Staff Workshop Survey
Posted on January 15, 2021 by S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation
This sample survey from the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation asks about preferences regarding staff workshops and professional development… Read More
S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation
A vision for California: The S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation envisions a productive, vibrant, and sustainable California that is a model of success and a source of innovation.
A commitment to now: California faces many critical challenges, which require resources and imaginative solutions. In response to this reality, the Board of Directors decided to invest all the Foundation’s assets by 2020. This decision reflects a commitment to identifying lasting solutions for education and the environment sooner, rather than later. The Foundation also invests in building the capacity and resiliency of grantee organizations to leave them positioned to carry on the work of furthering a successful California for decades to come, and in the overall effectiveness of the philanthropic sector.
Learn more: sdbjrfoundation.org.
Contributions
Special grantmaking: A purposeful, flexible resource for foundations
Posted on January 8, 2021 by S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation
Many foundations that are guided by a long-term commitment to move the needle in a finite set of issue areas also hold “special grantmaking” funds. These program dollars can be flexibly deployed for nascent opportunities, innovative ideas, emergencies, local causes, and/or areas of high interest to their leaders. Little has been written about special grants as a vibrant resource for… Read More
Strategy and Evaluation: The Twin Engines of Effective Philanthropy
Posted on January 8, 2021 by S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation
This essay provides a fast-paced tour of grantmaker approaches, launching with the advent of long-range planning in the 1980s and visiting scenario planning, social return on investment, human-centered design, big data, and other developments that have influenced practice. The author lands on strategy and evaluation as the anchor approaches that will fuel greater philanthropic impact in the new decade. This… Read More
Reflections from the Spend Down of the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation
Posted on January 7, 2021 by S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, Lauren B. Dachs
Courtesy of Jonathan Petersson from Pexels Excerpted from Spending down: Laurie Dachs answers questions for family philanthropies What was the process that your foundation went through to make the decision to spend down? What drove the decision? Our Board of Directors held multiple conversations across a year, 2008, sparked by my dad as founder and board chair. At that time,… Read More
Spending down: Laurie Dachs answers questions for family philanthropies
Posted on January 7, 2021 by S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation
In October 2020, Nick Tedesco, president and CEO of the National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP), talked with Lauren B. (Laurie) Dachs, president and vice chair of the board at the S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation, about spending down all assets. The Foundation was founded in 1957; in 2009 it became a limited-life philanthropy and completed its spend down at… Read More
Resiliency Guide
Posted on August 17, 2020 by S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation
This Guide is designed to help deepen thinking about where, when, and how to invest in capacity building, while also helping funders to explore the dimensions of resiliency and help their grantee organizations prepare for eventual independence from grant funding… Read More
Resilience at Work: How Nonprofits Adapt to Disruption. How Funders Can Help.
Posted on April 17, 2020 by Diana Scearce, S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation
Today and in the future, there is one thing social change leaders can be sure of: they will experience disruption, uncertainty, and significant change. Whether recovering from a hurricane, navigating global health concerns, responding to shifts in public policy, or regrouping after the departure of a top leader, nonprofits that get intentional about cultivating organizational resilience are better at anticipating and adapting to disruption. … Read More
Building Impact: Tools for Making Good Capital Grants
Posted on November 18, 2019 by S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation
Capital projects are frequently transformational, changing the arc of the nonprofit organizations that choose to build. Unlike program grants that aim to advance change in complex systems, the process for a capital grant is seemingly transactional: a grant is made, and a structure is built or renovated. As many nonprofits and funders have found, however, the trajectory of a capital project is rarely clear cut… Read More
Foundation Archives
Posted on November 18, 2019 by Matthew La Rocque, S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation
This Content Collection features reports and articles of interest to foundations considering whether to establish archives to preserve their records, knowledge, and histories. Read More
Funding Resiliency
Posted on July 18, 2019 by S. D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation
This Content Collection shares a collection of resources developed by the S.D. Bechtel, Jr. Foundation on the topic of resiliency. It is designed to help deepen thinking about where, when, and how to invest in capacity building, while also helping funders to explore the dimensions of resiliency and help their grantee organizations prepare for eventual independence from grant funding. Read More