Rural Development Philanthropy Learning Network

Building rural assets to build rural livelihoods

The Aspen Institute: Community Strategies Group

On this page:

Preliminary materials

Starting point: The Framework

Case studies

Tactic and strategy break-outs

Connecting donors with rural community and economic development

Rural Grantmaking & Program Activities

Building Rural Livelihood

Using Community Foundation Programs and Grantmaking to Improve Rural Community and Economic Development Outcomes


Held in July, 2002, "Building Rural Livelihood" gathered a group of 60 participants representing 26 community foundations and 19 states as well as South Africa. Participants were introduced to the Learning Network's new Building Rural Livelihood: A Thinking and Action Framework and heard in-depth case studies and strategic guidance on implementating successful RDP programs and grantmaking. Participants shared their own unique RDP challenges, and a panel of leading RDP fundraisers and community builders discussed ways to connect donors to RDP programs.

Whether you attended the workshop and want to retrieve materials you remember, or missed the workshop and want to review the materials presented, the outline and links that follow will let you peruse the events of the two-day session.

Note: Many of the files listed below are in Adobe PDF format. To view these, you'll need Adobe's (free) reader—which is probably already on your computer but which you can otherwise easily get online.


Preliminary Materials


Starting Point: The Framework

Janet Topolsky and Pat Vasbinder introduced the new Building Rural Livelihood: A Thinking and Action Framework, which offers a framework for how community foundations can design effective grantmaking and program efforts to help build the economic vitality of rural families and communities. Based on RDP experience since 1993, the guts of this framework is the RDP Program Design Circle, and its eight questions. The Circle served as the outline for the five community foundation case studies.

Building Rural Livelihood: Case studies

Caring and daring staff from RDPLN member foundations used the RDP Program Design Circle to tell five different RDP program and grantmaking stories. Each story focused on one of the Six Whats of RDP Program and Grantmaking. Each peer moved around the Circle as their foundation used it (whether wittingly or not), and closed with some key points on what has worked for the best, their toughest challenges, and advice they would offer themselves—or you—in hindsight.


Strategy and Implementation Break-Outs

Getting Started: Designing Rural Community Economic Development Programs and Grantmaking—For those who want more practice, this session used the RDP Design Circle to explore some tough and terrific stories about how community foundations started and adjusted the design of a new program or grantmaking effort focused on improving rural community and economic development, especially for low-income rural families and communities.

Evaluating and learning from rural community and economic development program and grantmaking efforts—The focus of this session was how a community foundation—and its grantees—assess, learn from and improve the impact of their rural community economic development grantmaking and program efforts.

Position and purpose: What roles can community foundations play to improve rural community and economic development?—This session explored the most critical roles that community foundations can play in enhancing economic security for low-income rural families and communities.

Increasing and sustaining the impact of your rural community economic development program/grantmaking—This session explored the ways in which community foundations fortify or structure their program and/or grantmaking efforts so as to increase and sustain positive impact on rural communities and low-income rural populations.


Connecting donors with rural community and economic development

This session explored messages and methods community foundation leaders have used to engage a range of donors in supporting RDP community economic development programs and grantmaking. The panel included: