund development.
00:08:38
Speaker
How do school districts start that conversation in just engaging funders in their local community? Can you give us some insight into your experience with that? Well, first of all, the timing is great for what we call trust-based philanthropy. There's an upswing in the state of Wisconsin, according to a recent survey from the Wisconsin Philanthropy Network. There's an increase in funder interest and funder commitment to something called trust-based philanthropy.
00:09:06
Speaker
where the funder goes to the recipient, the potential recipient, and says, we really like what you're doing, and we'd like to be part of your story. Well, in order for that to happen, the funder needs to understand the story. And school districts have, some of them have done a great job, but a lot of them are pretty new to the storytelling process when it comes to sharing a description of their approach to school mental health.
00:09:34
Speaker
their successes, their remaining challenges, and helping people in the community understand that picture. We've seen some school districts, including yours Racine and some others, where they've become very proactive in helping the community at large really understand what's going on with school mental health.
00:10:00
Speaker
What's the need? You know, the increase in emergency room admissions, for example, for teenagers checking in because of mental health issues and self-harm and suicidal ideation and so on. When funders really clearly get that picture, then they can draw some of their own conclusions and make some decisions that actually strengthen the likelihood
00:10:28
Speaker
of them providing financial support. So my advice to school districts and what we're helping our participating districts do is really outline your story and make sure that story is ready to share.
00:10:43
Speaker
Connect with community groups, whether it's rotary, be active in the United Way task forces or committees in the mental health and youth areas so that other people who sit on those committees or task forces get to know you. And they know that you are part of a school district's approach to student mental health.
00:11:06
Speaker
And your opportunity to share your story will emerge naturally and in the normal course of events with that United Way committee. I've seen it happen in several communities already. And I've sat on some of those committees here in Dane County's United Way. I also think that it would be important to share as part of your story
00:11:30
Speaker
What's some of your unfinished business? What are some of those projects that are on the back burner? Where are those waiting lists and delays? What are some barriers like in the rural school district's transportation to appointments is a common and significant barrier for student access?
00:11:49
Speaker
So if we can help funders understand that picture without making it look like we are in bended knee begging for support, but we're just sharing our story. If they understand that the school district really gets this, that the school district is competent and skillful and thoughtful and strategic about its approach to student mental health,
00:12:14
Speaker
Then the funder is more receptive to the rest of the story, which includes here's some of our unfinished business.
Recognizing the Importance of Mental Health in Schools
00:12:21
Speaker
Here are things that we, you know, the only thing stopping us from implementing these particular initiatives or tasks is money.
00:12:29
Speaker
And we just wonder if this is a good fit for you, rather than can you give us some money, which is not going to get the response you want. But after sharing the story and then explaining, we just want to know if this is a good fit for you. Does it fit your philanthropic strategy or agenda?
00:12:46
Speaker
And you know, one thing I want to say with that, Steven, and you did mention that Racine Unified was one of the school districts that were in the initial pilot, and we're going to talk a little bit more about the pilot. But one of the big takeaways for me was we're so used to kind of going out and looking at funders. We're always about, we want X amount of dollars. Versus this approach, which I have completely embraced
00:13:15
Speaker
Is this a good fit for you? And I'm not talking about dollars with them. I'm talking about fit. And for me, that has been one of those aha moments in how we're kind of flipping fund developments even in our community and getting away from I need $50,000 to do this to
00:13:36
Speaker
I'm not telling you what to give me, but is this really a good fit for you? And I think that has been that moment for at least my workings with you. And I want to share that with people on the podcast because it is different and it really does open a different conversation.
00:13:51
Speaker
And I think that piece was really important to bring out. Yeah. And you know, the fit question, Julie, is not so much, is this dollar amount a good fit for you? But is this issue of student mental health or school-based mental health, is that a good fit for your approach to philanthropy in our community? And the truth is, according to the funders we've worked with, and we've worked with a lot of them,
00:14:18
Speaker
both nationally and locally, that school-based mental health is not on the radar of very many funders. And they say they'd like to support school-based mental health once they're presented with the story, but they don't know how, they don't know where to send the check, they don't know how much money will make a difference, and they don't understand how to evaluate or measure results. So that's the part that we can help school districts accomplish.
00:14:48
Speaker
Great. And then the other thing I want to talk a little bit about for our listeners, because I think what you did really during the process of working with your initial school districts.
00:14:59
Speaker
that you also created an evaluation report and you did partner with the Center of Community Nonprofit Studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and create a document of your learnings of working with the different school districts across the state in your initial pilot called the Path for Funders.
00:15:19
Speaker
And I just want you to take a moment just to share some key learnings. And then what other opportunities did this report reveal? And for our listeners out there, we are going to attach it to the notes of our podcast so you can see the full reports. But it's a great opportunity. And so I just want to spend a few minutes kind of just exploring that report that was created. Yeah, thanks, Julie. We engaged the UW Center for Community Nonprofit Studies here at Madison.
00:15:47
Speaker
to help us evaluate the pilot phase of this funding initiative and to help us refine and improve it and also identify some best practices. They came up with a 16-page report, very readable, very accessible. As Julie said, it will be provided to listeners through a link on the website.
Engaging Community Leaders in Fundraising Efforts
00:16:11
Speaker
they interviewed the school districts they interviewed the funders and they introduced some of our they interviewed some of our strategic partners such as the coalition such as dpi and so on and they found that a couple things were shared by the school districts one was that the participating school districts were able to document increases
00:16:36
Speaker
in student and family access to mental health services by reducing the barriers of cost, time, and transportation. The districts also said that the students they served
00:16:48
Speaker
have become more engaged in school activities and classes and they reported positive feedback from students, parents and staff as well. The participating districts said that they appreciated the customized fundraising guidance that we provided and I know that's the case with Racine and really with all the participating districts and that this has helped them get more engaged with local funders which is one of the purposes of this approach is to equip school districts
00:17:18
Speaker
to approach and connect with local funders so that they can continue the funding and make it sustainable. And that's especially important when it's part of the braided funding picture. In addition, the school districts said that
00:17:39
Speaker
Now they are building district-based teams to support more funder outreach in the future. So when you talk about sustainability, it's pretty encouraging to hear the school districts saying that after the first couple years of the pilot. We talked to funders, and they said they appreciated our help in vetting and connecting with the school district mental health programs.
00:18:07
Speaker
and helping the funders understand the picture. What is a funding cliff, for example? What is multi-tiered programming for mental health? And what's a student assessment process for mental health, environmental insight, et cetera?
00:18:26
Speaker
uh... and funders also told us that i mentioned that this had not been on the radar before and now it is uh... and they say that they enjoy participating in a statewide initiative so one conclusion from the report was that the pilot has demonstrated growth and promise and the member benefits they told us that they thought our foundation is well positioned to continue and expand the effort and involve more school districts and more funders uh... one other thing that
00:18:55
Speaker
The evaluation revealed in that our users group participants told us and every month we hold a meeting of people like Julie and people at her counterparts from the other participating school districts just to share best practices and do a little troubleshooting and problem solving together.
00:19:11
Speaker
And one conclusion that we reached is that in the funding process, it's essential for the school district to engage its superintendent as the face of the funder outreach. So it's not just coming from the mental health coordinators who really have no experience in raising money. They can write grants, they can tell stories. So we've been positioning the mental health experts in the school district as storytellers, but sometimes the superintendent can open a door.
00:19:36
Speaker
with a local funder because of a prior relationship and the superintendent's role in the community. And I think that's a key learning and I'm glad you brought that out. As you start to look at this approach, it really is a multi-pronged person approach out of the school district.
00:19:53
Speaker
And I love how you kind of look at who can open doors to that conversation. And so that piece was a great learning that having your superintendent really be involved in this process is also a key learning. So I'm glad you brought that out for our listeners today. So in all of this, which is a great program and a lot of great fun development has been occurring,
00:20:17
Speaker
So if I'm a school district out there listening today, and this is my first... I'm kind of tapping in a little bit. I love what I'm hearing. What are some initial steps that a school district can do just to even map out some potential funders in their community? What kind of advice or guidance would you say for school districts? We haven't really done a lot of work in the funder world. What can they do to start?
00:20:47
Speaker
Well, again, first, as I said before, they need to have their story. That is a must-have step. Once they've got their story and they have an inventory of their projects and initiatives and they know the remaining challenges and opportunities and so on, then they can start identifying local funders who already have an instinct, maybe an appetite for this kind of
00:21:17
Speaker
of funding. I always like to start with the local United Way and the local community foundation and find out who's funding what through those two organizations. Because generally the community foundations and the United Ways of Wisconsin have a focus on health and or mental health and or K-12 education. So somewhere in that picture
00:21:47
Speaker
I always find clues of funders who might be receptive to this message, to this story. I also find people within the United Way and or the Community Foundation who have an interest in reinforcing that message and reinforcing that story. It doesn't mean that the Community Foundation and the United Way will offer additional money. They're already in many cases supporting those initiatives anyhow. But they can be great catalysts
00:22:16
Speaker
and conveners of local funders who might have an interest in hearing the story.
Positioning Schools as Leaders in Mental Health
00:22:21
Speaker
We're starting to do that with some of our communities is engage the community foundation and or United Way in convening funders including donor advise fund holders at the community foundation who might have an interest
00:22:37
Speaker
in hearing the story. So that's the kind of outreach that I think a school district can start with. Another thing that we haven't explored too much but it just seems intuitively obvious to me and that is going through the business manager of the school district. Because in many cases the business manager has established relationships
00:22:55
Speaker
with local businesses, they might be vendors or business partners of the school district, and they may have a philanthropic arm. And that's another reason for the superintendent to get involved because if the superintendent is active in rotary or the Chamber of Commerce, et cetera, he or she is usually in a position to open a few doors and connect a few dots.
00:23:18
Speaker
And that is great information for school districts and great advice. I love that. Steve, anything else that you want to share with school districts today that we haven't talked about in just in terms of the work that you're doing at WEA Member Benefits Foundation, things that school districts may want to know about as they start this journey of sustainability? One thing that
00:23:46
Speaker
occurs to me is that school district mental health specialists can position the school district as a thought leader in the area of youth mental health.
00:24:01
Speaker
And in many communities where I've been working, and by the way, we just added Wausau School District as our sixth participating. And we're going to be adding Stevens Point and Green Bay shortly, some serious discussions going on there. And we're looking for some rural districts and others where we can bring this program. What I'm hopeful about is that if a school district can position itself as a thought leader about mental health in that community,
00:24:30
Speaker
That will lead to fundraising.
Adapting Funding Strategies Post-COVID
00:24:33
Speaker
That will lead to financial support. But you need to position your expertise first.
00:24:39
Speaker
your competencies and skills and successes and then what's unfinished for the community so it's you're not being selfish about your own budget or about the school district itself you're being very unselfish about wanting to improve the well-being of students and and the community in terms of mental health so presentations at rotary not about the funding that you need but about you know the you know speaking of need the need for
00:25:08
Speaker
mental health support and how the school district and others are really filling that need already. A lot of business leaders don't understand that yet. They don't understand what the YRBS survey is revealing. They don't understand the increase in emergency room admissions for mental health issues. They don't understand that at least 20% of all students have mental or behavioral health
00:25:33
Speaker
issues and it spiked to 60% for high school students at the height of COVID. And a lot of people don't know that. So as a thought leader, you can share that insight with people very unselfishly and very effectively. So that's what I'd like to see school districts doing. And I know they've already got a lot on their plate, but heck, it's fun to make a presentation to a room full of a hundred business leaders and helping them understand the story.
00:26:00
Speaker
You know, and I think that it's a great point to bring up because in looking at sustainability, I think that, you know, as we start to look at budgets and school districts are really struggling with kind of end of the air COVID funding is starting to move away that
00:26:15
Speaker
Here's another program that we can escalate in to help kind of replace the loss of funding that school districts are receiving. So I love that piece of really, you know, we have the data and now we just take it one step further and let's tell our story and pull it together so our community understands
00:26:34
Speaker
the needs of our kids in the school setting so I really appreciate that. Steve, one thing I do want to talk about because you brought up a lot of great things in this podcast today and it really changes fund development for school districts. It also gets us school districts a little more comfortable going out.
00:26:54
Speaker
asking for money. So I do have a question. You have a wealth of knowledge. You have spent a lifetime in fund development and philanthropic efforts. How can you help school districts leverage funded relationships and engagement in their local community? What can you offer school districts too if they just really just need that extra coaching or support?
00:27:16
Speaker
Well, I'm happy to provide coaching and guidance. No cost, no obligation. We can't provide the funding for every school district. There are 421 of them in the state of Wisconsin. But we can provide some guidance and some tips and best practices. We can also put them in touch with school districts.
00:27:35
Speaker
that have done this fund development and funder outreach successfully. Our users group members are more than happy to answer questions from other school districts. And so am I. There's one school district I'm working with where we are not in a position to provide funding for them, but we are in a position to provide guidance and to open a few doors and make a few calls on their behalf.
00:27:57
Speaker
help them tell their story, help them outline their story effectively. We help one school district secure a $100,000 grant by telling their story, not asking for the money, but just telling their story to the funder who had expressed an interest in helping that school district. My philosophy is sometimes you can raise more money by not trying to raise the money, but just by telling your story.
Maintaining Relationships with Funders for Support
00:28:22
Speaker
So I'm happy to work with
00:28:24
Speaker
with school districts one-on-one and see how we can assist them in making this happen. Awesome. And Steve, any final comments as we come to a close of our time together today? I think this has been such an informative podcast and it really gets school districts to think about sustainability different because I think that is the question on the table these days.
00:28:49
Speaker
as I move across the state through the work that we're doing in the Coalition for Expanding School Mental Health in Wisconsin, it certainly is top of mind of most school districts right now. And instead of leveraging like how are we going to replace funding, it really becomes another let's tell our story and look at fund development in a different way. And so I've kind of appreciated that.
00:29:12
Speaker
yes i i guess i'd wrap up by saying to sustain the funding you need to sustain the relationship with the funder and that means inviting them to some of your events that means participating in their events getting invited to their corporate table out of fundraiser for another organization uh... and keeping them informed about your progress celebrating with them the impact of their money another favorite phrase of mine is because of you
00:29:41
Speaker
We are now able to serve 150 more students than we were able to serve before. Or because of you, we have a website now that lists mental health resources for families, kids, and staff. So celebrate your achievements. Celebrate the way and help them understand the way that their money is making a difference. And their likelihood then of extending and renewing that support is much stronger.
00:30:07
Speaker
Awesome. And I love that. And I hope that our listeners found this to be a really informative podcast. And I want to thank Steve Goldberg today for being our guest speaker on this topic. And again, he's offering support. So again, that will all be in the link in the show notes on how to reach out. Also, the coalition does have monthly consultation.
00:30:30
Speaker
sessions that are virtual. So if you do are also interested in learning more about the work of the coalition or have questions about comprehensive mental health systems, that is also a great resource that is located on our coalition website, which you will find in our notes of this podcast. So with that, keep working at School of Mental Health because School of Mental Health works.
00:30:53
Speaker
Looking forward to future episodes? Make sure to subscribe on the podcast platform of your choice and leave us a rating so that others invested in better mental health for Wisconsin students can find us. We welcome your questions. You can reach us and find resources and learn more by checking out today's show notes and by visiting the coalition's website at schoolmentalhealthwisconsin.org. Until next time.