Greater Philadelphia Food Funders Strategic Plan 2014 - 2018 (2014)

The Food Funders, an affinity group of Philanthropy Network Greater Philadelphia (formerly Delaware Valley Grantmakers) formed in 2009 to share knowledge, learn collectively and collaborate on issues related to food and the food system in the Delaware Valley. Five years later, the Food Funders enjoys more than 80 members and hosts periodic educational events for funders throughout the year.

With support from the Convergence Partnership the Food Funders recently embarked on a strategic planning process. The plan, released in January 2014, will guide the work of the Food Funders over the next four years. It establishes five overarching goals:

• Learn collectively through shared experiences to better understand social inequities, environmental challenges and innovative policy and programmatic solutions
• Maximize effective food system grantmaking by proactively identifying critical gaps in the regional food system, empowering funders to collaborate on joint actions measuring impact.
• Create a strong community of diverse funders that builds trusting relationships between members, recruits and welcomes new members, and retains members
• Embrace shared leadership by encouraging professional development and offering opportunities for deeper engagement
• Engage and support the community of food system grantees by being effective partners, connecting grantees to issue areas that intersect with the regional food system, communicating successes, raising the philanthropic community's awareness around these complicated and interconnected solutions, and promoting equity.

Download the full plan below.