A New and Successful Workshop Format

By: Sam Davis In: 2010 Family Philanthropy Conference| Family Philanthropy

2 Feb 2010

The topic was small grants by family foundations and each of the panelists shared solid examples of successful small grants. However, the most exciting part of the Size Doesn’t Matter workshop was the new format designed and facilitated by Wendy Jaffe of The Trio Foundation of St. Louis.

The panelists, Shirley Fredericks, Matthew Hervey, Athan Lindsay and Kathy Doellefeld-Clancy, presented compelling success stories of small grants made by their foundations. Then, in a new twist employed by Ms. Jaffe, the panelists each joined workshop participants at one of four tables where in an eight minute “speed dating” format, they responded to questions in a small-group setting. Panelists rotated to the four participant tables during the workshop so that every participant could speak personally with each of the presenters.

This format allowed every member of the panel to discuss his or her grantmaking in a level of detail not possible when presenting to the larger group. And workshop participants could ask questions and receive direct responses. The result was a highly interactive workshop that provided participants with more information than traditional presentation formats.

This format is ideally suited to an audience of 35 to 50 with four to five panelists presenting. A 90-minute workshop allows ample time for both presentations to the large group and individual discussions with up to five tables of participants. I hope to see this new and successful workshop format employed at future Council conferences.

Sam Davis is the principal at The Davis Group.

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