How are OTGs Unique and Why Should You Go or Even Host One?
An OTG is done with a lot of love and creativity, with an eye toward offering each of us who attends the opportunity to challenge ourselves about what “resident-driven” looks like, how philanthropy can support it, and what needs to be different about our work to do so. OTGs are an opportunity to learn, share your challenges in community building & grassroots grantmaking with others who have them too, and see how change is made by the people doing it, in ways that are often under the radar but that deserve to be known.
GRGM is looking for the hosts of our 2015 and 2016 OTGs – would your organization like to host this amazing event? Our National Planning Committee, composed of passionately committed grantmakers from around the country, will work closely with you every step of the way, and GRGM staff will provide phone and in-person support for you.
At an OTG, which we adamantly call an “anti-conference”, residents and funders come together for the express purpose of sharing the richness of their experiences as community investors who are exploring how to build communities better. The dialogue that results is unlike any other in philanthropy.
Participants have the opportunity to explore neighborhoods with resident change-makers, funders and other leaders as they show you the manifestations of their work and share the processes that were necessary to bring them about.
You can share your own expertise or take advantage of someone else’s in the Open Space we provide, in which specific topics are offered by OTG participants during a “Learning Marketplace” that allows you to do a deeper dive into topics of concern.
You will have opportunities to explore why local change matters in the big picture, and how transforming local communities can help transform a nation badly in need of it. Our “anti-conference” is a place to see your work with fresh eyes and take home valuable contacts and tools for future work and social change.
I hope you will come, and bring staff and resident leaders with you. The experience will strengthen and develop your work at home like nothing else.
RFPs to host were due March 10, but if you’re interested, you can still let me know by emailing me at lisa@grassrootsgrantmakers.org, and we can talk. I hope you throw your hat into the ring!
I’ll see you soon at our next OTG. All the best to you in your work,
Lisa
Lisa Duran, Grassroots Grantmakers
