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The CEP blog aims to offer a range of perspectives, experiences, and opinions related to effective philanthropic practice. We welcome submissions that address crucial issues facing individual and institutional donors and are not self-promotional in nature. The views expressed in these posts are not necessarily CEP’s own.
A podcast interview with CEP President Phil Buchanan provides a timely take on the state of foundation assessment. The interview is conducted by Larry Blumenthal and Bill Silberg for Talking Philanthropy, a Foundation Center service. The conversation, available...
Being “strategic” in philanthropy is sometimes equated with being isolated, arrogant, or top-down, with foundation leaders asserting detailed theories of change to rigidly guide grantmaking. But CEP’s research suggests that the opposite is the case. Those who are...
Ellie Buteau, PhD., presents a Data Point about the use of information drawn from programmatic experience and insight by foundation CEOs.
David Trueblood explores the links connecting baseball and Shakespeare with data and analysis.
Ellie Buteau presents a second data point drawn from a survey of foundation CEOs on the status of performance assessment.
I was struck by a September 29th blog post written by Chris Langston, program director at the John A. Hartford Foundation in New York City. In his post, Chris asks for suggestions from “grantees, stakeholders, peers, and older persons themselves” about how the...
The use and management of data stands at the core of the work undertaken by the Center for Effective Philanthropy. The set of survey tools CEP has developed as well as field-wide research builds comparative data drawn from key constituent groups—grantees, donors,...
Kevin Bolduc presents data from CEP’s Donor Perception Report on the importance of social networks to this foundation constituency.
At the Center for Effective Philanthropy, we believe that improved performance of philanthropic funders can have a positive impact on nonprofit organizations and the people and communities they serve. As part of our work, we aim to highlight stories from funders who...
The use and management of data stands at the core of the work undertaken by the Center for Effective Philanthropy. The set of survey tools CEP has developed as well as field-wide research builds comparative data drawn from key constituent groups—grantees, donors,...
David Trueblood writes about the power of feedback and the role of the Donor Perception Report in bulding relationships with foundation donors.
CEP Advisory Board Member Alicia Philipp weighs in on a research report focused on strategy at community foundations.
Kevin Bolduc presents a data point taken from findings derived from CEP’s Staff Perception Report.
Ellie Buteau discusses three critiques offered by readers of CEP’s report on community foundations and strategy.
CEP has been actively exploring the topic of beneficiary feedback through its YouthTruth project since 2008. We were very pleased to share what we are learning – and to challenge the status quo -- on the Tactical Philanthropy blog this week, where the following post...
The use and management of data stands at the core of the work undertaken by the Center for Effective Philanthropy. The set of survey tools CEP has developed as well as field-wide research builds comparative data drawn from key constituent groups—grantees, donors,...
Community foundation leaders value the idea of strategy—but few use it in their donor or programmatic work.
Ellie Buteau, Ph.D., discusses response bias—the decision of foundation leaders to participate or not—to CEP research, and what readers should keep in mind about this particular challenge.
Laura Olson shares how YouthTruth survey results inform the work of The California Endowment in its efforts to improve Del Norte County youth outcomes.
Over the past decade foundations have worked to assess their performance in the fields and communities they seek to address. In particular, data-driven forms of measurement have become more widely used to judge the results of programs, along with a broader range of information now used to assess performance.
Findings drawn from a survey of the CEOs of 173 U.S. foundations with annual grantmaking of at least $5 million focus on the current status of performance assessment among larger foundations.