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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.
Philanthropy has long grappled with a persistent challenge: how to ensure investments create lasting change rather than short-lived gains. For global health funders, this question has become even more urgent as funding in the field faces mounting pressures and deep...
Over the past year, I’ve had more conversations than I can count that start with the same sentence: “We don’t know what’s going to happen next.” That uncertainty isn’t new to nonprofits — we’ve always built plans while juggling unpredictability. But what feels...
It’s hard to talk with nonprofit leaders today without hearing some version of the same story: Policies are shifting, funding is more uncertain, and the demand for services keeps rising. And yet, the organizations closest to communities are being asked to do more with...
A version of this piece first appeared under the title “Minneapolis, San Diego and the morals that make community” in the Times of San Diego. When the violent federal intrusion into Minneapolis began, it was clearly meant to be an example for communities around the...
Advice on leadership is everywhere you turn but, unfortunately, a decent amount of it is not so helpful. Enter into this uneven genre a newly released report from McKinsey & Company, the global corporate consulting firm, which seeks to answer the question, “what...
CEP just released a powerful and provocative survey of nonprofit and foundation leaders about the state of civil society during a time of profound disruption and destabilization. I expect these results to resonate far and wide and, as is often the case with CEP...
"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men [sic] are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are...
The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP)’s newly released report, “A Sector in Crisis: How U.S. Nonprofits and Foundations Are Responding to Threats,” provides a telling look into the current state of the nonprofit and philanthropic fields in the face of an...
The importance of nonprofits’ work in the United States cannot be understated. In the words of one nonprofit leader CEP interviewed in the fall of last year: "Nonprofits are the backbone of our communities. We connect people to vital services, nutritious food,...
You’ve heard from some of my colleagues these last weeks with insights — directly from the mouths of donors and foundation staff — that we hoped would inspire reflection (and even guide action) among grantmakers. But this snapshot of qualitative data wouldn’t be...
The actions of federal agents in Minneapolis, and the federal government’s blatant lies about what occurred, have taken the crisis facing our country to another level. It doesn’t matter your politics, or who you voted for, those in leadership roles at powerful...
Last year, global platforms were buzzing with a real sense of optimism for the future funding of the African continent’s development programs in the wake of global funding cuts. People were openly calling the cuts to USAID both a wake-up call and an opportunity to...
At least according to some sources, the statue of limitations has ended on wishing each other a Happy New Year. But, if you’re anything like me, the entire month of January might be viewed as an extension of your end-of-year celebrations — another happy period of...
Editor’s note: This is the first in what will be a monthly blog column by CEP President Phil Buchanan in 2026. His posts will generally run on the second Tuesday of each month. In a little less than a year, the U.S. nonprofit sector — comprised of more than 1.5...
The Center for Effective Philanthropy recently released a report titled “AI With Purpose” on how nonprofits are or (for the most part) aren’t integrating these technologies into their daily operations. The report warns that “few foundations provide funding or monetary...
It was an eye-popping number: seven-year grants to Bay Area nonprofits. This extraordinary initiative by the Walter and Elise Haas Fund has implications for how other funders could strengthen grantee organizations, as well as the whole embattled nonprofit sector. In...
The winter holiday season is in full swing, and, at least for many of us, that means it is a time of giving. For many donors who give to or through community foundations and other public charities, though, giving isn’t necessarily tied to a specific time of year:...
Few will doubt that 2025 has earned a notable place in the history books of the future. There are far too many moments of significance to attempt to summarize here (I refer you, for a quick refresher, to the opening of Phil Buchanan’s recent post on this blog); I...
This year, my attention has been constantly pulled in two directions at once: toward the immediate pressure that nonprofits are facing and toward the broad, sweeping shifts shaping the future of civil society, often in ways that feel like 10 steps backwards. Both feel...
Wallis Annenberg was passionate about creating spaces, opportunities, and access where people could connect, learn, and thrive. From community institutions to bold new ventures, she believed philanthropy should enrich lives, strengthen the civic fabric, and inspire...