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Advice on leadership is everywhere you turn but, unfortunately, a decent amount of it is not so helpful. Enter into this uneven genre a newly released report from McKinsey & Company, the global corporate consulting firm, which seeks to answer the question, “what...
The actions of federal agents in Minneapolis, and the federal government’s blatant lies about what occurred, have taken the crisis facing our country to another level. It doesn’t matter your politics, or who you voted for, those in leadership roles at powerful...
Editor’s note: This is the first in what will be a monthly blog column by CEP President Phil Buchanan in 2026. His posts will generally run on the second Tuesday of each month. In a little less than a year, the U.S. nonprofit sector — comprised of more than 1.5...
This is an edited version of comments Phil Buchanan made to the Maryland Philanthropy Network on September 17, 2025. These comments draw on some previously published material, including Phil’s blog posts on the CEP Blog and his 2019 book, Giving Done Right, and have...
This is the third in a series of occasional chats among some of CEP’s staff we’ll be posting on the blog, in which they discuss current challenges for philanthropy and nonprofits. In this conversation, CEP President Phil Buchanan talks with CEP Vice President of...
The nonprofit sector and foundations dodged several bullets in recent months. The threatened revocation of nonprofit status for entire categories of organizations, rumored in April, has not come to pass. Legislative proposals — to make it easier to yank the nonprofit...
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...
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...
It’s clear that nonprofits are looking for more support from their foundation funders, in both words and deeds, as they grapple with a Trump administration that seems hell-bent on going after nonprofits — and civil society more broadly. We have documented some...
I think it’s time for a shift away from the approach that some larger U.S. foundations and key infrastructure organizations have taken to operating in the second Trump administration. That approach has been based on assumptions that may have made sense in mid-November...