NEW YORK — Foundations often have a basic question when it comes to funding work in line with the Sustainable Development Goals: Where do they start?
While many philanthropic funders remain unaware of the SDGs, others are increasingly thinking about how their work can intersect with the 17 ambitious development goals, according to Heather Grady, a vice president of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, a nonprofit organization that advises on more than $200 million of annual charitable giving. She often advises that an initial step forward involves reflecting on their existing portfolios of work.
“If you are working on early childhood education, the starting place is to figure out what SDG goal and target you are contributing to. The first step is alignment in terms of categorization,” Grady said in an interview. “The second might be communicating your portfolio according to what SDGs they contribute to.”