Today marks the first board meeting for the foundation’s third full-time director, Louisa McCune-Elmore. I feel compelled to share not only my excitement but to reflect on our responsibilities as we look to the future. In a little while, Louisa will pass out our new annual report which reflects on our new theme, “Getting Back to Basics.”

Before I begin though, it is important for us to remember that all of us who are foundation trustees are volunteering our time in hopes of improving not only our city but the lives of our fellow Oklahomans. I want to thank you for your important work and your commitment to our mission.

When I contemplate how the public views private foundations, I think the general perception is that we are elite organizations. In reality, though, we cannot be. As trustees and staff members we cannot afford to be elitist. We need to be open. We need to be honest. We need to be straightforward. We need to be thoughtful stewards of the trust that has been placed in us over this period of time. I have been asking myself the following questions: Has our giving gotten out of touch with what the needs of our community are? Do people consider some of our granting to be obtuse or not straightforward? As I look through the grants we’ve made in the last number of years, there are grants that are so important. There are organizations we’ve started that are so vital. But there are a couple of examples of funding that may seem a little out of focus with the needs of our community.

One of the most heated discussions I remember having with my mother [Joan Kirkpatrick] occurred a number of years ago when she and Susan [McCalmont] were thinking about closing the opportunity for an organization to apply to the Kirkpatrick Foundation for funding and, instead, granting by invitation only. I’ve never been so disheartened, because that’s not what we’re about. That’s not the intent of the donors. I can assure you, it’s not the direction we are headed today. Happily, it’s not an issue anymore but merely an example of how we don’t want our organization to be thought of as any more elitist than it already is. We don’t want our staff to be thought of as elite individuals in an Ivory Tower.

For the most part, though, in the past I’ve tried to be very hands-off and let Mother exercise herself and her interests in the foundation. Obviously, the improvements that were made under her tenure as president and chairman are very important. Animal concerns and the environment are areas that my granddad never would have wanted to participate in. But foundations change—that’s what they do, that’s what we all do—and they change to meet the needs of the community and they change to meet the needs of the trustees, family members, and the community. The changes put in place by Mother are very important, and they will continue to be vital areas of concern for us.

Back to basics: Anne Morgan and I are working together on some planning, not just for the Kirkpatrick Foundation or for the Kirkpatrick Family Fund but from a family-wide standpoint. What is the philanthropic mission of the Kirkpatrick family? How can the Kirkpatrick Foundation, the Kirkpatrick Family Fund, my personal philanthropy, and Blake’s philanthropy all be organized in such a way that it’s cohesive and makes sense? We’ve never gone through this exercise before. I think it’s very important. We have to take into consideration the importance of the Oklahoma City Community Foundation, where large amounts of money have been given over the years. It is probably the family’s most important charitable investment and an essential partner in what we do. We also have to realize that the dollars we have to distribute are not infinite; they are limited. We have to think in terms of goals, and what is the best way to deploy those dollars to achieve those goals?

There are a few things that we’ve been discussing, some of which are much celebrated and some of which cause more consternation. One of them is about the issue of double-dipping. One habit I would like for us to see come to an end is the opportunity for an organization to come to the Kirkpatrick Foundation for funding more than once a year. As a continuation of this new policy, I would also like to work together with these organizations to make sure that they don’t ask both the Kirkpatrick Foundation and the Kirkpatrick Family Fund for dollars more than once a calendar year. In order to do that, we will have to divide the charities that we give to. We’re going to do that with a number of different ideas and a number of different criteria; one of them will be our historical giving. For instance, the organizations that the Kirkpatrick Family Fund most often funds are social service organizations and organizations that may want to build their endowment at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation. Then, obviously, the Kirkpatrick Foundation will continue to focus on the areas of animals, the environment, arts education, et cetera.

The endowment funds at the Oklahoma City Community Foundation are another philanthropic tool for us to remember. When my grandparents [John and Eleanor Kirkpatrick] began to set up so many endowments, the idea was to provide ongoing stabilization to nonprofits and also to help these not-for-profits build a nest egg to offset their operating needs. We’ve gotten in a habit—both at the foundation and at the family fund—of giving the same organizations continued funding. I believe this defeats the purpose of making those endowment contributions in the first place. I don’t think our role here is to provide funding to the same organizations year after year. There may be examples where that is necessary, but for the most part, I think we need to continue to look for new opportunities—sometimes within the same organizations—and many times in helping new organizations grow. Something to think about.

One of the other issues to think in terms of, too, is about working together. I’ve asked Louisa and Liz to help us all understand and illuminate the differences between the foundation and the family fund. Under no circumstances do I want to merge the two foundations. That would not be a wise thing to do. I do think it’s important that the two foundations each devise a clear, cohesive distribution policy that complements the other. Like I said earlier, it will mean that non-profit organizations will only be funded by one organization. Doing that will make us stronger. Certainly it will make our distribution policy more disciplined. By working closely together, the two foundations will become more individualistic. This will begin to highlight what we’ve known all along—that two foundations to work with is a really nice problem to have.

So upward and onward. I think in probably two years we’ll be able to look at the grants we make, and say, “Okay, this seems to make a little more sense.” So please be patient.

About Louisa: I’m so happy she’s here, and thank you all for being so welcoming to her. I appreciate it very much. John Belt said the funniest thing last week, when I asked him how Louisa and he were working together. He said, “Oh, we’ve had so much fun.” He also said, “What she doesn’t know about philanthropy, she makes up for in enthusiasm.”

Our foundation has a sterling reputation. It has a wonderful history. Most importantly, the board of the Kirkpatrick Foundation is relevant, and each of us is deeply involved in the community. I believe our future is bright, and I want to thank each of you for being here, for volunteering your time and helping our community become a better place.