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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.
Donor-advised funds (DAFs) have grown significantly in recent years. In 2018, DAFs reached new highs in four key metrics: dollars distributed from DAFs to charitable organizations, dollars contributed by donors to DAFs, the value of charitable assets under management...
This is the fourth and final post in a series reflecting on philanthropy’s first two decades in the 21st Century and hopes for the next one. The first post discusses the public conversation about philanthropy during 2000-2010; the second focuses on 2010-2019; the...
This is the third in a series of four blog posts reflecting on philanthropy’s first two decades in the 21st Century and hopes for the next one. The first post discusses the public conversation about philanthropy during 2000-2010;...
This is the second in a series of four blog posts reflecting on philanthropy’s first two decades in the 21st Century and hopes for the next one. The first post discusses the public conversation about philanthropy during 2000-2010; the second focuses on 2010-2019; the...
This is the first in a series of four blog posts reflecting on philanthropy’s first two decades in the 21st Century and hopes for the next one. The first post discusses the public conversation about philanthropy during 2000-2010; the second focuses on 2010-2019; the...
It’s easy to lament all that’s not what it could be in philanthropy. It’s important, even, because critique can lead to improvement. But too many of the critiques I read are generalized, sweeping, and, finally, unhelpful — offering little in the way of practical paths...
Global development funders pour millions of dollars every year into various forms of learning — from disseminating insights and lessons learned to reflecting and acting on program outcomes to using knowledge to improve decision-making. But, based on what we’ve seen,...
This essay by CEP Board Chair Grant Oliphant originally appeared on the Heinz Endowments blog. It also opens a special issue of the Endowments’ magazine, h, that explores criminal justice reform in America. “What percentage of people in prison...
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 attention has focused on their experimental methodologies, the policy action resulting from...
Another December, another year-end list. On the CEP blog, 2019 has been a year of thought-provoking insights, illustrative stories of philanthropic effectiveness, and challenging questions for leaders in the philanthropic sector to consider. We know that there’s a lot...
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 low-income parts of the world. Since the early 2000s, international...
As you consider your charitable donations this #GivingTuesday — and throughout the rest of the end-of-year giving season — it’s important to think about how you can make the most of your giving as you seek to affect change in communities and on topics you care about....
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 elder knows that someone from Meals-on-Wheels will be coming to check on him —...
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 paradox. Nonprofit staff spend countless hours...
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 polarized than ever, democracy is under attack, and we continue to struggle with...
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 or distributing antimalarial nets in affected areas around the world. Donors in the...
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 for-profit business sector into the nonprofit and traditional grantmaking...
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 have a front-row seat to watching 700 of our country’s emerging leaders direct...
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 Philanthropy Summit in Pleasant Hill, California on October 28, 2019. I have spent the last six...
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 contribute optimally to solving a major social or environmental problem. In the...