Jeff Atwood and Dr. Betsy Burton Are Giving Big and Fast
Resources for Grantmakers
Access helpful information, like data-backed reports based on rigorous research.
Resources for Individuals
Get insights and information around what it takes to be an effective giver.
Your Partner in Philanthropic Effectiveness
CEP seeks to influence foundations and major donors to be more effective. We offer assessments that gather essential feedback from key stakeholders, data-driven research, customized advisory services, thought-provoking events, and incisive commentary on the CEP Blog.
Improve Your Effectiveness
CEP’s assessments provide unique insights into your effectiveness by gathering candid and actionable feedback from grantees, donors, and funder staff and benchmarking results with other grantmakers.
Featured Resources
A Sector in Crisis: How U.S. Nonprofits and Foundations Are Responding to Threats
As nonprofits face historic challenges, new data from the Center for Effective Philanthropy reveals how nonprofits are faring and how foundations are responding.
Board Book Insert – State of Nonprofits 2026: What Funders Need to Know
Foundation Governance Today: How Boards and CEOs Are Navigating Risk, Accountability, and a Shifting Landscape
Breaking the Mold: The Transformative Effect of MacKenzie Scott's Big Gifts
AI With Purpose: How Foundations and Nonprofits Are Thinking About and Using Artificial Intelligence
Questions? Connect with us.
Lauren Chan
Senior Coordinator, People and Culture
From the Blog
When the Tide Should Rise: Deciding When Mission Requires More
In the first piece of this series, we introduced the tidal foundation as an alternative to the fixed choice between perpetuity or spend down. In this piece, we will get a bit more practical: How do board members and leaders decide when the tide should rise? The...
What Inflation Taught Us About Consistent Grantmaking
During a recent review of the Pilgrim Foundation’s U.S.-based grant applications, one theme surfaced repeatedly in conversations with our nonprofit partners: everything costs more. Partners described higher expenses for staffing, facilities, technology,...
The Tidal Foundation: Unmooring Philanthropy From Perpetuity Versus Spend Down
Approaches to foundation spending have too often been organized around a false choice. Foundations are expected to preserve assets in perpetuity while spending at or near the IRS-required 5% minimum, or to spend down by deploying resources over a fixed period and...