Little Hoover Commission adopts report urging stronger public-philanthropic partnership infrastructure

The Little Hoover Commission on Thursday adopted a report recommending several steps to strengthen public-philanthropic partnerships in California, including institutionalizing a gubernatorial liaison position, expanding agency-level liaisons, creating a legislative point of reference, and establishing an independent monitoring and evaluation process.

The study found that since 2019 the state engaged in 107 public-philanthropic partnerships involving more than 27 state agencies and roughly 250 philanthropic partners, with state contributions of about $13.6 billion and philanthropic donations of about $4.2 billion. "The foundation witnesses we heard from appreciated the leadership from the governor's office in building the partnerships," staff said when presenting the report.

Why this matters: the report urges more durable infrastructure so partnerships survive transitions and deliver measurable results. Commissioners on the subcommittee said they supported making the liaison role permanent and improving data collection to determine which partnership models yield greater impact.

Report recommendations endorsed by the commission:

- Institutionalize the governor's partnership liaison to survive transitions and coordinate messaging with the Attorney General's Office when new foundations appear.

- Expand agency-level partnership liaisons beyond the 10 positions already created.

- Create a centralized legislative point of reference for public-philanthropic partnerships to improve communication among the philanthropic community, the administration and lawmakers.

- Establish a monitoring and evaluation function outside the Governor's Office and collect demographic data to assess which Californians benefit from investments.

Commissioners said they heard widespread praise from philanthropic witnesses for the governor's approach, but also saw room for a more systematic, transparent, and evidence-based structure. "Anything that the state can do to help facilitate these public-private partnerships and people getting more information and understanding how to participate is good," Commissioner Sidley said.

Outcome and next steps: The commission voted to adopt the report as submitted. Staff noted future work will include publishing a survey done with CalNonprofits on contracting practices and holding a later hearing on nonprofit contracting issues.

Ending note: The commission will monitor implementation of the recommendations and said it expects to follow up during upcoming meetings.