Voices from the Field

7 Resources to Guide Your Work Toward Inclusive Growth

Posted on January 3, 2020 by Kahler Sweeney

two people sit across a table from another person in a work environment
This piece was originally published through the Johnson Center and appears with permission. This blog was produced as a part of Field Focus: Inclusive Strategies for Prosperity, a digital series to explore philanthropy’s role in inclusive economic development and community prosperity. In his most recent article, the Johnson Center’s Distinguished Scholar in Residence for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Dr. Juan Olivarez… Read More
Voices from the Field

Keeping What Counts: Should Limited-life Foundations Create Archives?

Posted on December 28, 2019 by Matthew La Rocque

archives stored in shelves in a library
What follows is a brief excerpt of the S. D. Bechtel Jr. Foundation’s report, Keeping What Counts: Should Limited-life Foundations Create Archives? Explore our content collection on foundation archives. When a foundation chooses to wind down and close its doors, it confronts a range of new questions. The most obvious relate to when it should close and what it should… Read More
Voices from the Field

Streamlining for Equity: Your First Two Steps to Take

Posted on December 13, 2019 by Allison Gister

Several bright yellow post its with indistinguishable writing a posted to a grey wall
This piece was originally published on PEAK Grantmaking’s website and appears with permission. Earlier this month, I facilitated a workshop on “Streamlining from the Inside Out” for our Southern California Regional Chapter. PEAK Grantmaking has long-championed the effort to simplify grants management processes and find efficiencies—starting with our “Project Streamline” initiative and, continuing today, through our Principles for Peak Grantmaking… Read More
Voices from the Field

Trust-based Philanthropy: The Durfee Foundation

Posted on December 9, 2019 by The Whitman Institute

Editor’s note: This is part of an ongoing series by the Whitman Institute (TWI), featuring foundations that practice trust-based philanthropy, that acknowledge the power dynamics and realities facing nonprofits, and that invite more authentic relationships and communication with grantees. This piece originally appeared on the Whitman Institute’s website and appears with permission. Since its inception in 1960, the Durfee Foundation in Los Angeles… Read More
Voices from the Field

Learning to Give with the Next Gen Giving Circle

Posted on December 5, 2019 by Next Gen Giving Circle

“I found a career in philanthropy on Craigslist,” says Carlyn Madden, a co-founder of the Next Gen Giving Circle and now a consultant to funders and nonprofits. “Does it get more Millennial than that?” An avid volunteer, Carlyn was hired right out of college by The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, the Washington, DC region’s largest private foundation. There she… Read More
Voices from the Field

It’s Cool to be Kind: How to Have Civil Conversations in Today’s World

Posted on November 22, 2019 by Elaine Gast Fawcett

Civil puzzle
Civil: relating to ordinary citizens and their concerns; courteous, polite —Merriam Webster In an increasingly divisive society—where politics seem to dominate public as well as private discourse—what would it be like to hold civil conversations in our own families and communities? And how might family foundations create space for people to come together and have these conversations? These were big… Read More
Voices from the Field

Build Authentic Relationships: The Jay & Rose Phillips Family Foundation of Minnesota

Posted on November 18, 2019 by Elaine Gast Fawcett

Cover of the Passages Issue Brief, Bridging the Power Divide, with a person teaching a few others in a room
As a family funder, how can you acknowledge and responsibly navigate the power of your position? How does the power and privilege you hold affect those you interact with and support? How can you use your power for good—to make lasting impact? This Passages Issue Brief features stories, perspectives, and practical tips on power, and suggestions for how family funders can work… Read More
Voices from the Field

The Perrin Family Foundation: A Funder Journey Story

Posted on November 14, 2019 by Funders’ Collaborative on Youth Organizing in collaboration with the Perrin Family Foundation

A group of young children write on a whiteboard
The Perrin Family Foundation is a family foundation based in Connecticut, with a focus on supporting youth-led social change focused on addressing the root causes of injustice and inequity statewide Sheila and Charlie Perrin founded PFF in 1994 to create a permanent vehicle for their family philanthropy and allow their extended family to be part of their vision for providing… Read More