Phil Buchanan raises questions about what we know about foundations’ involvement in impact investing and calls for new research to explore the topic.
Foundations and Impact Investing: What Is Really Going On?
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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.
Diving Deeper into Nonprofit Performance Assessment
Addy Ashiru introduces the recording from a recent CEP panel discussion on the role funders can—but currently fail to—play in supporting nonprofit performance assessment.
Chasing Staff Satisfaction
Director of Talent Brian Hughes examines the fluid nature of staff satisfaction but emphasizes the importance of pursuing it for any organization that wishes to be effective.
Sifting Through the “Research”
Phil Buchanan warns against the scurrilous errors that can infect supposed “research” and asks us all to become more discerning readers.
Opportunity in Communities: Developing the Whole Picture
Guest author Elizabeth Clay Roy shares how Opportunity Nation is using data to inspire deeper collaboration among stakeholders to achieve shared goals.
Building Through Collective Experience
CEP Vice President Kevin Bolduc lays out the agenda for a preconference seminar for users of CEP Assessment Tools, highlighting our keynote presenter and touting the virtues of peer-to-peer learning.
Appreciating an Underdeveloped Source of Insight
Stephen Sullivan highlights an important new article about the insights gained when you incorporate the voice of beneficiaries in a measure of a program’s effectiveness.
Mission Driven Investing: Philanthropy’s Surprising Returns
Guest author Sterling Speirn lays out the reasoning behind the W.K. Kellogg Foundation’s foray into impact investing and the returns they have seen after five years with this approach.
The Hidden Power of Measurement
Referencing the themes of Bill Gates’ latest Annual Letter, Mark Russell argues that measurement alone will never ensure that “progress becomes commonplace.”
Data Point: Foundations’ Information Needs vs. Nonprofits’ Needs
Ellie Buteau shares a data point from our “Room for Improvement” report about the tension between foundations’ information needs and those of the grantees they fund.
Transforming School Culture Through Student Feedback: One School’s Experience
Jen Vorse Wilka introduces a video of a high school principal talking about his experience with the YouthTruth survey and how feedback he collected from his students has allowed him to alter the culture of learning at his school.
Making Evaluation Matter
Phil Buchanan reviews a new internal working paper from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and discusses why distinctions in evaluation practices matter.
Pursuing Results: What We Hope to Learn in Detroit
Mark Russell explains the theme and previews the agenda for CEP’s 2013 National Conference this May.
When “Dependency” is Not a Bad Word
Phil Buchanan questions the assumption that a dependence on philanthropic funding is a detriment to grantees and a negative outcome for foundations.
Who Wants to Go to Detroit?
Mark Russell expresses his excitment about the work philanthropy is undertaking in Detroit and explains the reasoning behind why it was chosen as CEP’s 2013 conference host city.
Three Employee Empowerment Lessons from Show and Tell
Chris McCrum of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation draws connections between leading staff and a shared experience from elementary school.
Creating Community at The Commonwealth Fund
Guest authors Diana Davenport and John Craig discuss how The Commonwealth Fund has sought to improve their staff satisfaction through empowerment.
Survey Says: Understanding Employees’ Perceptions Helps Drive Improvement
Guest author James R. Knickman shares his perspective on empowering employees at the New York State Health Foundation.
Data Point: Donor Motivations for Initially Establishing Funds at Community Foundations
Grace Nicolette shares a data point about donor motivations relevant to the ongoing debate over the charitable tax deduction and the fiscal cliff.
What do you want to be when you grow up? Satisfied with your job!
Ellie Buteau introduces new research, drawn from our Staff Perception Report, that illuminates the keys to employee empowerment and satisfaction.