Grantmaking Strategy and Evaluation

Bridging The Gap: A Review of Foundation Listening Practices

Posted on August 24, 2020 by Ekouté

While much has been written about how funders can pursue direct listening at the local scale, comparatively less has been written about how larger systems-level funders working across multiple geographies can approach this work in meaningful ways. Based on their research, the authors recommend the following as particularly promising and relevant practices. Advisory committees, if structured correctly, can be powerful… 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

Balancing Purpose, Payout, and Permanence

Posted on August 14, 2020 by Peter F. Bird, Jr., Liz Sak, George Suttles, Nicholas A. Tedesco, Tony Macklin

“How much should we spend?” It’s an essential question for all funders, and an especially complex one for endowed private foundations. The answer of “around 5%” was never universal as foundations sought creative means of ensuring that assets would serve mission rather than the other way around. In recent times, the pressure to revisit payout has increased. Endowed foundations have… Read More

Leading with Love and Gratitude: The David Rockefeller Fund at 30

Posted on August 4, 2020 by David Rockefeller Fund

The David Rockefeller Fund charts its history with a fascinating look into the evolution of the family and its philanthropy. The Fund’s history reflects the fact that change is inevitable and necessary, but must be rooted in the values and legacy of the family. The family’s recognition of this positions them for long-term success, encouraging them to remain flexible and… Read More

Trust-based Family Philanthropy

Posted on July 23, 2020 by Sarah Walczyk, Shaady Salehi, Ellen Friedman, Hanh Le

Trust-based philanthropy is being embraced by a growing number of family foundations as a way to alleviate power imbalances between funders and grantees while fostering more productive and informative relationships. Driven by the central philosophy that funders should approach grantee relationships as learning partnerships, a trust-based approach encourages multi-year unrestricted funding, streamlined reporting, and transparent and responsive communication. In this… Read More

Families Funding Advocacy and Policy Change

Posted on July 17, 2020 by Julie Fernandes, Sara Watson, David Addams

Hands in air_protesting_advocacy
Advocacy is an important tool for funders seeking to address systemic inequalities ingrained in our policies and practices, and it can be the sole focus of an organization or an additional strategy employed to create lasting change. Many families pursue advocacy because of a founder’s interest or legacy, while others have introduced advocacy into their grantmaking portfolio after listening to… Read More

Policy Influence: What Foundations Are Doing and Why

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Center for Effective Philanthropy

Among its key findings, Policy Influence shows that foundation leaders clearly believe in influencing policy as an important lever for change. This report seeks to provide foundation staff, leaders, and boards with data and insights that will spur them to candidly discuss philanthropic involvement in public policy — and help guide their own practices to engage in policy efforts more thoughtfully as they work to achieve their goals… Read More

Community Foundations Network Topical Call: How Are You Managing Your Teams and Philanthropic Services Moving Forward?

Posted on June 1, 2020 by Tony Macklin

video conference call
As counties re-open, how has your foundation decided to balance in-office and virtual work? How are you modifying metrics and performance expectations in your donor service and development plans? And, how are you adjusting service delivery models through the end of 2020? In this peer exchange, we’ll collect insights through verbal responses, chat, and hopefully any policies or documents you’re… Read More

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