CEP in the News
Keep up with the latest in CEP news.
Are we actually in the middle of a generosity crisis?
Did you donate to charity in the past, but no longer do so? If the answer is yes, you’re not alone. For the second year in a row, the philanthropy research foundation Giving USA reported that fewer Americans are donating to nonprofits than they...
New Leadership and Three New Members On the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s Board of Directors
Media Contact: Chloe Heskett | chloeh@cep.org | 617-395-4092 Cambridge, MA — The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) announces the election of a new Board Chair — Tony Richardson, president of the George Gund Foundation — as well as the election of three new...
Effective Altruism Is Flawed. But What’s the Alternative?
You don’t hear so much about effective altruism now that one of its most famous exponents, Sam Bankman-Fried, was found guilty of stealing $8 billion from customers of his cryptocurrency exchange. (This spring, at age 32, he was sentenced to 25 years in...
Most grantmakers don’t seem to know if they are effective
Is your foundation any good? I don’t mean: is it big, or does it give away a lot, or does it run an efficient process, or do the grantees achieve much. Rather, I mean: are you any good at being a foundation? Are you effective? Are you good at finding work that will...
Foundation Leaders Report Concern About Burnout at Grantee Organizations, New Study Finds
Media Contact: Chloe Heskett | chloeh@cep.org | 617-395-4092 CAMBRIDGE, MA – In a new report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), most foundation leaders report concern about the state of staff well-being at organizations they fund. However, about half...
SSIR: Why Isn’t No-Strings Funding More Common?
Philanthropy’s constructive critics, financial activists, and virtually all nonprofits have long argued for a dramatic increase in unrestricted grantmaking. Yet grants untethered from funder restrictions and requirements remain relatively rare. As a result, funding is...
The NonProfit Times: Burnout, Budgets, Staffing Vexing NPO Leaders
Elements of the charitable sector appear to be suffering from long COVID, which impacts those infected for months and even years. New data from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) shows executive and staff burnout top the list of issues. In a new...
Chronicle of Philanthropy: Burnout Still Plagues, Nonprofits New Study Finds
For anyone hoping that burnout in the nonprofit sector was a pandemic-era phenomenon that would recede like mask-wearing and social distancing, the latest report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy offers little reason for hope. On the contrary, the center’s...
Forbes: 4 Years After George Floyd, Giving To Racial Equity Faces Challenges
The murder of George Floyd on May 25, 2020, triggered massive protests around the world against police violence and systemic racism. Those events, in turn, prompted a surge in pledges from corporations, foundations, and wealthy individuals to advance racial equity in...
Effective Matters: AI and Philanthropy
Last year, in a post that kicked off a series on AI and philanthropy on the CEP blog, we asked, “What does ChatGPT Know About Philanthropy?” A year later, that question has been turned on its head; what we hear more often is some version of, “what does philanthropy...
Associated Press: What is next for billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott’s giving?
Much about billionaire philanthropist MacKenzie Scott’s giving remains a mystery, but those receiving grants from her recent open call for nonprofits do offer some insights, experts say. Scott’s grants, announced in March, largely fall in line with her usual themes —...
Effective Matters: March 2024
New Research from CEP: Funding Nonprofit Endowments The CEP report sheds light on the prevalence of and approach to funding nonprofit endowments, finding that these types of grants represent a small slice of foundation giving. Fewer than a third of foundations fund...
Chronicle of Philanthropy: More Than Two-Thirds of Foundations Don’t Make Endowment Grants
Grants to create or increase nonprofit endowments represent only a small portion of foundation giving, and the most likely recipients are arts organizations or direct services charities, according to a study released Tuesday. Nonprofits love endowments because of...
Grants to Nonprofit Endowments Represent a Small Slice of Foundation Giving, New CEP Study Finds
Media Contact: Chloe Heskett, Editor & Writer, CEP | chloeh@cep.org | 617-395-4092 Cambridge, MA – Fewer than a third of foundations fund nonprofit endowments, according to a new study from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), and for those that do,...
Associated Press: MacKenzie Scott donates $640 million, more than doubling her planned gifts to nonprofit applicants
Billionaire philanthropist and author MacKenzie Scott announced Tuesday she is giving $640 million to 361 small nonprofits that responded to an open call for applications. Yield Giving’s first round of donations is more than double what Scott had initially pledged to...
Chronicle of Philanthropy: MacKenzie Scott: Look for a More Active Year After a Quiet 2023
Last year was in many ways unremarkable for MacKenzie Scott, one of the most closely watched philanthropists in America. After finalizing her divorce from her second husband in January, Scott kept a low profile. She awarded $2.1 billion in grants, her lowest total...
Effective Matters: February 2024
New CEP Research Snapshot: Grantmakers Respond to the Supreme Court Affirmative Action Rulings Following the Supreme Court’s rulings in June 2023 against university admissions policies that take race directly into account, many feared that grantmakers would back away...
devex: How philanthropy is working around a DEI backlash
Some U.S.-based philanthropic funders are changing the way they frame their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts, or DEI — including removing references to Black and other marginalized communities — in an effort to avoid potential legal troubles as...
Most Grantmakers Staying the Course Following Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Rulings, New Study Finds
Media Contact: Chloe Heskett, Editor & Writer, Programming and External Relations, CEP | chloeh@cep.org | (617) 395-4092 In the wake of the Supreme Court’s rulings in June 2023 against university admissions policies that take race directly into account, many...
The NonProfit Times: SCOTUS Rulings Not Stopping Grantmakers’ Equity Funding
Foundation leaders’ support for racial equity initiatives appears to be mostly holding steady despite a pair of Supreme Court of the United States (SCOTUS) rulings in June 2023 overturning affirmative action at Harvard University and the University of North Carolina....