The David and Lucile Packard Foundation's Commitment to Strengthening the Nonprofit Sector

Since 1964, the David and Lucile Packard Foundation has been guided by values passed down by our founders—integrity, respect for all people, belief in individual leadership, commitment to effectiveness, and the capacity to think big. These values govern our grantmaking approach and define the success of our programs.

We believe that these values are best realized by assuring that a wide array of expertise and ideas, cultures and people shape the work of the Foundation. This is why we are committed to diversity in our workplace and in the programs we fund. Click here for more information about The Packard Foundation's Commitment to Inclusiveness and Diversity (PDF: 11 KB) and here for our Code of Conduct and Statement of Values (PDF: 35 KB) for our Board of Trustees.

As a private, family foundation, we believe that the issue areas and geographies within which we support nonprofit organizations should be determined by our Board of Trustees. We also firmly believe that strong and dynamic nonprofit organizations are crucial to lasting impact in the places and issue areas we prioritize.

Because of this, our Foundation specifically supports nonprofit organizations in strengthening their core administrative and management functions, including initiatives to ensure that they reflect and benefit from diverse leadership, staff and constituents. While we have been offering this type of support for 25 years, it is particularly important today given the economic pressures on nonprofit organizations and the increasing needs of their constituents, and the leadership transitions many will face over the next few years.

One of the first foundations to explore this unique area, the Packard Foundation has an entire program (Organizational Effectiveness or OE) focused on building the internal capacity of nonprofit organizations at every level and improving access to the resources that can transform their organizations in sustained and meaningful ways. For more information, see Capacity-Building Support for Our Grantees.

In many instances, the goals of our programs in conservation, population, or children's issues are specifically linked to diversity goals. For more information, see Promoting Outcomes That Benefit Diverse Communities.

Throughout our Foundation's history, we have also supported scholarship and leadership development programs to nurture and inspire emerging leaders, for example, in the sciences and public health, at tribal colleges and historically black colleges and universities, at executive and board levels across the nonprofit sector and within targeted geographies of historical importance to the Packard family. For more information, see Investing in the Next Generation of Leaders and Supporting Our Local Community.

Within the philanthropic sector, we are actively engaged in efforts to remove hurdles that keep foundations and nonprofit organizations from best serving the needs of diverse communities. These systemic issues include the lack of capacity for many smaller and community-based organizations to compete for funding from large foundations; and the need to more specifically direct capacity-building and leadership development efforts at such organizations and emerging leaders of color. For more information, see the Foundation's Engagement on Diversity Within the Philanthropic Sector  (PDF: 17 KB).

Ensuring that policies and practices of nonprofit organizations and the philanthropic community address the interests of diverse communities, that nonprofit organizations have the skills to engage with diverse communities in crafting solutions that meet their needs, and that the leadership within the nonprofit sector reflects the diversity of its members and beneficiaries—all of these aspirations continue to be integral to the ultimate success of our program initiatives and the grantees we support.

We will continue to look for opportunities to work with all our partners to better attract the broadest diversity of expertise and ideas, people and cultures so that we can better our communities, enrich the nonprofit sector and improve philanthropy's effectiveness.