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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.

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Inviting Grantees to the Table
Inviting Grantees to the Table

In a recent blog post from my colleague Kevin Bolduc, he shared inspiring examples of two funders trying something a bit different: sharing the results of their Grantee Perception Reports (GPR) in-person with their grantees. While we often see foundations sharing...

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Seeking Confidence in Your Impact? Broaden Your Definition of Evidence
Seeking Confidence in Your Impact? Broaden Your Definition of Evidence

How can funders better inform their own assessment of progress and earn their – and others’  - confidence in any impact achieved?  That’s the question that jumped out at us here at the Center for High Impact Philanthropy after reviewing...

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11 New Year’s Wishes
11 New Year’s Wishes

Every New Year, we tend to dream of what the next year might bring. In that spirit, here are my wishes for what we’d see in foundationland in my imagined 2014. Let me emphasize that these are not predictions (I am a bit of a cynic about predictions). These are instead...

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An Openness Pledge?
An Openness Pledge?

Guest authors Fay Twersky and Larry Kramer, of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, react to CEP’s new research report “How Far Have We Come? Foundation CEOs on Progress and Impact” by urging foundation staff to continuously reflect on their strategy and progress, while openly and proactively sharing the results of such reflections.

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How Far Have Community Foundations Come?
How Far Have Community Foundations Come?

Steve Seleznow, president and chief executive officer of the Arizona Community Foundation, interprets the findings from CEP’s latest research report, “How Far Have We Come? CEOs on Progress and Impact” from a community foundation perspective. Seleznow points to the unique challenges to evaluating progress introduced by competing interests within community foundations, but rather than giving up on charting impact, he argues instead to transform the conventional definition of impact.

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Perceiving Progress
Perceiving Progress

Guest author Lucy Bernholz, Visiting Scholar at Stanford University, reacts to CEP’s research report, “How Far Have We Come? Foundation CEOs on Progress and Impact.” Bernholz recognizes the unique difficulty of assessing progress in philanthropy but argues that the challenge foundations face in measuring outcomes is intrinsic to the work they do.

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If Progress on Goals is a Glass, It’s Half Empty and Half Full
If Progress on Goals is a Glass, It’s Half Empty and Half Full

Guest author Paul Brest, Professor Emeritus at Stanford Law School and former president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, reacts to CEP’s research report, “How Far Have We Come? Foundation CEOs on Progress and Impact.” Though encouraged that foundation CEOs’ recognize the value of acquiring and sharing evidence of what works to improve outcomes, Brest argues that is is crucial for foundation leaders to begin to act on these beliefs.

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Not Gettin’ It: Dispatch from After the Leap
Not Gettin’ It: Dispatch from After the Leap

Phil Buchanan, speaking to an audience of mostly nonprofit leaders at the After the Leap conference, asked if funders get it, when it comes to funding performance assessment for their grantees. Unsurprisingly, but discouragingly, the answer was for the most part, “no.”

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Helping Grantees Assess and Improve
Helping Grantees Assess and Improve

Phil Buchanan asks why, despite frequently indicating the desire to do so, aren’t more funders helping their grantees to evaluate and improve their work? Buchanan evaluates the current landscape of funder support for this work by their grantees, and finds that pool is a small one.

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The Leadership Development Disconnect
The Leadership Development Disconnect

Guest author Linda Wood, Senior Director of the Haas Leadership Initiative at the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, responds to the finding from Nonprofit Challenges: What Foundations Can Do that the majority of nonprofits do not feel adequately supported by their foundation funders. Wood argues that foundations’ skepticism towards investing in leadership development is misplaced, and wonders if funders are providing the right type of support to meet specific needs.

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Leadership Aggregation in Nonprofits: Maximizing the Value of Nonprofit Investments
Leadership Aggregation in Nonprofits: Maximizing the Value of Nonprofit Investments

Guest authors Gavin Fenn-Smith and Nicki Roth, of Saroga, the Nonprofit Leadership Forum, make the case for investing in talent and leadership in nonprofit organizations, recognizing that the desired impact to affect social change does not occur without effective leadership.

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Data Point: Nonprofits Struggle with Meeting Demand, Using Technology, and Developing Leadership
Data Point: Nonprofits Struggle with Meeting Demand, Using Technology, and Developing Leadership

Nonprofit leaders do not want help from their foundation funders with every challenge their organizations face, but would like more foundation help specifically in meeting the demand for their programs and services, using technology to improve their effectiveness, and developing their leadership skills. Mark Chaffin highlights another key finding from our research report Nonprofit Challenges: What Foundations Can Do.

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