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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...
There are a lot of statements made about “new” donors and how they differ from more “established,” older ones. Some are probably true. Many, alas, are myths. The latest statement, which I think falls into the latter category, was put forth by journalist (and author of...
It has become fashionable in the past decade or so to declare oneself “sector agnostic.” The idea is that you can achieve positive societal impact working within a nonprofit or a for-profit — and that it is the impact, not the organizational type, that matters. And,...
When I was hired as CEP’s first executive director in 2001, there were far fewer national conferences aimed at major donors and foundation leaders than there are today. Those that did happen were large, attracting 1,000-plus attendees. Competition to get on the...
CEP’s focus is on influencing foundations to be more effective. We seek to do that through rigorous research, based on data. But sometimes, looking around at what is published and discussed, we ask ourselves, what if no one cares about the research and data? What...
The following is a revised and updated version of a post that originally appeared on the CEP Blog in March 2015. It is posted here as part of our Rewind series. Like anyone who spends a lot of time on the conference circuit, I’ve sat through a lot of dud sessions and...