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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 you think of the word philanthropy, what images come to mind? A building? Stacks of money? Grant checks? Board rooms? Who sits in those places of power? While conducting in-depth interviews with more than 100 high-net-worth donors of color for the qualitative...
When you think of the word philanthropy, what images come to mind? A building? Stacks of money? Grant checks? Board rooms? Who sits in those places of power? When Donors of Color Network (DOCN) was formed to nurture a joyful community prepared to shift the center of...
Culture eats strategy for breakfast. Or so we’ve been told. But what happens when you try building culture through strategy? This is what we attempted to do in the Open Society Foundations’ Economic Justice Program. The program, which sought to articulate the first...
From a global pandemic to the recent invasion of Ukraine, globally impactful disasters are an increasingly frequent part of our reality, and thus an important factor as funders consider grantmaking priorities and the funding landscape in which they operate. In light...
This piece was originally posted in January 2022. It should be obvious that “who” is doing a job or playing a leadership role informs how the job is done. Who we are as people — the experiences that we have, the skill sets and perspectives that we bring, the...
In part one of this blog post, we shared the humbling results of the Overdeck Family Foundation’s 2019 Grantee Perception Report, as well as how the Foundation came together to process that data and formulate a plan to move forward. We suggest you read part one before...
At Overdeck Family Foundation, we aim to open doors for every child in the U.S. by measurably enhancing education both inside and outside the classroom. In our collective work towards our mission, we are guided by three core values, all of which we lean on daily with...
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]Listen now to the season 3 trailer. [su_audio url="http://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/09/Giving-Done-Right_S3-Trailer.mp3"] Being a wise and effective donor isn’t easy. I’ve...
There is no group more qualified to lead solutions to our world’s most pressing problems than the communities who directly experience them. For young people in emerging markets — who are disproportionately affected by issues such as climate change, gender inequity,...
From a global pandemic to the recent invasion of Ukraine, globally impactful disasters are an increasingly frequent part of our reality, and thus an important factor as funders consider grantmaking priorities and the funding landscape in which they operate. In light...
[vc_row el_class="sixtysix-thirtythree"][vc_column width="2/3"][vc_column_text]A little more than six years ago, Olatunde Sobomehin co-founded the organization StreetCode Academy, a California-based nonprofit that provides technology access, skills learning, and...
With midterm elections looming on the horizon, many foundations are asking the question: What can we do to get out the vote, educate the voting public, and support our grantees’ important election season advocacy work? The good news is that even during an election...
The Center for Effective Philanthropy’s report, Much Alarm, Less Action: Foundations and Climate Change, reveals that many non-climate funders see climate change as outside the scope of their mission and resources, but still believe that it’s an urgent problem and...
From a global pandemic to the recent invasion of Ukraine, globally impactful disasters are an increasingly frequent part of our reality, and thus an important factor as funders consider grantmaking priorities and the funding landscape in which they operate. In light...
The Hewlett Foundation believes that the climate crisis is one of the most pressing issues of our lifetime and impacts everything we do — it’s why we have dedicated over $1 billion to driving climate solutions and why we’ve been huge advocates to get more money into...
It seems that a week does not go by without another stark warning about climate change and the closing window to mitigate its worst impacts. The most recent reports from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change are nothing less than scary. Increasingly, warnings...
The calls for transformation in philanthropy have become so commonplace in the past two years as to become a new normal. Whether it’s trust-based philanthropy, participatory grantmaking, common data platforms, or calls for alternate reporting formats, important shifts...
As the director of the Climate and Energy Funders Group (CEFG), one part of my job is fervently making the case for more donors to fund climate and clean energy work. We absolutely need more funders in the space. Yet, I understand how donors can be torn by the urgent...
This post first appeared on Media Impact Funders’ blog. It is reposted here with permission. Across America, there is a battle being fought in state houses and school boards over the future of our society, and whether we will continue to build on progress to be a...
Even before the pandemic and nationwide racial justice demonstrations gripped the nation in 2020, “climate philanthropy” was rapidly expanding and evolving, with large foundations and mega-donors pledging billions of additional dollars to address the climate crisis....