Over the course of its 16-year history, Central Texas Education Funders had a substantial impact on the ecosystem of education funders in our region. When CTEF formed, a growing group of area funders were eager to improve the effectiveness of the education sector and their grantmaking practices by providing opportunities for funders to collaborate, learn, fund, and advocate in partnership with their peers. Their goal was to ensure:
effective programs were sustained and expanded
duplicative services were reduced or eliminated
innovations addressing unmet needs were encouraged
grantmaking and evaluation processes were more efficient and transparent
Collectively, we wanted to become better funders and reduce the burden on the local nonprofit community.
CTEF was co-founded in 2008 by KDK-Harman and Webber Family Foundations to help foundations learn from each other and partner more effectively. In its founding year, CTEF was composed of 12 member foundations and grew to more than 75 at its peak.
The seeds of CTEF grew quickly, and we released our inaugural Giving Profile in 2009. With that first Giving Profile, 29 area funder’s data provided a landscape of philanthropic education investments in Central Texas for the previous year. For the next 15 years, CTEF continued to develop rich reports on giving in the education sector in Central Texas that allowed area funders to benchmark against each other and national data from Grantmakers for Education. It was also an invaluable tool for local nonprofits, particularly smaller ones without ready access to grant databases.
Another early and significant CTEF contribution was the development of common application and reporting tools as well as common indicators. CTEF convened funders and area nonprofits to develop a single education funding application and reporting template accepted by multiple CTEF member funders. These common forms allowed CTEF members and grantseekers to work from a common set of questions. At the same time, these forms saved grantseekers time and effort by reducing the amount of time spent rearranging basic information on multiple applications for different funders. Similarly, the common indicators provided a standard framework based on best practices.
CTEF grew up alongside a sister organization born from those same founding funders in the same timeframe - the Texas Education Grantmakers Advocacy Consortium, known today as Philanthropy Advocates, a collaborative of funders harnessing the power of philanthropy to affect policy. CTEF and TEGAC initially worked hand-in-hand, hosting the first Education Funders Day at the Capitol in 2011. Philanthropy Advocates would eventually become its separate, state-wide organization with more than 55 foundation members.
In 2011, CTEF also hosted its first group site visit, arranging a tour of best practices in early childhood education for area funders.
Over the years, CTEF partnered with many other entities in the region to host events and activities relevant to its membership. Partners such as E3 Alliance and the High Tech Community Partners (YaYas). Events such as annual superintendent roundtables and SXSWedu networking.
In 2020, CTEF mobilized to support its membership as it responded to the devastating effect the pandemic was having on our communities and education outcomes. This was also a time of elevated awareness of the impact of systemic racism, when many funders were taking a much needed look at their own role in those systems. In response, CTEF hosted a series of Equity in Grantmaking Conversations with its members.
The pandemic also impacted CTEF. An organization founded for collaboration and bringing the community together, it was difficult to maintain those connections over the extended virtual timeline. Engagement declined and the steering committee embarked on a strategic planning process in partnership with its membership. That hunger for connection was still there, but the needs had changed. In response to membership feedback, CTEF ceased operations as a standalone organization in 2024 and threw our efforts behind the newly formed Central Texas Funders Network, a space where all regional funders regardless of funding focus area come together to build a better community through convening and collaboration. Though the CTEF name is ending, the CTEF spirit lives on