25. How Cordell Carter Raised $3M in Philanthropic Funding

Our guest today is Cordell Carter. We had a fascinating conversation about the funding landscape for K12 education. Cordell is an entrepreneurial leader, nationally recognized for cross-sector successes in philanthropy, education, and technology. He is currently leading the Aspen Institute Socrates Program, a global education forum for emerging leaders. He has previously held leadership roles with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Business Roundtable, National Alliance for Public Charter Schools and the IBM Corporation. 

In this episode, Cordell takes us into the heart and soul of philanthropic funding and gives us a glimpse into the mindset of those who hold the purse-strings. He tells school leaders where to look, how to plan, and how to demonstrate results that will attract grants.

Listen and take note of how getting your “story” right might be the most important piece in positioning your school to receive philanthropic attention. If you have ever thought about grant funding for your school, or are even interested in the evolving strategy of foundations and others in education, Cordell has a deep understanding of what’s going on. So, here he is.

Quotes:

6:07 “People love winners. I’m going to fund people who don’t need me - meaning, you’re already figuring out a way to achieve in spite of a lack of resources.”

10:15 “The one thing you can’t replicate is time… you either make more use of it, or you can’t.”

15:14 “The big trend to watch for is this move toward an investment approach; foundations are changing to limited liability corporations.” 

23:40 “I like to think of foundation funds as strategic funds (used) to expand a promising practice or to highlight something that’s unique.”

32:10 “The winners (those who get funded) are the people who can make an emotional connection to people who are driven by data. Get your story down.”

Here are some resources mentioned in our discussion:

Arnold Ventures https://www.arnoldventures.org/

The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation https://www.gatesfoundation.org/

The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative https://chanzuckerberg.com/

Teach for America  https://www.teachforamerica.org/

Where to learn more about Cordell Carter:

At Aspen Institute - aspeninstitute.org/our-people/cordell-carter-ii/

Twitter - @cordellcarterii

Carter on Linkedin https://www.linkedin.com/in/cordellcarterii

Where to learn more about Enrollhand:

Website: www.enrollhand.com

Our webinar: https://webinar-replay.enrollhand.com

Our free Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/schoolgrowth/