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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.
It’s no secret that we find ourselves in the midst of a time of dramatic and rapid shifts in the U.S. political context. In such a time of change and uncertainty, foundation leaders and board members are asking themselves many questions about how they can most...
At CEP, we have always prided ourselves on a commitment to diversity among our staff and to building a culture of inclusion. Diversity “done right” has a slew of benefits, including innovation and improved productivity. But how do organizations...
Last week, BoardSource, together with our colleagues at GuideStar, BBB Wise Giving Alliance, and the Association of Fundraising Professionals released a new recommended framework for measuring fundraising effectiveness. For funders concerned about effective...
Research into evaluation use gets me all fired up! It has a way of putting a number on experiences and feelings common to many of us. As the lead author of the State of Evaluation project, one area I care deeply about is how nonprofits engage with, use, and experience...
This post from Stuart Comstock-Gay, president and CEO of the Delaware Community Foundation, is the last in a series of eight essays from foundation CEOs reflecting on findings from the CEP research report, The Future of Foundation Philanthropy: The CEO Perspective,...
It may be the time of year for resolutions, but, to start, I have a confession: openness is tough. In my role as project manager for Fund for Shared Insight (“Shared Insight”), a collaborative effort among funders to make grants that improve philanthropy, I think a...
Does spending more on evaluation provide “more meaningful” insights? Last year I completed a survey for the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) and the Center for Evaluation Innovation (CEI) on evaluation practices at the Hewlett Foundation, where I support staff...
This post from Nicky Goren, president and CEO of the Eugene and Agnes E. Meyer Foundation, is the seventh in a series of eight essays from foundation CEOs reflecting on findings from the CEP research report, The Future of Foundation Philanthropy: The CEO Perspective,...
This post from Kevin Jennings, executive director of the Arcus Foundation, is the sixth in a series of eight essays from foundation CEOs reflecting on findings from the CEP research report, The Future of Foundation Philanthropy: The CEO Perspective, commissioned by...
This post from Kelvin Taketa, president and CEO of the Hawai’i Community Foundation, is the fifth in a series of eight essays from foundation CEOs reflecting on findings from the CEP research report, The Future of Foundation Philanthropy: The CEO Perspective,...
As we approach the end of 2016, I want to take a second to thank the many funders that entrusted CEP’s Assessment and Advisory Services team this year to help them grapple with important questions about their effectiveness. Every year at this time we take a look back...
No matter where you personally stand on the results of our recent elections, one thing is clear: we in the nonprofit sector — grantees and funders alike — are entering a moment of significant change in the context for our work. For some (voucher and charter advocates,...
This post from Kate Wolford, president of The McKnight Foundation, is the fourth in a series of eight essays from foundation CEOs reflecting on findings from the CEP research report, The Future of Foundation Philanthropy: The CEO Perspective, commissioned by the...
This post from Judy Belk, president and CEO of The California Wellness Foundation, is the third in a series of eight essays from foundation CEOs reflecting on findings from the CEP research report, The Future of Foundation Philanthropy: The CEO Perspective,...
This post from Darren Walker, president of the Ford Foundation, is the second in a series of eight essays from foundation CEOs reflecting on findings from the CEP research report, The Future of Foundation Philanthropy: The CEO Perspective, commissioned by the William...
More than two-thirds of the CEOs of large, staffed foundations in the United States believe foundations have the potential to make a significant difference in society. That’s the good (and perhaps hardly surprising) news in a new report from our...
This post from Carol Larson, president and CEO of the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, is the first in a series of eight essays from foundation CEOs reflecting on findings from the CEP research report, The Future of Foundation Philanthropy: The CEO Perspective,...
A week before the election a friend of mine, worried about the outcomes, said she consulted FiveThirtyEight’s updates every day to relieve her anxiety. And I’m sure she wasn’t the only one. During election season, it was just the thing to do, and anyone who was even a...
Bob Dylan reminds us that “the times they are a-changing.” That very change is happening right now for many of us in philanthropy in what has been a wake-up call over the last several months. This summer, Great Britain voted to leave the European Union. Last month,...
This post originally appeared on Medium. “America, you great unfinished symphony, you sent for me, you let me make a difference. A place where even orphan immigrants can leave their fingerprints and rise up.” Two weeks ago, a couple of days after the presidential...