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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.
Amid burnout, fear of being targeted and funding cuts, our grantee partners are clear that things are not sustainable. Funders, our response cannot be silence, self-protection, or simply falling back to, “philanthropy can’t fill the holes government left.” I’m a...
Reading CEP’s latest report on the current state of nonprofits took me back to the Great Recession and the challenges brought on by COVID-19. The combination of CEO and staff burnout along with increased demand for services is — unfortunately — all too familiar. Add...
“There are too many nonprofits.” “Yes,” someone else will chime in. “There are too many nonprofits.” It’s a comment I hear frequently in gatherings of funders, and when it’s said, I notice, many people nod. We heard this from some foundation CEOs when my colleagues on...
At Houston Endowment, we’ve used the Center for Effective Philanthropy Staff Perception Report since 2012, and one thing has become clear: the data points us in the right direction, but deciding what to act on, and following through, is what drives real change....
When Grace Chiang Nicolette joined the Center for Effective Philanthropy in 2011, our staff numbered 32. Our audience was overwhelmingly foundations. Our media profile was relatively modest — and it was pretty common for folks who we were convinced should know us to...
Across the United States and around the world, communities are preparing for disasters that have not yet occurred. Emergency response teams are reviewing and refining their playbooks. Public works crews are maintaining levees before flood season. City councils are...
Ask most foundation leaders what “cybersecurity” means, and they’ll describe firewalls, phishing simulations, and password policies. They're not wrong, but what they describe is a much smaller problem than the one we face. Technology, however, is no longer just tools...
When a foundation shifts course or steps away, what happens to the work — and to the people who depend on it? Few funders will support a single strategy or approach indefinitely. Needs routinely exceed available resources, forcing difficult choices about where a...
As California lawmakers were assembling the most recent state budget, a coalition of nonprofits played a leading role in securing emergency aid for undocumented students facing unexpected costs that could derail their journey to a...
Most funders agree on what nonprofits need to thrive: flexibility, trust, and sustained support. These principles are widely endorsed, reflected in conference panels and board conversations alike. Yet multiyear general operating support, one of the clearest ways to...
What We Miss When We Measure Foundations typically make payout decisions using logic borrowed from finance. The underlying assumption is straightforward: over the long term, endowment assets generate reliable financial returns, while social returns are harder to see...
The Center for Effective Philanthropy's recent research tells a clear story: Nonprofits are carrying more demand with fewer resources. Foundations have responded, yet many still believe the response does not match the moment. That gap is not about effort. It is about...
Overdeck Family Foundation, a New York-based education funder, has engaged with the Center for Effective Philanthropy repeatedly over the years to seek out information and feedback to continuously enhance its work and impact. In its most recent CEP survey, the...
It’s not necessarily the most popular take, but I am not afraid to admit it: I am a believer in long-time horizon — or perpetual — foundations. Like any category of institution, they’re not all equally effective, and I do have a request to make of them (I’ll get to...
The Center for Effective Philanthropy’s research on “Foundation Governance Today” could not be more timely. Foundation leadership and governance are operating in a challenging, disruptive environment. It is not only the funding landscape that is dramatically shifting,...
CEP’s recently released report, “A Sector in Crisis,” revealed that nonprofits are responding to both increased demand and reduced funding. We asked four nonprofit leaders to briefly describe what this context has meant for them and how it has impacted their work....
Bill Gates’s May 2025 announcement that his foundation will spend its $200 billion endowment by 2045 reignites a long-running question in philanthropy: whether to exist in perpetuity or spend down assets within a set time frame. Many of the conversations about...
The Center for Effective Philanthropy’s new research snapshot, “Foundation Governance Today: How Boards and CEOs Are Navigating Risk, Accountability, and a Shifting Landscape,” reveals that many foundation CEOs feel their work has become more challenging in this time...
After talking with hundreds of foundation staff and board members over the past two years about governance, I’m not surprised by the findings in the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s new research snapshot, “Foundation Governance Today: How Boards and CEOs Are...
In this conversation, CEP’s Vice President of Assessment and Advisory Services Kevin Bolduc talks with CEP Senior Research Analyst Seara Grundhoefer about data CEP just released that explores the role and responsibilities of foundation boards in helping their...