Topic Archive
Administration
Chasing Staff Satisfaction
March 20th, 2013
After reading our latest research report, Employee Empowerment: The Key to Foundation Staff Satisfaction, and discussing CEP’s own Staff Perception Report results from 2012, I found myself asking the question, “Can staff satisfaction ever be fully achieved?” I don’t mean this to suggest that the pursuit of staff satisfaction isn’t achievable or important. ...
Mission Driven Investing: Philanthropy’s Surprising Returns
February 20th, 2013
“We know that America thrives when every person can find independence and pride in their work; when the wages of honest labor liberate families from the brink of hardship. We are true to our creed when a little girl born into the bleakest poverty knows that she has the same chance to succeed as anybody else, because she is an American; she is free, and she is equal, not just in the eyes of God but also in our own. ...
Three Employee Empowerment Lessons from Show and Tell
January 8th, 2013
“Can I take the puppy to show and tell tomorrow?” Countless children have asked this question of parents. ...
Creating Community at The Commonwealth Fund
January 3rd, 2013
We at The Commonwealth Fund are delighted to have our work featured in the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s latest report, Employee Empowerment, which highlights the key to employee satisfaction. Over the last ten years, we have taken a number of steps to improve staff satisfaction, starting with surveying our staff on a regular basis, and we have been pleased to see the payoff in satisfaction through staff empowerment and building a stronger sense of community within the organization. ...
Survey Says: Understanding Employees’ Perceptions Helps Drive Improvement
December 20th, 2012
A few weeks ago, Kevin Bolduc and Karina Kocemba of CEP were here at the New York State Health Foundation (NYSHealth) to lead an all-staff discussion of the results of our most recent Staff Perception Report. As the meeting wrapped up, Kevin handed me an advance copy of CEP’s new research report by his colleagues Ellie Buteau and Ramya Gopal, Employee Empowerment: The Key to Foundation Staff Satisfaction, figuring I’d find it useful given our Foundation’s experience over the last several years trying to understand and improve staff satisfaction. ...
Five Strategies to Becoming the Employer You Want to Be
December 18th, 2012
“What kind of employer do you want to be?” There may be no more important question when positioning an organization for future success. ...
Measuring Our People: A Metrics-Based Approach to Talent Management
November 7th, 2012
Across the sectors—philanthropy, nonprofit, and for-profit—we’ve experienced a shift in how “people management” is defined. My profession, which was once described as “personnel,” changed into “human resources” and is now transitioning to “talent management. ...
Gloves Off Wisdom for Donors from the UK: A Philanthropy “How-To”
August 22nd, 2012
I did not necessarily expect to like Caroline Fiennes It Ain’t What You Give, It’s the Way You Give It, but I’d rank it among the best in the burgeoning industry of philanthropy how-to literature. I did not expect to like it because, lately, I have had trouble not rolling my eyes when I see the latest press release for yet another book offering donors advice on how to maximize their impact. ...
A Relaunch for the CEP Blog
May 24th, 2012
Welcome to the new look of the CEP blog! When we started this blog two and a half years ago, it was an experiment. ...
Where Did All the Women Go? Leadership at the Big Foundations
May 8th, 2012
At the Council on Foundations (COF) conference in Los Angeles last week, I received a number of comments about my blog post on the career trajectory of those who become CEOs at the 100 largest foundations. Many were struck by the tendency of foundation boards to go outside the foundation world to find leaders. ...
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...
