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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.
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]Abhijit Banerjee, Esther Duflo, and Michael Kremer recently won the 2019 Nobel Prize in Economics for their “experimental approach to alleviating global poverty.” But while...
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]Private U.S. foundations give around $10 billion a year to organizations that work on social and environmental problems outside of the country, particularly in Africa, South Asia, and other...
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]This post originally appeared on the New Hampshire Charitable Foundation website. As you read this, a nonprofit organization is keeping a mother and children safe from domestic abuse. An...
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]The world of private philanthropy is often an enigma in the eyes of nonprofit leaders. We create confusion and frustration for nonprofit organizations. We are a puzzle. We speak in riddles and leave breadcrumb trails of...
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]This is a challenging time to be involved in social change, whether as a funder, activist, or nonprofit leader. Rural communities are crumbling from a lack of jobs, civil society is more...
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]When donors look for ways to make a positive difference in the world, direct service organizations are a logical starting point — whether it is the nonprofit empowering girls in Nepal...
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]This post first appeared on India Development Review. A lot of people today talk about how philanthropy needs to be more business-like, about how we need to incorporate principles from the...
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]A new generation of donors is asking some critical questions before making a gift — but possibly not the questions you might be imagining. At the Learning by Giving Foundation, we...
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]This post is adapted from remarks Phil Buchanan delivered to a gathering of nonprofit leaders at the Sanford Institute of Philanthropy at John F. Kennedy University’s 2019...
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]The moments that foundations set aside to develop program strategies are exciting opportunities for expansive and deep thinking about how to make sustained system change and how to...
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]In her recent post on the CEP blog, Melinda Tuan of Fund for Shared Insight makes the case for the connection between feedback and equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI). She writes from...
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]Foundations are grappling with how to address societal challenges deeply rooted in complex systems. At the same time, many foundations are trying to center equity in their work and to be...
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]The success of a partnership depends on more than its collective capital, issue expertise, or institutional efficacy. Take the Mars Climate Orbiter for example: a $125M satellite burned on...
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]"We are hard pressed on every side, but not crushed; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed." 2 Corinthians 4:8-9 We barely had time to grieve the loss of life in...
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]In July 2014, a small group of funders came together to form Fund for Shared Insight, a collaborative focused on promoting listening and feedback to elevate the voices of those least heard...
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]At Fidelity Charitable, we are often asked by nonprofit organizations, “How can we better work with major donors to make more of an impact?” And my reply is always the same: the...
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]This post originally appeared on the blog in March 2015, and is reposted here as part of our Rewind series. CEP is currently in the process of renewing its membership with AAPOR's...