![Why Support for Communications, Staffing, and Fundraising is Necessary](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Why-Support-for-Communications-Staffing-and-Fundraising-is-Necessary-1080x675.jpg)
Blog
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.
![Why Support for Communications, Staffing, and Fundraising is Necessary](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Why-Support-for-Communications-Staffing-and-Fundraising-is-Necessary-1080x675.jpg)
![What Does It Take to Shift to a Learning Culture in Philanthropy?](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/What-Does-It-Take-to-Shift-to-a-Learning-Culture-in-Philanthropy-1080x675.jpg)
What Does It Take to Shift to a Learning Culture in Philanthropy?
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]If there was ever any doubt that greater openness and transparency could benefit organized philanthropy, a new report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) about knowledge-sharing practices puts it to rest....
![Evaluation: The Journey and the Destination](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Evaluation-Journey-and-Destination-1080x675.jpg)
Evaluation: The Journey and the Destination
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]A new CEP report titled Understanding & Sharing What Works highlights the challenges foundations face in understanding what does and doesn’t work programmatically, deciding what to do with that information, and...
![How Can Foundations Learn Better and Share More?](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/How-Can-Foundations-Learn-Better-and-Share-More-1080x675.jpg)
How Can Foundations Learn Better and Share More?
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]The Center for Effective Philanthropy’s new report Understanding & Sharing What Works explores, from the vantage point of the foundation CEO, how foundations go about assessing their efforts, how they use this...
![How Are Funders Understanding and Sharing What Works?](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/How-are-funders-understanding-and-sharing-what-works-1080x675.jpg)
How Are Funders Understanding and Sharing What Works?
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]In a post on the CEP blog last week about measuring foundation progress, Mark Zezza and Maureen Cozine of the New York State Health Foundation write, “As stewards of resources to...
![Advancing Nonprofit Diversity: A Call to Action for Funders and Nonprofits](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Advancing-Nonprofit-Diversity-Call-to-Action-1080x675.jpg)
Advancing Nonprofit Diversity: A Call to Action for Funders and Nonprofits
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]CEP’s recent report, Nonprofit Diversity Efforts: Current Practices and the Role of Foundations, provides funders valuable input on what they can do to lead the way in helping nonprofits make greater improvements in...
![Don’t Sleep on Early Bird Registration for the 2019 CEP Conference](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Don’t-Sleep-on-Early-Bird-Registration-for-the-2019-CEP-Conference-1080x675.jpg)
Don’t Sleep on Early Bird Registration for the 2019 CEP Conference
![From Keeping Score to Measuring Progress: One Foundation’s Approach to Self-Assessment](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/From-Keeping-Score-to-Tracking-Progress-1080x675.jpg)
From Keeping Score to Measuring Progress: One Foundation’s Approach to Self-Assessment
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]As the calendar year comes to an end, it’s performance assessment time for employees at many organizations. Did I meet my goals for the year? Where did I do well? Where might I have fallen short? What could I do...
![More than Money: 3 Non-traditional Ways Funders Can Support Grantees](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/More-than-money-non-traditional-ways-to-support-grantees-1080x675.jpg)
More than Money: 3 Non-traditional Ways Funders Can Support Grantees
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]A recent report from CEP reveals that there is often a gap between what a nonprofit wants and what a funder provides. The report shows that foundation leaders frequently cite a lack of internal staff capacity or time to...
![Seeking Input on CEP’s Revised Definition of Philanthropic Effectiveness](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Seeking-Input-on-CEP’s-Revised-Definition-of-Philanthropic-Effectiveness-1080x675.jpg)
Seeking Input on CEP’s Revised Definition of Philanthropic Effectiveness
![The People We Seek to Help](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/The-People-We-Seek-to-Help-1080x675.jpg)
The People We Seek to Help
![Going All In on Supporting Effective Organizations](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Going-All-In-on-Supporting-Effective-Organizations-1080x675.jpg)
Going All In on Supporting Effective Organizations
![Strengthening the Hearts and Lungs of Social Change](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Heart-and-Lungs-of-Nonprofit-Organizations-1080x675.jpg)
Strengthening the Hearts and Lungs of Social Change
![The Need for a Strong Voice for Institutional Philanthropy](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Need-Strong-Voice-Institutional-Philanthropy-1080x675.jpg)
The Need for a Strong Voice for Institutional Philanthropy
![Bringing the “Beginner’s Mind” to Funder-Grantee Conversations](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Beginners-Mind-Funder-Grantee-Relationships-1080x675.jpg)
Bringing the “Beginner’s Mind” to Funder-Grantee Conversations
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]CEP’s new study, Strengthening Grantees: Foundation and Nonprofit Perspectives, finds that a gap in understanding exists between CEOs of nonprofits and foundation leaders when it comes to strengthening...
![What Foundations Can Do to Help Strengthen Nonprofit Organizations](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/What-Foundations-Can-Do-to-Strengthen-Grantees-1080x675.jpg)
What Foundations Can Do to Help Strengthen Nonprofit Organizations
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]CEP released a study this week that shows the disconnect between nonprofits and funders on understanding grantees’ organizational strengthening needs. While almost all foundation leaders say they feel responsible...
![Are Nonprofits Getting the Support They Really Need?](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Are-Nonprofits-Getting-the-Support-They-Really-Need-1080x675.jpg)
Are Nonprofits Getting the Support They Really Need?
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]Strengthening nonprofit organizations and providing general operating support have been discussion topics for decades in philanthropy. When CEP set out to conduct research on these issues...
![Funders that Don’t Seek Feedback Are Out of Excuses](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Funders-that-dont-seek-feedback-are-out-of-excuses-1080x675.jpg)
Funders that Don’t Seek Feedback Are Out of Excuses
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]In a Telegraph interview several years ago, Lisa Marie Presley said, “Something happens to people around fame and power and money — it can bring out the worst and best in people; it’s a monster you have...
![Shadow a Grantee CEO Day: A Proposal](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Shadow-a-Grantee-Day-1080x675.jpg)
Shadow a Grantee CEO Day: A Proposal
![Making It Count: The Evolution of the Ford Foundation’s Diversity Data Collection](https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Making-It-Count-The-Evolution-of-the-Ford-Foundation’s-Diversity-Data-Collection-1080x675.jpg)
Making It Count: The Evolution of the Ford Foundation’s Diversity Data Collection
[vc_row][vc_column width="3/4"][vc_column_text]CEP's report on nonprofit diversity efforts comes at a time when we at the Ford Foundation have been thinking critically about how we collect, analyze, and act upon diversity data from grantee organizations. As a funder,...