Description

First Fridays are back!

After a successful pilot, PhilMO's St. Louis Funder Network is establishing the Funder First Friday program. Building on popular single funder efforts, First Fridays are free, confidential opportunities for staff members from community organizations to meet with 2+ funder representatives outside of a formal grantmaking process for a 30-45 minute technical assistance meeting.

This meeting is intended to build the capacity of the community organization and support their successful navigation of the regional philanthropic sector. A First Friday meeting is space to discuss questions confidentially and receive assistance on topics including:

✅  Program logic models (including evaluation)

✅  Assessment tools and data collection

✅  Community resources (including introductions/connections)

✅  Program enhancements/ideation

✅  Community trends and opportunities

✅  Program implementation barriers/challenges

✅ General application writing strategies

First Fridays are NOT… 

⛔  Mandatory or required by any regional funder

⛔  Compliance-related or formal training (this conversation doesn't replace the need for long-term, in-depth support)

⛔  An opportunity to seek specific funding or request increased funding 

        (direct such queries as each individual funder advises in their application and/or on their website)

Consider First Friday conversations as a friendly, informal chance to talk through an idea or problem. Before/after consultations, community-based organizations and funders will enjoy optional networking time over light refreshments. Water, coffee, and snacks will be provided; participants are encouraged to bring a reusable mug or water bottle. Dress for the rest of your day (casual or business casual are just fine). 

WHEN?

We are scheduling for the last three First Fridays in 2025:

Friday, October 3, 2025

Friday, November 7, 2025

Friday, December 5, 2025

WHO & HOW?

Community-Based Partners/Nonprofits

Any community-based organization staff member with a question or desired area of learning may sign up. You do not need to be a 501(c)(3) nonprofit or have a current grant. You must register and, in registration, specify your question or discussion topic. Please note these conversations aren’t an on-ramp for funding or an opportunity to ask about a specific grant program (contact that funder directly as described in their application materials). This is not free ongoing consulting but rather is a friendly, informal chance to talk through an idea or problem. 

There is no fee to participate; prior registration is required. You will sign up for a specific 45-minute time slot when registering. Please arrive 15 minutes prior to that time – and you are welcome to come earlier and stay afterward for networking with other community-based organizations/nonprofits as well as funders who are on break. Water, coffee, and light snacks will be provided; you are encouraged to bring a reusable mug or water bottle.

Nonprofits/Community-Based Organizations: Pre-Registration is required & will open by Friday, September 26, 2025.

Funders/Grantmakers

Any interested staff member involved in Metro St. Louis grantmaking work is welcome to volunteer as a co-advisor. You will arrive onsite for a Funder Huddle where you will discuss the pool of questions with fellow funder advisors and determine final assignments (this lets you opt into topics you know more about and avoid any conflicts of interest). You will then hold three 30-45 minute sessions with a short break between. Water, coffee, and light snacks will be provided; you are encouraged to bring a reusable mug or water bottle. 

Volunteer funder advisors are asked to sign up for a full morning and to do so for a quarter at a time (to help us give nonprofits more notice of the number of slots available). 

Please plan to arrive at the Delmar DivINe around 8:00AM so we can begin the Funder Huddle promptly at 8:15AM. You'll be able to leave no later than Noon. You do not have to be a PhilMO Member to volunteer – the more funders we have volunteering, the more nonprofits/community-based organizations can receive assistance!

Grantmakers who want to volunteer as well as nonprofit staff who have questions must register their participation. Slots for nonprofits are limited by the number of volunteering grantmakers. 

Funders: Registration will open in September to serve as a volunteer funder-advisor in Q4.

FEEDBACK & QUESTIONS

PhilMO centers a culture of learning. We hope First Fridays will help demystify the philanthropic sector and strengthen trusted relationships between funders and community organizations. Feedback from both parties helps us understand how we’re doing, where to improve, etc. All registrants will be asked to complete a short, anonymous survey following their experience. You may also direct questions and/or share feedback directly with the PhilMO team by emailing info (at) philmo.org. We appreciate your help understanding your experience and how we might strengthen the experience both funder-advisors and nonprofit/community-based organization participants.