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.

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What Foundations are Doing to Understand their Effectiveness

by Ellie Buteau, PhDEllie Buteau, PhD | Sep 7, 2011 | Assessing Performance Assessing Performance

Over the past decade foundations have worked to assess their performance in the fields and communities they seek to address. In particular, data-driven forms of measurement have become more widely used to judge the results of programs, along with a broader range of information now used to assess performance.

Findings drawn from a survey of the CEOs of 173 U.S. foundations with annual grantmaking of at least $5 million focus on the current status of performance assessment among larger foundations.

The State of Performance Assessment, 10 Years Later

by Phil BuchananPhil Buchanan | Sep 6, 2011 | Assessing Performance Assessing Performance, Assessing Performance By Phil Buchanan

Phil Buchanan glances back 10 years as CEP prepares to release a new report on performance assessment for foundations.

Two Personal Takes: Accountability and the Issue of Diversity

by An-Li Herring, Liz Kelley Sohn, David TruebloodCEP Staff | Sep 2, 2011 | Assessing Performance Assessing Performance

Leaders from philanthropy and the nonprofit sector have been invited to CEP from time to time to talk about a wide range of issues. Here, two staff members reflect on conversations with Beth Smith of the Hyams Foundation and Allen Grossman of Harvard Business School.

What’s Wrong with This Picture?

by Phil BuchananPhil Buchanan | Sep 1, 2011 | Funder/Grantee Relationships By Phil Buchanan, Funder/Grantee Relationships Funder/Grantee Relationships

Phil Buchanan weighs in on the idea that the business sector can address the issues traditionally seen as the domain of nonprofits – and on the persistence of borders distinguishing one sector from the other.

Education, Philanthropy and Metrics

by Phil BuchananPhil Buchanan | Aug 16, 2011 | Assessing Performance Assessing Performance, Assessing Performance By Phil Buchanan, Assessing Performance YouthTruth

Phil Buchanan writes about the challenge of ensuring that the current efforts of the big foundations and philanthropists to improve educational opportunities and outcomes for poor kids don’t meet the same fate as failed efforts of the past.

The Case for Looking at More Than Just Test Scores

by David TruebloodCEP Staff | Aug 10, 2011 | Assessing Performance Assessing Performance, Assessing Performance YouthTruth

In an Atlanta Journal-Constitution op ed, Phil Buchanan, Fay Twersky, and Valerie Threlfall argue for listening to students to find out what’s really going on in schools.

Gates Annual Report Highlights CEP Role in Increasing Global Impact

by David TruebloodCEP Staff | Aug 5, 2011 | Funder/Grantee Relationships Assessing Performance, Funder/Grantee Relationships Constituent Feedback, Funder/Grantee Relationships Funder/Grantee Relationships

David Trueblood reports on CEP’s visibility in coverage of the Gates Foundation 2010 annual report.

How Community Foundations Use Donor Perspectives to Improve Their Work

by Susan ParkerCEP Staff | Jul 22, 2011 | Funder/Grantee Relationships Assessing Performance, Funder/Grantee Relationships Developing Strategy, Funder/Grantee Relationships Funder/Grantee Relationships

Kathy Merchant, president and CEO of The Greater Cincinnati Foundation, and Neil Steinberg, president and CEO of The Rhode Island Foundation, talk about using the Donor Perception Report to strengthen the work of their organizations.

Avoiding a False Choice (Why We Need Both ‘Morality’ and Assessment)

by Phil BuchananPhil Buchanan | Jul 21, 2011 | Assessing Performance Assessing Performance, Assessing Performance By Phil Buchanan

Phil Buchanan’s talks about the relationship between passion and assessment in a forum at the Hudson Institute.

Why Foundations Need to Make a Leap of Reason

by Phil BuchananPhil Buchanan | Jul 13, 2011 | Funder/Grantee Relationships Assessing Performance, Funder/Grantee Relationships By Phil Buchanan, Funder/Grantee Relationships Funder/Grantee Relationships

Phil Buchanan reviews Mario Marino’s new book, ‘Leap of Reason’, calling it a must read for anyone who cares about impact.

Does ‘Daring to Lead’ Draw the Right Conclusions from the Data?

by Phil BuchananPhil Buchanan | Jul 7, 2011 | Assessing Performance Assessing Performance, Assessing Performance By Phil Buchanan, Assessing Performance Optimizing Governance

Does a new report on nonprofit leadership draw the right conclusions? Phil Buchanan weighs in on Daring to Lead.

Michael J. Fox: Getting Results By Going the Unconventional Way

by Susan ParkerCEP Staff | Jun 30, 2011 | Developing Strategy Developing Strategy, Developing Strategy Programming and Communications

Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research co-founders Michael J. Fox and Debi Brooks discuss the challenges and surprises they experienced creating a major new medical research foundation.

Passion Needed For Data Driven Analysis in Philanthropy

by Phil BuchananPhil Buchanan | Jun 27, 2011 | Assessing Performance Assessing Performance, Assessing Performance By Phil Buchanan

“…while passion and emotion are often the problem because they can lead us astray, they’re also the solution. For it is only a passionate commitment to really getting it right – to seeing results – that can provide the will and discipline necessary to do the hard work of data-gathering, strategy formulating, assessing, and analyzing.”

Esther Duflo Explains Why She Believes Randomized Controlled Trials Are So Vital

by Susan ParkerCEP Staff | Jun 23, 2011 | Guest Author Assessing Performance, Guest Author Developing Strategy, Guest Author Guest Author

Even before Esther Duflo rose to speak at the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s (CEP) 2011 conference, she had already stirred controversy. Her well-known belief in the ability of randomized controlled trails to understand the effectiveness of policy interventions...

CEP Releases 2010 Video Annual Report

by Phil BuchananPhil Buchanan | Jun 17, 2011 | Assessing Performance Assessing Performance, Assessing Performance By Phil Buchanan

Phil Buchanan shares CEP’s 2010 annual report, welcoming feedback on the information and the new video format.

Challenging Without Silencing

by Phil BuchananPhil Buchanan | Jun 14, 2011 | Managing Operations By Phil Buchanan, Managing Operations Managing Operations

Phil Buchanan discusses how CEP’s May conference helped him reflect on a challenge he faces as CEP’s president: How do leaders get the best out of people by encouraging them to speak up while simultaneously fostering a culture in which people challenge each other to get to the best solutions?

How Jeff Raikes Approaches the Challenges of Foundation Strategy

by Susan ParkerCEP Staff | Jun 7, 2011 | Assessing Performance Assessing Performance

Quotes and video clips of Jeff Raikes, CEO of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, at CEP’s 2011 conference are shared in this post by writer Susan Parker.

Social Media, Foundations, and Grantees: What Works, What Doesn’t?

by Beth KanterCEP Staff | May 27, 2011 | Funder/Grantee Relationships Funder/Grantee Relationships

Beth Kanter shares takeaways from the social media session she participated in at CEP’s conference, noting the relevance of a broader theme at the conference: foundation transparency.

Understanding the Foundations Outcomes Paradox

by Kevin RafterCEP Staff | May 24, 2011 | Assessing Performance Assessing Performance

For the past four years I have been responsible for producing The Irvine Foundation’s Annual Performance Report, our foundation-wide assessment of program impact and operational performance. Through my work on that report I have come to understand that focusing on...

Connecting the Dots with Data

by Bruce TrachtenbergCEP Staff | May 20, 2011 | Funder/Grantee Relationships Funder/Grantee Relationships

Bruce Trachtenberg shares the foundation communication trends and themes he observed at CEP’s 2011 conference.