Grantees have good stories to tell, as well as the promise of compelling chapters yet to be written.

A good mission statement doesn’t sit on a shelf in a strategic planning book, but is carried out daily by real people doing important work. Our Foundation makes grants to organizations and people who work to improve health. Grantees have good stories to tell, as well as the promise of compelling chapters yet to be written. Grants have all the components of a good story, such as the conflict found in the hardships uninsured families face in trying to access healthcare. And tragedy, such as parents who have lost their children to gun violence. There is also often a moral to the story. For our grantees, a recurring theme is that it is better to prevent disease than to treat the more expensive medical problems that can arise from inadequate health care, environmental health hazards, violence and teen pregnancy. And there are some wonderful fairy tale endings, such as new policies that create or support programs that inspire young women to go to college rather than accept the idea that teen pregnancy is inevitable because they are women of color from low-income communities. Then there are those rare stories that inspire or make the spirit soar, like the priest who creates jobs for gang members in his community and doing so, practices what he preaches: “nothing stops a bullet like a job.”

We strongly believe we owe it to our grantees and the people they serve to use our non-grantmaking resources to tell their stories. So our entire communications program is focused on our grantees and their work. Why? Because the people most affected by a problem often have little or no opportunity to contribute to policy changes, to propose solutions or to be involved in efforts that can increase resources to address the very issues that disproportionately affect their lives. We want to be a partner in telling their stories. Their messages and proposed solutions are there. However, policymakers and opinion leaders may not be hearing their voices.

Here is where the power of philanthropy can help. Our Foundation uses its arsenal of communications tactics — publications, media relations, the Internet, video productions and advertising, among others — to amplify the voices of grantees and the underserved so that their messages can reach key audiences and, in the best of circumstances, improve people’s lives.

Our work relies heavily on adapting the best practices found in general news media markets and ethnic media newsrooms. We also try to avoid the “philanthropy speak,” which has been a nasty habit for far too long in our field. Tony Proscio’s writings on the subject — “In Other Words: A Plea for Plain Speaking in Foundations” and “Bad Words for Good,” both published by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation — have been wholeheartedly embraced by our communications team and affirmed the decision we made several years ago to revamp our materials to include language that is simple and approachable. If you think about it, philanthropic communications should be painless, as enjoyable as reading a good book.

By using our varied resources and honing our storytelling skills, we believe our Foundation plays a role in helping grantees provide a rich contribution to public dialogue and increasing awareness among policymakers, the news media and the public-at-large about ways in which Californians’ health can be improved.