Innovative new space to foster innovative giving

PITTSBURGH, Pa., June 3, 2016 - The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Center for Philanthropy, which has for the past three years been the engine driving novel collaboration among individual donors, the organization’s grantmaking and nonprofits in the region, now has its own meeting space inside the Foundation’s offices in the PPG Place complex Downtown.

In welcoming donors, their financial advisors, grantees and staff from other foundations to an open house celebration of the 11,000-square-foot space, Foundation President and CEO Maxwell King said the investment in the physical space underscores the board and staff’s expectation that the Center’s innovative methods are charting the future of community philanthropy.

“The Center for Philanthropy is the manifestation of the next era of community philanthropy,” King told the group. “The traditional model has been for community foundations to focus on building funds and being good stewards for donors. We still need to do that, of course, but the expectations are higher and the focus is changing. The people who establish funds want to be more directly involved in understanding community problems and assets. They have ideas and life experiences that add value to the grant making done by the Foundation.

“The Center is the place where donors become engaged and authentic philanthropists,” said King.

Since its inception as a conceptual space in 2013, the Center has become a national model for community foundations that have been searching for ways to tap into their donors’ passion for strategy development and front-line work in charitable giving. Activities in the Center foster more effective philanthropy and include hosting collaborative meetings with nonprofit organizations, educational sessions on community issues and field trips to understand the work of grantees working in the community.

To activate this work, the former rabbit warren of dimly lit offices has been opened up to emphasize natural light and create “a free flow of engagement,” says architect Anne Chen of GBBN, the Garfield-based firm hired to design the renovated space. Visitors step off the elevator into an open reception area banked by PPG Place’s distinctive gothic glass windows.

Offices are built around the periphery, and there are five meeting rooms, each named for a Foundation donor, and each with LCD screens to watch films or presentations, along with an improved wireless signal and plenty of places to plug in and connect. Walls in many of the rooms have special paint that turns them into giant dry-erase canvases for writing, drawing and outlining ideas.

But the focal point of the new design is the Kiva meeting space. In Native American culture, a kiva was an underground circular room used for community meetings and rituals. Today, it’s a central principle of the human-centered design movement.

“It’s the manifestation of a philosophy that places humans in the center and asks them what they need instead of telling them what they need,” said Yvonne Maher, senior vice president of the Foundation’s Development and Donor Services section, who led development of the Center. The Center is home base for the Foundation’s signature collaborations such as Impact Giving Circles and family philanthropy meetings.

Comfort, flexibility and adaptability are paramount: a corner meeting room has chairs and sofas that feel more like a living room, with a folding glass partition that can be opened to expand the space for networking events, Q & A sessions and presentations. At the heart of the Center is an open workspace designed to make it easier for Foundation staff to collaborate and to be readily accessible to donors and grantees. Along one softly lit hallway, there are rows of small booths for privacy and one-on-one conversations. There’s not a mahogany-paneled room in sight — even the board room eschews hierarchy, with moveable tables and a wavy ceiling, providing acoustics that allow anyone to be heard no matter where they are sitting.

“Many donors struggle with the question of how their families will cultivate a culture of generosity that reflects the wisdom and values of elders, while still inspiring younger family members. At the Center for Philanthropy, our staff facilitates family meetings to start the conversation and guide families through complex multigenerational dynamics to agreement about how to give together,” said Maher. “This amazing space will enable us to engage donors at a much higher level, which translates into more substantial benefits for the entire community.” 

For more information about The Pittsburgh Foundation’s Center for Philanthropy, please visit http://pittsburghfoundation.org/philanthropy.

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