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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.
In the past year, CEP has deepened its focus on partnering with funders across the world, including through establishing a presence in Amsterdam. We recently analyzed our comparative Grantee Perception Report (GPR) dataset and have identified four...
In Phil Buchanan’s recent post on his hopes for philanthropy in the 2020s, he issues a call to “embrace measurement as the crucial and important challenge that it is and reject dumbed-down metrics like overhead ratios that tell us little about results.” We think...
This post is the second in “Social Justice and a Relevant Philanthropic Sector,” a five-part series by Miles Wilson about where philanthropy is stuck in old paradigms — and where there lie opportunities to advance social justice both within the sector and across...
The nonprofit perspective matters in any discussion about the philanthropic sector. After all, nonprofit organizations are on the front lines, executing the hard work needed to address important challenges facing communities across the country and globally....
During the past 15 years, I’ve spent a lot of time (some might say an unusual amount, even) thinking about the importance of gathering and responding to feedback from the people social sector programs are designed to help. I initially got the “feedback bug” in 2008...
This post originally appeared on India Development Review. It is the fundamentals of an organization — arguably more so than great program design or execution — that are key to delivering high impact. This insight drove a recent decision by Children’s Investment Fund...
This post is the first in “Social Justice and a Relevant Philanthropic Sector,” a five-part series by Miles Wilson about where philanthropy is stuck in old paradigms — and where there lie opportunities to advance social justice both within the sector and across...
This post originally appeared on the ACF (Association of Charitable Foundations) website. The report Impact and Learning: The Pillars of Stronger Foundation Practice defines learning as a “proactive and lifelong process of reflection and open listening” that “takes...
Under pressure to reimagine philanthropic practice, private foundations are increasingly attentive to the quality of their relationships with grantees. They’re asking important questions of themselves with greater frequency: Are we listening? Are we providing adequate...
Evaluation, at its heart, is a data-driven tool that helps us to look back and reflect. The Maine Health Access Foundation (MeHAF) regularly utilizes that tool to examine the success and impact of our grant programs. We regularly ask grantees to evaluate...
One of the primary ways the staff at the Jacob & Valeria Langeloth Foundation would describe ourselves and how we work is that we “follow the field.” We pride ourselves on the fact that we are non-directive funders — we would never dictate to a grantee what they...
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...