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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.
by Phil Buchanan, Ellie Buteau, Ph.D.Phil Buchanan | Nov 15, 2022 | ResearchResearch
We’ve been researching foundations and donors, and the way they interact with the nonprofits they fund, for two decades. We have heard many funders announce their arrival by declaring they’re taking a new, innovative approach to philanthropy: charting a new path and...
by Tim HanstadCEP Staff | Nov 10, 2022 | Guest AuthorGuest Author
Donors have often told me that their north star is impact. But my experience, during nearly three decades on the “doer” side and now more than four years as a donor representative, has indicated otherwise. Often, what donors actually want is impact delivered on a...
by Daniel SteinCEP Staff | Nov 8, 2022 | Guest AuthorGuest Author
The dust is finally starting to settle after a wild roller-coaster of a ride for U.S. climate policy. When all is said and done, three bills with major climate implications (IIJA, CHIPS, IRA) have passed the 117th congress. In a previous post on this blog, I argued...
by Paul LuuCEP Staff | Nov 3, 2022 | Guest AuthorGuest Author
If there is one thing we have learned at the Chinese American Service League (CASL), it’s that data has the potential to revolutionize the way we look at philanthropy and change the landscape for years to come. No longer are heartfelt appeals for funding and support...
by William KeatorWilliam Keator | Nov 1, 2022 | Guest AuthorGuest Author
Our latest economic crisis has inflation raging throughout the global economy. While foundations respond to reductions in their asset values and damage done to stakeholders, this crisis could yet wreak more havoc — a lot more. And that means the nonprofit sector faces...
by Natalia KiryttopoulouCEP Staff | Oct 27, 2022 | Assessment & Advisory ServicesAssessment & Advisory Services
Over the years, I have worked with incredible funders across Europe and globally. My entry point has been in supporting the monitoring, evaluation and learning needs of their grantees; I carried out evaluations, built and supported the implementation of measuring,...
by Britt Savage, Cora Daniels, Peter KimCEP Staff | Oct 25, 2022 | Guest AuthorGuest Author
What if philanthropy took on structural racism with the dedication it reserves for issues like education or health? It would require seeing structural racism as the problem and the racial disparities and inequities as a manifestation of that problem. After all, as the...
by Sam Philips-CorwinCEP Staff | Oct 20, 2022 | Guest AuthorGuest Author
At Global Fund for Children (GFC), our convening practice is key to building long-term partnerships with community-based organizations as they learn, adapt, and lead change. In this blog post, we share our unique approach to convenings, how we shift power to our...
by Phil BuchananPhil Buchanan | Oct 18, 2022 | By Phil BuchananBy Phil Buchanan
It’s remarkable to reflect on how much has changed since 2019, when big philanthropy was wrapped up in self-critique prompted by a range of high-profile critics. But the pandemic and the racial justice reckoning of 2020, and the sense of urgency they created, rendered...
by Nina BlackwellCEP Staff | Oct 13, 2022 | Guest AuthorGuest Author
Trust has become an important concept in global development philanthropy, but we need to really understand it before we preach it. Indeed, sector discussions on the subject can risk stopping short of addressing important questions that are critical to the concept as a...
by Neill ColemanCEP Staff | Oct 11, 2022 | Guest AuthorGuest Author
This summer, 28 New York City high school students spent five weeks at Trinity Commons where they learned the craft of journalism. The student journalists focused on housing issues in their reporting and the cohort included students with lived experience with...
by Isabelle LeightonCEP Staff | Oct 6, 2022 | Guest AuthorGuest Author
When you think of the word philanthropy, what images come to mind? A building? Stacks of money? Grant checks? Board rooms? Who sits in those places of power? While conducting in-depth interviews with more than 100 high-net-worth donors of color for the qualitative...
by Isabelle LeightonCEP Staff | Oct 4, 2022 | Guest AuthorGuest Author
When you think of the word philanthropy, what images come to mind? A building? Stacks of money? Grant checks? Board rooms? Who sits in those places of power? When Donors of Color Network (DOCN) was formed to nurture a joyful community prepared to shift the center of...
by Megan Colnar, Robin VargheseCEP Staff | Sep 29, 2022 | Guest AuthorGuest Author
Culture eats strategy for breakfast. Or so we’ve been told. But what happens when you try building culture through strategy? This is what we attempted to do in the Open Society Foundations’ Economic Justice Program. The program, which sought to articulate the first...
by Tanya Gulliver-Garcia, Kristina MooreCEP Staff | Sep 27, 2022 | Guest AuthorGuest Author
From a global pandemic to the recent invasion of Ukraine, globally impactful disasters are an increasingly frequent part of our reality, and thus an important factor as funders consider grantmaking priorities and the funding landscape in which they operate. In light...
by Anne WallestadAnne Wallestad | Sep 22, 2022 | Guest AuthorGuest Author
This piece was originally posted in January 2022. It should be obvious that “who” is doing a job or playing a leadership role informs how the job is done. Who we are as people — the experiences that we have, the skill sets and perspectives that we bring, the...
by Jon Sotsky, Anu MalipatilCEP Staff | Sep 15, 2022 | Guest AuthorAssessment & Advisory Services, Guest AuthorGuest Author
In part one of this blog post, we shared the humbling results of the Overdeck Family Foundation’s 2019 Grantee Perception Report, as well as how the Foundation came together to process that data and formulate a plan to move forward. We suggest you read part one before...
by Jon Sotsky, Anu MalipatilCEP Staff | Sep 13, 2022 | Guest AuthorAssessment & Advisory Services, Guest AuthorGuest Author
At Overdeck Family Foundation, we aim to open doors for every child in the U.S. by measurably enhancing education both inside and outside the classroom. In our collective work towards our mission, we are guided by three core values, all of which we lean on daily with...
by Grace NicoletteGrace Nicolette | Sep 8, 2022 | Individual DonorsIndividual Donors
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]Listen now to the season 3 trailer. [su_audio url="http://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Giving-Done-Right_S3-Trailer.mp3"] Being a wise and effective donor isn’t easy. I’ve...
by Cynthia SteeleCEP Staff | Sep 6, 2022 | Guest AuthorGuest Author
There is no group more qualified to lead solutions to our world’s most pressing problems than the communities who directly experience them. For young people in emerging markets — who are disproportionately affected by issues such as climate change, gender inequity,...