The Insider's Guide to Grantmaking: How Foundations Find, Fund, and Manage Effective Programs

Creating a Policy Framework

One framework for conducting policy work is that developed by the W. K. Kellogg Foundation. This is only one method, and others can be equally valid, but it does provide a useful way of conceptualizing policy activities.

Program policy focus: a complex issue that is selected for policy work. Foci may be as broad as tax policy or as narrow as a single regulation. Foci are measurable, have the potential for movement, and could involve any number of possible positions, some of which may be controversial. An example of a focus is health care access for uninsured children. The number of uninsured children is measurable and may increase or decrease, and a foundation could take many different positions on the subject.