Flinn Foundation 2002 Annual Report

When the Board of Directors chose in 2001 to commit all of the Foundation's healthcare resources over the next decade to propel Arizona to national prominence in the biosciences, we became engaged in a different philanthropic style - though we did not fully appreciate its significance at the time.

Proposing that Arizona could become a national biosciences leader seemed a bold and lofty goal. Compared to other states and regions, Arizona trailed by most measures used to gauge the impact of a biosciences economy. Yet, no segment of Arizona's economy is growing faster than the biosciences, and the state is well positioned for continued energetic growth if we take advantage of existing expertise and niche market opportunities.

Lacking the abundant resources needed to achieve this daring vision ourselves, we knew the Foundation must form partnerships with multiple public-and private-sector groups. We would seek to convene stakeholders and funding partners, and connect interests and resources with needs. Only by pooling our limited resources with others could we hope to identify and sustain mutual goals. Doing so would be time and staff intensive.

It also meant abandoning the Foundation's conventional practice of awarding grants among a broad universe of applicants. Instead, the Foundation uses its grant dollars to fill strategic gaps. We focus on a few select projects where evidence suggests our funds can truly make a difference. And, we function as an engaged partner, providing advice, access to consultant expertise, and a host of non-cash resources.

This proactive operating style was demonstrated in the successful effort to help recruit the International Genomics Consortium (IGC), a nonprofit cancer tissue analysis group, to Phoenix, and to form the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen).

We assisted in building the unprecedented coalition of leaders from state, city, and county governments, universities, healthcare institutions, businesses, and the medical research field that wooed IGC and made TGen a reality. We also hosted events to formulate strategies, involved consultants with expertise in constructing biomedical research enterprises, and committed the extensive staff time and resources required to make this happen.

These two developments helped move Arizona to the forefront of human genome-based research. Some likened it to Motorola's decision to locate in Phoenix more than 50 years earlier.

The lesson learned: Foundations contribute greater value when they partner with community leaders to pool resources - both money and leadership - to achieve shared goals. This requires flexibility in recognizing the constraints imposed on public-sector agencies as well as private and corporate donors, and an ability to respond quickly to meet short-term financial needs inherent in the planning and coalition-building process.