Silicon Valley Community Foundation FAQ

Pros

First and foremost, staff are incredibly talented, resourceful, and helpful to one another. There is a solutions-oriented mindset, which somewhat helps to overcome the inevitable frustrations of dealing with outdated technology and manual processes. The foundation offers a very generous benefits package in comparison to the nonprofit sector at large. More recently the organization has also taken important steps to put in place compensation standards that enable it to remain competitive in that area. When it comes to professional development, there are numerous opportunities both formal and informal for staff to pursue - in addition to dedicated time off for professional development activities and access to resources. This comes on the heels of some very intentional moves on the foundation's part to expand its offerings. And even if someone does not take advantage of these, the exposure that they will receive to the different parts of the philanthropy industry just by working here is abundant, resulting in lots of great experience to carry into one's career path/future roles.

Cons

Management is poor in general. Senior leadership does not take an interest in understanding what staff faces on a day-to-day basis, which hampers efforts to implement solutions. Even while there is a commitment to improving the organization, the lack of attention to thoughtfully scoping the way forward only creates further problems. On top of that, various levels of and departments within the organization appear to be quite out of sync with each other and there is a sense that either staff does not understand their priorities or has not been given any meaningful direction. High turnover also exacerbates already critical knowledge gaps, which makes it difficult to foster the culture of continuous improvement that the foundation has been striving to achieve. Under its newer management the organization's executive team, and to a lesser degree its leadership team, have also demonstrated a tendency to want to reverse the way things are done seemingly for the sake of reversing them but not always for an objective reason. Particularly when these changes are piled on top of each other, it results in additional workloads that teams who are already stretched thin simply cannot manage. Overall, the challenges of working within and trying to transform a decades-old infrastructure lead to a considerable amount of strife and cultural tension across all levels, which unfortunately plagues the workforce even as other workplace issues that were exposed at the foundation in 2018 have been addressed. Worse yet, the HR team is not sufficiently aware of all that goes on amid this environment.

Advice to Management

Start by understanding what the work actually consists of and then crafting a reasonable plan to implement realistic improvements given the current state rather than trying to achieve a wholesale transformation all at once. Consider implementing a centralized body or work group that is charged with evaluating what efforts are already underway in departments across the organization so that they can be understood in a larger context relative to each other, and then prioritized or reassessed as appropriate. Think through what would then make sense as a measurable set of goals and benchmarks for each team, department and individual so that all staff regardless of position understands what they are working towards. Strategic plans may be inspirational, but just amount to shiny words on paper without an accompanying implementation plan. Staff should be able to comprehend and internalize team goals and also understand them in context of an implementation plan that follows from the strategic plan. Give serious thought to how to address issues of staffing relative to work-life balance, which is lacking at best and harmful at worst. Rebalance efforts where necessary. Do not continue to overly rely on external consultants who do not understand the business for expertise about how to improve it. Respect staff by viewing them as a vessel for change, not an impediment to it.

Pros

Provide good benefits & 403b

Cons

Promote manager with no experience.

Advice to Management

Managers need more training

Pros

- Exposure to many different aspects of philanthropy, from impact investing to complex assets and diverse types of grants. - Community team makes meaningful grants to high-impact nonprofits in the area.

Cons

- Pervasive lack of trust among key leadership, including CEO, in employees' ability to do their jobs leads to micro-managing and discourages learning and innovation. - ELT members, VPs, and HR leaders talk about employees behind their backs rather than giving constructive feedback. Shame-driven culture also leads staff to blame someone when mistakes are made rather than focusing on solutions. - Lack of responsiveness to feedback from employees about how they do their best work. Leadership asked each team to develop RTO plans, then rolled out a plan disregarding employee feedback without acknowledging 180 in approach. - Culture rewards burnout behavior where leaders model little to no work/life balance and joke about checking email at all hours and not taking vacation. - New positions posted and hiring decisions made made without consulting or building buy in among key team members. - CEO shows no accountability for culture and turnover after 3+ yrs. in role. - Very hierarchical.

Advice to Management

Take a look at the consistently high turnover and listen to employees when they share the concerns of their teams, the challenges they're facing, and the staffing needed to achieve organizational goals. Turnover cannot be written off as due to the pandemic. Be transparent about how and why key decisions are made. Organizational values are superficial if employees are not treated with genuine care and empathy. Serious work needed to rebuild employees' trust in HR.

Pros

Great mission, good opportunity to launch a career. Lots and lots to learn. Very very good team mates.

Cons

Org has some financial restrains which makes it a bit difficult to fully invest in staff and organizational development. They are in the process of change, hence you need thick skin to survive the storm.

Pros

well-known company in the non-profit sector.

Cons

Not a lot of opportunities for career advancement.