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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.
Phil Buchanan weighs in on the idea that the business sector can address the issues traditionally seen as the domain of nonprofits – and on the persistence of borders distinguishing one sector from the other.
Phil Buchanan writes about the challenge of ensuring that the current efforts of the big foundations and philanthropists to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for poor kids don’t meet the same fate as failed efforts of the past.
In an Atlanta Journal-Constitution op ed, Phil Buchanan, Fay Twersky, and Valerie Threlfall argue for listening to students to find out what’s really going on in schools.
David Trueblood reports on CEP’s visibility in coverage of the Gates Foundation 2010 annual report.
Kathy Merchant, president and CEO of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation, and Neil Steinberg, president and CEO of The Rhode Island Foundation, talk about using the Donor Perception Report to strengthen the work of their organizations.
Phil Buchanan’s talks about the relationship between passion and assessment in a forum at the Hudson Institute.
Phil Buchanan reviews Mario Marino’s new book, ‘Leap of Reason’, calling it a must read for anyone who cares about impact.
Does a new report on nonprofit leadership draw the right conclusions? Phil Buchanan weighs in on Daring to Lead.
Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research co-founders Michael J. Fox and Debi Brooks discuss the challenges and surprises they experienced creating a major new medical research foundation.
“…while passion and emotion are often the problem because they can lead us astray, they’re also the solution. For it is only a passionate commitment to really getting it right – to seeing results – that can provide the will and discipline necessary to do the hard work of data-gathering, strategy formulating, assessing, and analyzing.”
Even before Esther Duflo rose to speak at the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s (CEP) 2011 conference, she had already stirred controversy. Her well-known belief in the ability of randomized controlled trails to understand the effectiveness of policy interventions...
Phil Buchanan shares CEP’s 2010 annual report, welcoming feedback on the information and the new video format.
Phil Buchanan discusses how CEP’s May conference helped him reflect on a challenge he faces as CEP’s president: How do leaders get the best out of people by encouraging them to speak up while simultaneously fostering a culture in which people challenge each other to get to the best solutions?
Quotes and video clips of Jeff Raikes, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, at CEP’s 2011 conference are shared in this post by writer Susan Parker.
Beth Kanter shares takeaways from the social media session she participated in at CEP’s conference, noting the relevance of a broader theme at the conference: foundation transparency.
For the past four years I have been responsible for producing The Irvine Foundation’s Annual Performance Report, our foundation-wide assessment of program impact and operational performance. Through my work on that report I have come to understand that focusing on...
Bruce Trachtenberg shares the foundation communication trends and themes he observed at CEP’s 2011 conference.
Ellie Buteau shares the press release for “Can Feedback Fuel Change at Foundations?,” which shows that foundations that use the Grantee Perception Report (GPR) more than once are making changes that are benefiting the organizations they fund. In addition to describing the data analysis and profiling foundations that have made improvements, the report identifies four keys to driving change as a result of the GPR.
Kate Wolford reflects on how themes at CEP’s conference align with her own foundation’s work and challenges.
Ed Pauly shares what he believes is the most important step in achieving results: getting the facts.