Our Three-Year Anniversary: Reflections on the Field of Mental Health Philanthropy
For us at Mindful Philanthropy, every May marks not only Mental Health Month but also the anniversary of our founding. As we work to elevate mental health in the national conversation and guide funders to greater impact in this area, we’re reflecting on the state of the field, how far we’ve come, and the exciting opportunities ahead for funders to change the course of our nation’s well-being.
Mindful Philanthropy was founded three years ago with the mission of catalyzing impactful funding in mental health, addiction, and well-being. We envision a world in which all funders are invested in solutions that integrate mental health and well-being so that all people have equitable access to the tools and resources they need to be well. This Mental Health Month - and beyond - we are challenging all funders to take key steps toward impact, as illustrated by the following soundbites we’ve heard in our work this past year:
“Come on in, the water’s warm!”
The field of mental health is at a crossroads. Despite the growing mental health needs of our country, the mental health sector is complex, siloed, and fragmented. Decades of stigma and underinvestment have also put mental health far behind other health issue areas and kept it out of mainstream conversations around our nation’s health. Fortunately, this has begun to change in recent years, accelerated in part by the COVID-19 pandemic and its mental health effects. Now is an opportune time to strengthen and unify this nascent field to create the conditions needed for all people to be well.
Funders who are new to mental health should get off the sidelines and get involved. However, that doesn’t mean going in blind. There are plenty of resources to help you get started. One place to begin is through topic areas with intersecting impact, such as homelessness or education. Mindful Philanthropy’s primer series, Intersecting Impact: A Series on Mental Health’s Connection to Other Social Issues, explores how funders can amplify their impact by intentionally including mental health in their funding strategy for other issue areas. Topics covered thus far include youth well-being, homelessness, and women and girls.
“Lift up your eyes.”
Too often, funders are hyperfocused on the experiences that guide them to the mental health space, resulting in starting new initiatives and providing support to niche programs. While well-intended, we as a field can collectively achieve greater impact when we understand our role in the broader ecosystem and apply our individual priorities toward a set of common goals.
Every day, we speak with philanthropic funders, business leaders, subject matter experts, and other change agents who describe the highly fragmented nature of the mental health sector that hampers our ability to make progress for our nation’s mental health. This includes the absence of a shared language to describe the problem and related solutions, goals for the sector, and metrics by which to measure progress. As a thought leader, convener, and objective guide, Mindful is working to galvanize the field of cross-sector philanthropy toward a common north star for mental health that aligns interests with impact.
“We can go farther together.”
It may be cliche, but it’s certainly true - when we work together, we can achieve greater impact. As one funder put it at our recent event on youth mental health, “Keep an eye out for the joy that can come with connecting good people…So often there can be shared learnings and collaborative efforts; we don’t have to be in siloes.” Whether it’s through a funders’ collective, public-private partnership, or local collaboration with other stakeholders in your community, looking for ways to work with others toward a common goal will dramatically increase the difference you can make.
One crucial way that philanthropy can foster collaboration is by “setting the table.” The power to bring diverse stakeholders together to learn and collaborate is a unique strength of philanthropy that is often underutilized. For example, to strengthen the mental health system in Ohio, one of our founding funders, Peg’s Foundation, has built deep relationships with state leaders, providers, associations, payers, advocacy groups, and legislators to activate smart ideas and policies. They have found that having credibility with these decision makers and stakeholders, built by learning together over time, has made systems change possible.
In three short years, we have already guided over $45 million into the field of mental health. And there is much more to come. We are a small yet rapidly growing organization, whose growth exemplifies the urgent need for funder resources in this field. In the coming months and years, we look forward to continuing and expanding efforts in our three workstreams:
Connecting and convening funders for learning and collaboration
Guiding funders toward strategy and smart investments
Uplifting proven and promising opportunities that are ready to fund now
This includes growing our offerings of funder convenings - including our annual Activate funder summit, producing public and custom guidance to meet timely funding needs, expanding our leadership in public-private leaderships, and much more.
We are grateful for all of our current supporters and champions who make our work possible every day. If you have not already joined us on this journey, we welcome you to come along with us. There is exciting work ahead.
