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For several decades now, it’s been a common refrain from funders that choose not to provide general operating support (GOS) grants: we can’t make those grants because it’s too difficult to measure and assess their impact. In CEP’s 2006 report, In Search of Impact, the...
A Black leader from Los Angeles recently texted me: “Why is it so hard to get a core support grant from foundations, even though I have been doing this work for 20 years?” Her question might as well have been: “Why don’t funders trust us?” While many funders claim to...
It was almost two decades ago that I got my first taste of how frustrating funder restrictions on grants could be. I had recently started working at CEP, and we were discussing a project proposal draft with a potential funder. The funder asked us to add additional...
Change Realized: How Foundations are Contributing to Public Policy Successes This post is the final in “Foundations and Policy Engagement: Insights in Their Own Words,” a five-part series on the CEP Blog. (Read Post 1 here, Post 2 here, Post 3 here, and Post 4 here.)...
How Foundations Are Using Their Voice to Influence Public Policy This post is the fourth in “Foundations and Policy Engagement: Insights in Their Own Words,” a five-part series on the CEP Blog. (Read Post 1 here, Post 2 here, Post 3 here, and Post...
How Foundations are Collaborating with Others to Achieve Their Public Policy Goals This post is the third in “Foundations and Policy Engagement: Insights in Their Own Words,” a five-part series on the CEP Blog. (Read Post 1 here, Post 2 here, Post...
Amid multiple pandemics in the United States that are disproportionately harming communities of color — and a colossal failure in government response — we need philanthropy to pursue policy changes that dismantle the structural inequities plaguing the nation....
Building Board Support for Foundation Public Policy Efforts This post is the second in “Foundations and Policy Engagement: Insights in Their Own Words,” a five-part series on the CEP Blog. (Read Post 1 here, Post 3 here, Post 4 here, and Post 5 here.) The COVID-19...
As one foundation executive notes in CEP’s recent report, Policy Influence: What Foundations are Doing and Why, engaging in public policy requires the long view. “This work often takes years to complete and to show impact,” they say. It sure does. Stories of...
Why Foundations are Engaging in Public Policy Efforts This post is the first in “Foundations and Policy Engagement: Insights in Their Own Words,” a five-part series on the CEP Blog. (Read Post 2 here, Post 3 here, Post 4 here, and Post 5 here.) The COVID-19 pandemic;...