Find CEP-authored resources for funders on responding to the current context.
Contact Us
Search
An education nonprofit uses artificial intelligence (AI) to support k-12 students individually to become stronger writers. A metropolitan county deploys AI to forecast which individuals accessing services are at risk of experiencing chronic homelessness and provides...
Four years ago, the Sewall Foundation decided to tackle an incongruence in our practice of trust-based philanthropy: how to make multiyear grants within a structure of single-year grants budgets. The deep belief that structures manifest and reinforce our culture and...
Individualism. Competition. Risk aversion. Short-termism. Scarcity. Presumed expertise. Many of the norms by which philanthropy operates perpetuate the very narratives our sector seeks to change. In this series on the CEP blog, contributors who represent a...
Individualism. Competition. Risk aversion. Short-termism. Scarcity. Presumed expertise. Many of the norms by which philanthropy operates perpetuate the very narratives our sector seeks to change. In this series on the CEP blog, contributors who represent a...
In a context where authoritarianism is rising globally, even in countries some believed were out of reach, funders who seek to protect democracy and human rights often express that we’ve been outmaneuvered by well-resourced opponents that use powerful narratives to...
Despite proven effectiveness, Indigenous Peoples organizations remain underfunded compared to mainstream philanthropic initiatives. Structural barriers and lack of trust within the funding landscape — such as rigid grant requirements, short-term project-based funding,...
As we collectively navigate a new political reality that has devalued and divested from equity, justice, and inclusion, funders must interrogate how we think about movement impact and progress. Community wisdom fuels our ability to make lasting change: if it’s...
In the last few years, our country has experienced turbulent times that have left indelible marks on our collective psyche. We witnessed the COVID-19 pandemic, a crisis that gripped the world with uncertainty and fear. Shortly thereafter, the murder of George Floyd...
Have you seen that pizza video — you know, the one produced by the Human Services Council of NY that shows how hard funders can make it for nonprofits to get funded in ways that align with their work? In the comedic short video, the “funder” wants to buy a bunch...
In extremely challenging times — which we are inarguably in for those of us in the social justice nonprofit and philanthropic spaces — it is often helpful to look back to draw lessons on how to move forward. As a Black woman leading one of the longest-standing civic...
The Trump administration’s relentless assault on USAID, its attempted freeze of federal funding to U.S. nonprofits, and its stated intentions of hobbling the work of vital nonprofits around the world are only the most recent examples — albeit completely avoidable and...
The Center for Effective Philanthropy’s final report of its three-year study on the impact of MacKenzie Scott’s large, unrestricted gifts is overwhelmingly positive, with one notable exception: executives of other foundations have “mixed perspectives” on Scott’s...
I am still pinching myself from the first gift we received from MacKenzie Scott in December of 2020 — and somehow Undue Medical Debt (formerly RIP Medical Debt) has now received three. What these gifts presented to us was an unprecedented opportunity to approach our...
How can we support civil society to promote positive change – now and in the long term? For many of us working in philanthropy, this is an increasingly crucial question. Locally, nationally, and globally, we aim to partner with and empower people and organizations...
“I was left in awe. I didn’t know what to say except thank you. Our core values were repeated back to us as we were given this gift and investment. I thought, ‘Wow, we can now support the growth of our organization and concentrate on our work, not the fundraising...
This year’s wildfires in Los Angeles didn’t only destroy homes and livelihoods they also revealed the longstanding inequities in disaster response. The workers who are clearing debris, the small business owners struggling to reopen, the laborers who lost their income,...
The speed and intensity of the unprecedented attacks on the nonprofit and public sectors unleashed in the first month of President Trump’s second administration has been staggering. While many of us anticipated disruption, the consequences for communities in the U.S....
In times of increasing uncertainty, from shifting federal priorities to crises like the wildfires devastating Southern California, nonprofit organizations face growing challenges in sustaining their work and responding to the evolving needs of their communities....
The recent Eaton Fire that ravaged parts of Altadena and Pasadena left a trail of physical destruction, but its impact goes far beyond property damage. Even as officials announce that the wildfires in L.A. have at last been fully contained, this disaster threatens to...
This post originally appeared on the author’s Medium page. Read it here and find out more about the Full Frame Initiative here. Anyone who has known me for more than a minute knows I love donkeys so much that I have five of them. Real live donkeys. They’re fabulous....