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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.
“CEO oversight? Evaluation? Strategy? No, we don’t do that. But if you want a fundraising gala, I’m your guy!” That’s how a colleague once heard another board chair describe his own role, and the role of the board he led. That remark is not representative of most...
In recent years, CEP’s analysis of demographic data from its Grantee Perception Report and research datasets found that both Native American nonprofit leaders and Asian American and Pacific Islander (AAPI) nonprofit leaders were having less positive experiences with...
In philanthropy, we have been talking a lot about the crucial need for funders to provide more multiyear, general operating support. That’s important, and I also think we need to talk more about the size of grants. Why? At least from what I can see in CEP’s Grantee...
Advancing racial equity and wellbeing is hard work, especially for on-the-ground organizations that are leading the work. Endowment grantmaking is a tool that foundations can use to ensure that these organizations not only survive but thrive. For us at the Robert Wood...
This is the fourth and final in a series of posts contributed by the Feedback Incentives Learning Group, a group of funders convened by Feedback Labs that are dedicated to encouraging peer funders to listen to the people most harmed by the systems and structures they...
Endowments can be transformative for nonprofits, especially those representing traditionally underserved populations and working to close gaps, and deserve a closer look as an effective strategy for funders to advance equity. Recent CEP research shows that...
This is the third in a series of posts contributed by the Feedback Incentives Learning Group, a group of funders convened by Feedback Labs that are dedicated to encouraging peer funders to listen to the people most harmed by the systems and structures they seek to...
This is second in a series of posts in which I revisit some of the big questions for philanthropy discussed in a post published in the fall of 2022. I hear more talk about the state of philanthropy’s commitment to racial equity than perhaps any other issue when I...
This is the second in a series of posts contributed by the Feedback Incentives Learning Group, a group of funders convened by Feedback Labs that are dedicated to encouraging peer funders to listen to the people most harmed by the systems and...
As a Black foundation leader, shifting resources and power to organizations of color is not just personal: it’s strategic. For decades, these grassroots organizations have been sustaining democracy, advancing racial equity through advocacy and organizing. Despite...
As a foundation leader and fan of nonprofit endowments, I wasn’t surprised to read CEP’s recent findings that less than a third of foundations grant to endowments. The CEP report, an examination of the prevalence of and approach to endowment funding,...
As a concept, endowments — defined as funds to be kept permanently and invested to provide sustained support — have existed for more than a thousand years. Supporters of endowments note that they can present an opportunity to shift power and promote nonprofit...
“I get that listening is important, but what role am I actually supposed to play to make it happen?” A program officer from a large private foundation recently asked my colleague this question. The fact that this program officer wanted to play a role in listening to...
This is first in a series of posts in which I will revisit some of the big questions for philanthropy discussed in a post published in the fall of 2022. The four years since the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill have seen unprecedented change in...
What happens when flexible funding meets women’s funds? The answer lies in the potential to drive profound, lasting change. Women’s funds are crucial players in the drive for gender equality because of their reach and long-term relationships with some of the smallest...
We are closing in on one year since the release of ChatGPT4, an upgraded version of the first public generative AI large language model. Even though traditional AI has been a part of the technology landscape for decades and our consumer lives for the past ten years,...
In the verdant expanse of the Santa Cruz Mountains, a pioneering initiative for environmental stewardship has taken root. The Santa Cruz Mountains Stewardship Network (SCMSN), a collaborative of 25 entities, embodies an innovative approach to land stewardship,...
2023 is the year AI ate the internet, according to the New Yorker and anyone not living under a rock. AI has so deeply penetrated our society that we can’t ignore the existential questions it raises, from the future of work to ethical dilemmas to questions...
In the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s majority decision to eliminate race-conscious admissions policies at U.S. colleges and universities, I wrote a response that was driven, in part, by my personal journey and unwavering belief that race-based affirmative...
The results of the recent CEP survey regarding foundation reactions to the Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard (which consolidated a similar case against University of North Carolina) decision reflect the broad diversity of the foundation sector and continued...