International Grantmaking: Trusting Relationships are Critical to Success

Posted on March 10, 2023 by Ashley Barrett, Sylvia Brown, Jenny Kelly, Kimberly Myers Hewlett

Systemic challenges, such as climate change, racial justice and gender equity, exist beyond the borders of the United States. Philanthropic families seeking to ramp up their international giving face a variety of challenges and opportunities, including identifying partner organizations and building trusting relationships with them. Join us to learn how to be an effective international funder and concrete steps to… Read More

Application Deadline: Trust-Based Philanthropy Learning and Action Cohort

Posted on March 2, 2023 by Elizabeth Snowdon Bonner, Mailee Walker, Shaady Salehi

People taking part in a trust-based philanthropy exercise
About the Cohort The National Center for Family Philanthropy and the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project are pleased to announce a six-part Learning and Action Cohort for family foundations interested in leveraging their philanthropy toward a more just and equitable nonprofit sector. At its core, trust-based philanthropy is about addressing power imbalances and shifting our culture and practices so that nonprofits have the time,… Read More

Finding the Right Advisor to Help Align Your Investments With Your Values

Posted on January 13, 2023 by Kate Simpson

Addressing the world’s most pressing issues will require harnessing the power of all investment capital—including the corpus of foundations. While allocating 5% (the minimum required by law) of your foundation’s resources to support its mission can result in powerful solutions and social change, imagine if the remaining 95% were invested to further your goals and objectives? Values-aligned investing, an umbrella… Read More

Your Impact Strategy Doesn’t Stop at Your Grantmaking

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Dr. LaTonya Penny, Meg Baesmith, Tony Macklin

Your Impact Strategy Doesn’t Stop at Your Grantmaking
While grantmaking is often the main tool funders think about in terms of impact, there are many other innovative ways to use your time, relationships, and resources to support your nonprofit partners and the communities you serve. Funders can leverage their established platform to spread the word about needed support and convene important partners, or can provide additional capacity to… Read More

Internal Evaluation and Learning

Posted on December 15, 2022 by Brittany Green Daniels, Arturo Garcia, Bruce Karmazin, Prentice Zinn

A family philanthropy has a much better chance of success if there is an intentional culture that values continuous improvement, feedback and professional development, and an integrated approach of learning and assessment across governance, philanthropic strategy, succession, and more. The assessment process asks organizations to evaluate their philanthropic purpose, governance, team, accountability, finances, and family—to answer how you can continually… Read More

Listening and Feedback: Tools to Assess Your Philanthropy

Posted on December 15, 2022 by C. Davis Parchment, Yvonne Belanger, Brenda Solorzano

Listening and Feedback: In Family Philanthropy
How can you elicit and act on feedback from your grantees and other external stakeholders? For all funders, gathering feedback is a helpful practice to understand how your work is impacting your grantees—and how you can more deeply incorporate the perspectives and experience of your partners and communities you serve. There are a number of tools available to facilitate this… Read More

Demystifying Trust-based Practices: Trust in Action

Posted on December 7, 2022 by Kavi Waddell, Mark Rodriguez, Laura Jansen

Trust based philanthropy
The philanthropic sector continues to evolve, and many giving families are embracing a trust-based approach to their philanthropy—not only as a mindset, but as a guiding principle across their grantmaking, relationships, and operations. While many families are interested in and willing to adopt trust-based practices, it isn’t always clear how and when to utilize specific trust-based approaches and what they… Read More

Community Foundations Topical Call: Trust-Based Philanthropy Practices for DAFs

Posted on November 16, 2022 by Molly Shaw, M.Ed., Abbe Temkin

Trust-based philanthropy “is rooted in a set of values that help advance equity, shift power, and build mutually accountable relationships,” per the Trust-Based Philanthropy Project. While many community foundations are working to embrace these practices, how are donors or families giving through and in collaboration with the community foundation learning and adapting to using these practices? Join peers who have… Read More

Community Foundations Network Topical Call: National Study on Donor Advised Funds

Posted on November 16, 2022 by Jeff Williams, Dr. Brittany Kienker

The National Study on Donor Advised Funds, launching in early 2023, will gather the most comprehensive data on DAFs in the United States. Join Jeff Williams and Brittany Kienker for this interactive topical call to learn more about how your community foundation can participate in this study, along with other community foundations, religiously-affiliated charities, and national DAF organizations from across… Read More