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Susan Parker

Susan Parker

Susan Parker is owner of Clear Thinking Communications. You can find her on Twitter @susangparker.
 

Funder Uses YouthTruth Data to Spark Community Engagement

by Susan Parker | September 9th, 2011
When the California Endowment’s Laura Olson began working in the far northern region of Del Norte County, California, she faced a dilemma. Del Norte County (and Adjacent Tribal Lands) is one of 14 communities that make up the California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities program. ...

How Community Foundations Use Donor Perspectives to Improve Their Work

by Susan Parker | July 22nd, 2011
While donors are the lifeblood of community foundations, at times it can be tough to know exactly what they want from their foundations. For two leading community foundations, learning about their donors’ views from a comparative survey served as a catalyst to get both their donors and their board members more excited and involved in foundations’ work. ...

Michael J. Fox: Getting Results By Going the Unconventional Way

by Susan Parker | June 30th, 2011
Almost from the start, Michael J. Fox and Debi Brooks began upending the way foundations typically do business. ...

Esther Duflo Explains Why She Believes Randomized Controlled Trials Are So Vital

by Susan Parker | June 23rd, 2011
Even before Esther Duflo rose to speak at the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s (CEP) 2011 conference, she had already stirred controversy. Her well-known belief in the ability of randomized controlled trails to understand the effectiveness of policy interventions in developing countries brings up strong feelings among some in the philanthropy world. ...

How Jeff Raikes Approaches the Challenges of Foundation Strategy

by Susan Parker | June 7th, 2011
Growing up on a Nebraska farm, Jeff Raikes learned something about the fun and not-so-fun aspects of work. “Every farm kid wants to drive the tractor – that’s the cool thing,” said Raikes, chief executive officer of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation at the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s (CEP) 2011 conference. ...

Grantee Feedback Fuels Changes at Foundations

by Susan Parker | May 10th, 2011
Collecting feedback from grantees about a foundation’s performance seems like a good idea, but does it lead to any change? “Since we began [the Grantee Perception Report®] eight years ago, a big question is whether collecting feedback from grantees that is candid, confidential and comparative in nature leads to any change,” said Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) President Phil Buchanan at CEP’s Better Philanthropy: From Data to Impact pre-conference seminar on May 9. ...
 
Lessons from a Risk Taken
Julia Coffman on May 2nd
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
Kevin Bolduc on April 30th
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
Jon Pratt on April 25th
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?
The Children's ISA on April 22nd
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?
Rashmir Balasubramaniam on April 8th
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...
 
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