Ellie Buteau shares a data point from our "Room for Improvement" report that highlights the burden that funders' inconsistent reporting requirements place on grantees.
Kevin Bolduc shares some lessons learned about our experiment in offering the Strategy Landscape tool and why it might not have been the right tool at the right time.
CEP Board Member Vincent Stehle gears up for the screening of "Detropia" during the May 20-22 CEP conference in Detroit, Michigan.
Guest author Antony Bugg-Levine reflects on findings from the Nonprofit Finance Fund 2013 State of the Sector Survey, discussing how foundations can help nonprofits adapt to do more with less.
Research Manager Andy Brock highlights key findings from our new research report exploring what types of foundation transparency really matters to grantees.
Guest author Peter Sims calls for more courage and creativity from philanthropists in order to lead the way toward solving complex social problems.
Reviewing our new "Foundation Transparency" report, guest author Aaron Dorfman reflects on the history of this topic and realizes how little has changed in the past three decades.
Mark Russell introduces a video of CEP President Phil Buchanan sharing his thoughts on the program of our upcoming national conference, Pursuing Results: Effective Foundation Practice.
Documentary Paints a Bleak but Fair Picture of Detroit’s Decline
May 20th, 2013
As organized philanthropy descends upon Detroit for this year’s conference of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, we will confront first-hand one of the most challenging urban environments in our nation. One of the trickiest issues for foundations is how to balance the way we represent the grim reality of cities like Detroit with inspiring accounts of heroic efforts to revive the city. ...
Foundation Transparency: The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same
May 16th, 2013
As I reviewed “Foundation Transparency: What Nonprofits Want,” the latest publication from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), I had an overwhelming sense of déjà vu. So I dug deep into the archives to find reports on the subject produced by the organization I now lead, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). ...
Transparency for Those that Need It Most
May 15th, 2013
We’re data junkies at CEP, and we spend a lot of time collecting information about foundations through online research and scrolling through foundation websites. It’s always interesting to see how some foundations share detailed information on what they are trying to do, while others—even those that give hundreds of millions of dollars in grants annually—share little to nothing about their work besides the broad program areas they fund. ...
Countdown to the CEP Conference
May 14th, 2013
The Center for Effective Philanthropy’s 2013 national conference, Pursuing Results: Effective Foundation Practice, kicks off in less than a week! We look forward to hosting nearly 300 leaders from the field of philanthropy in Detroit for two days of hard-hitting programming, May 21-22. ...
Data Point: Consistency Among Foundation Funders
May 8th, 2013
In our 2012 report Room for Improvement, we explored the grantee perspective on foundations’ support of nonprofit performance assessment. Almost half of nonprofit leaders—48 percent—reported that there is not much consistency across the types of information different foundation funders seek from them. ...
assessing performance
beneficiary feedback
beneficiary perceptions
communications
community foundations
comparative data
conferences
developing strategy
Donor Perception Report
economy
effective philanthropy
Essentials of Foundation Strategy
foundation effectiveness
foundation governance
foundation performance
foundation staff/program officers
foundation strategy
foundation transparency
Funder/Grantee Relationships
funder/grantee relationships
funder effectiveness
giving strategy
goals
Grantee Perception Report
grantee perspectives
Grantee Voice
indicators
leadership
nonprofit sector
overall foundation performance assessment
performance assessment
performance measurement
philanthropy
role of philanthropy
social media
Staff Perception Report
stakeholder engagement
strategy implementation
youth
YouthTruth
Lessons from a Risk Taken
I really appreciate your willingness to share this and your assessment of what didn't work out as planned or anticipated. Thanks.
I really appreciate your willingness to share this and your assessment of what didn't work out as planned or anticipated. Thanks.
Lessons from a Risk Taken
Jon, thanks for the comment. If there’s one thing we learned, it’s that the cost in time and effort and dollars were all higher than...
Jon, thanks for the comment. If there’s one thing we learned, it’s that the cost in time and effort and dollars were all higher than...
Lessons from a Risk Taken
Thanks for sharing the lessons learned, and what I sense are second thoughts about the cost/benefit of the whole enterprise. I appreciate the thirst for...
Thanks for sharing the lessons learned, and what I sense are second thoughts about the cost/benefit of the whole enterprise. I appreciate the thirst for...
Foundations and Impact Investing: What Is Really Going On?
Great insight. Sometimes it's great to invest in multiple countries as security as the economy in one country might decrease and increase in another.
Great insight. Sometimes it's great to invest in multiple countries as security as the economy in one country might decrease and increase in another.
Foundations and Impact Investing: What Is Really Going On?
Great questions. It is likely still too early to get a handle on whether the (potential) results reflect the hype meaningfully. However, I will be...
Great questions. It is likely still too early to get a handle on whether the (potential) results reflect the hype meaningfully. However, I will be...
