Co-Funding Partnerships

Collaboration is an Rx Foundation Priority

The Rx Foundation works together with other foundations as thought partners and co-funders. We strongly believe in the power of partnerships to leverage greater financial resources and to expand the network of relationships and opportunities for cross-pollination among nonprofits and funders.

In 2021, the Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundation of Massachusetts (BCBSMA) led the development of a Racial Justice in Health program to build the capacity of people of color-led, grassroots organizations. In addition to grant funding, the program provides technical assistance and peer learning for organizations interested in dismantling institutional and structural racism in health and health care delivery through community engagement, building grassroots power, and developing campaigns, strategic partnerships, and policy advocacy to improve the health care experience in Massachusetts for communities of color.

To achieve a greater reach and impact of this program, BCBSMA welcomed the Rx Foundation and the CareQuest Institute for Oral Health as collaborators and co-funders. The Rx Foundation funded a Racial Justice in Health grant to GreenRoots in Chelsea, MA, and participated in ongoing planning and learning conversations with the co-funding partners.

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Greater Value Portfolio: The Donaghue Foundation

Rx Foundation Executive Director Jennie Riley has participated on the LOI review panel for the Donaghue’ Foundation’s Greater Value Portfolio grant program for many years. In 2017 this engagement led to identifying a promising research project focused on long-term care and future planning for families caring for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities, which was of interest to both foundations. The Rx Foundation and the Donaghue Foundation developed a multi-year co-funding agreement that made it possible to expand the number of projects funded in the Greater Value Portfolio in this round of proposals, and ensured funding for Dr. Sophie Jan’s innovative and important work.

In 2018 the Rx Foundation collaborated with the Donaghue Foundation to co-fund a second grant, supporting a research team at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Health Incentives and Behavioral Economics (CHIBE) in conducting a statewide representative survey of the general Kentucky population to assess awareness, understanding, and beliefs about an anticipated Medicaid waiver program in Kentucky. Our foundations pooled resources to make this research possible with the goal that it would lead to greater understanding of Medicaid stigma, and of how the planned waiver program might impact individuals who may be eligible for Medicaid during its initial rollout or in the future.

Health Affairs Blog: Three Lessons From A Philanthropic Partnership To Expand Evaluation Of The Kentucky HEALTH Medicaid Waiver

Jennie Riley (Rx Foundation) and Lynne Garner (Donaghue Foundation) co-authored an article for Health Affairs GrantWatch describing three lessons from this collaboration, including the importance of relationships and the value of being able to streamline the grant review and decision-making process.

Building Capacity for Health Advocacy with the Maine Health Access Foundation and The Healing Trust

To develop the Building Capacity for Health Advocacy grant program, the Rx Foundation spoke with and learned from foundations around the United States who were already supporting advocacy by funding cohorts of nonprofit organizations. This led to developing foundation-to-foundation grant agreements with both The Healing Trust in Tennessee and the Maine Health Access Foundation, through which the Rx Foundation added resources to expand the scope of capacity-building support for these nonprofit organizations in Tennessee and Maine.

This arrangement both bolstered support for advocacy in two states and gave the Rx Foundation an opportunity to learn from foundation colleagues about how they developed and implemented their grant programs, learning communities, and technical assistance for grant recipients. Staff from The Healing Trust and the Maine Health Access Foundation participated in the Rx Advocacy Partners learning community, sharing their valuable perspective with advocates and organizers from other states.