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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.
When I decided to make a career pivot from journalism to philanthropy, one nonprofit leader remarked to me that I was “going to the dark side.” In the newsroom, the dark side always meant a public relations gig. But in this case, it was a commentary on working with...
Foundations have an image problem. Or, more accurately, a self-image problem. As the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s recent report Strengthening Grantees: Foundation and Nonprofit Perspectives documents, foundations do not understand nonprofits’ needs nearly...
Thanks to Lindsay Louie’s generous invitation, I had the opportunity to do a reverse site visit at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in October (disclaimer: Hewlett is a leading grant funder of CEP). For a day and a half, I shadowed Lindsay to better understand...
This is the third post in a series on “The Art of Philanthropy,” a high-altitude look at the power foundations hold, related issues, and potential solutions. Conversations within and between foundations used to be centered largely around just what was funded and why....
The CEP blog is a busy place throughout the year. In fact, this is the 91st post on the blog in 2018! While we highly recommend reading every post (you can subscribe in the box on the right to make it easy to do that!), we know that time is short — always, but...
A decade ago I was managing grants for a nonprofit in Swaziland when the representative of a large funder arrived in my office. Without talking to any of the beneficiaries at the core of the project, he immediately began going through the 500-page grant agreement with...
When grantmakers consider providing capacity-building support for the first time or refining their existing capacity-building support, it can be challenging to figure out where to begin. What kind of questions should we ask? Where should we focus? What is the best way...
This is the second post in a series on “The Art of Philanthropy,” a high-altitude look at the power foundations hold, related issues, and potential solutions. In my last post on the “art of philanthropy,” I discussed how the funder-grantee power dynamic continues to...
The relationship between foundations and grantees is a topic that the social sector has been discussing for years. Collectively — through scholarly research, industry-wide surveys, and opinion pieces — we have acknowledged power dynamics, mismatched expectations, lack...
Foundations use knowledge to make decisions. A recent report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy, Understanding & Sharing What Works: The State of Foundation Practice, shows that 80 percent of foundation CEOs surveyed say their organizations are using what...
This is the first post in a series on “The Art of Philanthropy,” a high-altitude look at the power foundations hold, related issues, and potential solutions. The art of philanthropy begins with balance and ends without it. Of course, any attempt for balance runs head...
In CEP’s recent report, Strengthening Grantees: Foundation and Nonprofit Perspectives, Meher Shulman, associate director, Nonprofit Support Program, at the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, says that capacity building is an investment “to ensure nonprofits have...
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. Besides making a case for the need for greater...
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 sharing what they have learned. At the Edna McConnell...
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 knowledge to make decisions, and how they share what...
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 advance the public interest, it is incumbent upon us to be transparent about our...
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 diversifying their boards and staff. Reading the...
We’re in the final month of early bird registration for Stronger Philanthropy, CEP’s 2019 national conference. At current registration levels, we’re predicting that the conference will sell out in the coming weeks. If you are a senior leader at a foundation (or a...
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 differently to improve my performance next year? Many...
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 provide support to strengthen their grantees. As...