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It’s time to take back the discussion of effective philanthropy from those who don’t really know what they’re talking about. It needs to happen — and there’s no better day than today to start. I don’t mean to be harsh. But the fact is that, in recent decades, those...
This post, which originally appeared on Giving Compass, is excerpted and adapted from Giving Done Right: Effective Philanthropy and Making Every Dollar Count, the forthcoming book from CEP President Phil Buchanan, to be published April 16 by Public...
We need philanthropy and the nonprofits it supports right now. We really do. After all, we have a federal government that is highly dysfunctional and (as I write this) currently partially shut down, fundamental democratic institutions and individual rights that are...
Massive challenges face this country and the globe, including threats to key democratic institutions, income inequality, and climate change, to name just a few. Given this context, and the stakes, philanthropic effectiveness is all the more important. While effective...
Early in my tenure at the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), when our staff numbered just three, I realized that to get visibility for our research on foundation performance assessment, we would need to secure a spot on the agenda of the annual conference of the...
The BoardSource report I blogged about last week includes shocking data about a lack of racial diversity in the foundation boardroom. Forty percent of foundation boards for which BoardSource gathered data reported they are all white. Excluding family foundations, 35...
Governance matters across sectors, of course. But within the nonprofit sector, foundation governance is especially crucial. After all, foundations have a significant impact on nonprofits, fields, and communities. But, unlike for an operating nonprofit, there...
This excerpt is from a book review originally appearing in the Fall 2017 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review. Putting Wealth to Work: Philanthropy for Today or Investing for Tomorrow? by Joel Fleishman is out today. Perpetuity is so yesterday. Or...
Articles about foundations aren’t typically as full of barbs as Marc Gunther’s long piece on the Silicon Valley Community Foundation (SVCF) in the most recent edition of the Stanford Social Innovation Review. That makes it an entertaining read, but the underlying...
I can’t say for sure exactly how any of us come to understand, over the course of our lives, what our values are. I think they are shaped and influenced by our families, our friends, our experiences, and, to some extent, by our individual hardwiring. I know that, for...