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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.
Earlier this year, the Aspen Forum for Community Solutions team held its annual retreat in Montgomery, Alabama, visiting the Equal Justice Initiative’s Legacy Sites. As part of this transformative experience, the Forum’s team was honored to spend time with Bryan...
I find it hard to believe, but I’ve been working in the feedback field for more than 18 years. During that time, I’ve supported both foundations and nonprofits to more effectively integrate the perspectives of the people at the heart of their work. Given everything...
A newly released report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), “Voices That Matter,” finds that nearly all foundation respondents report actively working to understand the needs of the people and communities they support. Eighty-nine percent say that...
Nonprofits across the country are struggling with the intense pressures facing them, both internal and external, as revealed in CEP’s 2025 State of Nonprofits report, released just over a month ago. What’s more, the communities nonprofits and funders work to support...
Hosted by the Network of European Foundations since 2005, EPIM - The European Philanthropic Initiative for Migration, is one of Europe’s longest-standing philanthropic collaboratives. In 2021, it embarked on an open-ended process of change, reimagining its core...
Funders have long encouraged collaboration among their grantees, but historically they have been far less enthusiastic about collaborating with each other. That’s perhaps understandable given that effective collaboration means surrendering a degree of control, and...
In the following conversation, Natalia Kiryttopoulou, lead for global assessment and advisory services at CEP, discusses just-released research on European foundation practices with Sevda Kilicalp, head of research and learning at Philea (Philanthropy Europe...
Philanthropy is more needed than ever, but without governance that reflects today’s complexity, it risks losing its relevance. In a world reshaped by climate instability, democratic erosion, and rising inequality, the problems funders seek to address have grown more...
As the leader of a frontline-accountable intermediary, I’m hearing story after story from the ground: promised federal funds permanently or indefinitely frozen; environmental justice funding portfolios sunsetting unexpectedly; reimbursements from public monies...
Individualism. Competition. Risk aversion. Short-termism. Scarcity. Presumed expertise. Many of the norms by which philanthropy operates perpetuate the very narratives our sector seeks to change. In this series on the CEP blog, contributors who represent a...
Individualism. Competition. Risk aversion. Short-termism. Scarcity. Presumed expertise. Many of the norms by which philanthropy operates perpetuate the very narratives our sector seeks to change. In this series on the CEP blog, contributors who represent a...
Nonprofit leaders are in crisis. Things have been rough for a while, and as a person who has worked in nonprofits for most of my career, I know it was never an easy sector to work in. But now, according to the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s 2025 State of...
Individualism. Competition. Risk aversion. Short-termism. Scarcity. Presumed expertise. Many of the norms by which philanthropy operates perpetuate the very narratives our sector seeks to change. In this series on the CEP blog, contributors who represent a...
The Center for Effective Philanthropy’s State of Nonprofits report is timely and insightful, and many of its findings are an important reality check. We are in a time of great challenges on many fronts. It is fitting to refer to this period as a crisis in the...
This is the second in a series of occasional chats among some of CEP’s staff we’ll be posting on the blog, in which they discuss the current context for philanthropy and nonprofits. In this conversation, CEP President Phil Buchanan talks with CEP Vice President of...
Individualism. Competition. Risk aversion. Short-termism. Scarcity. Presumed expertise. Many of the norms by which philanthropy operates perpetuate the very narratives our sector seeks to change. In this series on the CEP blog, contributors who represent a...
The rapid dismantling of U.S. foreign assistance has thrown the social and civic sectors into upheaval worldwide. Media reports understandably focus on the human costs of shuttering global health programs, humanitarian assistance, and other lifesaving aid, where the...
Individualism. Competition. Risk aversion. Short-termism. Scarcity. Presumed expertise. Many of the norms by which philanthropy operates perpetuate the very narratives our sector seeks to change. In this series on the CEP blog, contributors who represent a...
Individualism. Competition. Risk aversion. Short-termism. Scarcity. Presumed expertise. Many of the norms by which philanthropy operates perpetuate the very narratives our sector seeks to change. In this series on the CEP blog, contributors who represent a...
This is the first in a series of occasional chats among some of CEP’s staff we’ll be posting on the blog, in which they discuss the current context for philanthropy and nonprofits. In this conversation, CEP’s Vice President of Assessment and Advisory Services...