Tag Archive
leadership
A Transparency Mindset in the Foundation Boardroom
May 21st, 2013
With its recent report, Foundation Transparency: What Nonprofits Want, the Center for Effective Philanthropy examines the nonprofit perspective, outlining the benefits of foundation transparency to the partners we support. As we continue to explore the merits of greater transparency in philanthropy, I propose we add another dimension to the discussion by asking: What about transparency in foundation boardrooms? ...
Foundations and Impact Investing: What Is Really Going On?
April 2nd, 2013
Impact investing has been hailed as potentially transformational by nonprofit sector, corporate, and foundation leaders. Elizabeth Littlefield, President and CEO of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation, has called it “the game-changer we need in the quest to end poverty” that will allow us to “solve many of the world’s social problems while making attractive financial returns. ...
Sifting Through the “Research”
March 14th, 2013
An op-ed in The New York Times on March 8 titled “Does This Ad Make Me Fat?” points out that a recent journal article in BMC Public Health that established a correlation between advertising for junk food and obesity rapidly made an unjustified causal leap. ...
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. ...
The Hidden Power of Measurement
February 14th, 2013
In case you haven’t read it yet, the 2013 Annual Letter from Bill Gates “makes the case for using a tool of business to improve the health and welfare of the world’s people.” That tool is measurement, embodied in the letter by the “Lord Chancellor,” a micrometer that allowed inventors to fine tune the performance of steam engines during the early 1800s. ...
Pursuing Results: What We Hope to Learn in Detroit
January 17th, 2013
Practicing effective philanthropy can sound deceptively simple—simply set clear goals, develop coherent strategies to achieve them, be disciplined about implementing those strategies, and use relevant performance indicators to assess your progress. But no matter how clear, coherent, and disciplined you are, achieving the results your intended beneficiaries need is a long-term effort. ...
When “Dependency” is Not a Bad Word
January 15th, 2013
I have a dependency problem. No, it’s not drugs or alcohol. ...
Who Wants to Go to Detroit?
January 10th, 2013
I was surprised the first time I heard doubts about why we’re holding our 2013 National Conference in Detroit. When I pressed the person, who works in philanthropy, the skepticism seemed to miss the point. ...
Fueling Change Through Feedback
December 6th, 2012
All the survey feedback in the world doesn’t matter even a tiny bit unless it’s acted on. So the test of the Grantee Perception Report (GPR) isn’t whether a foundation receives interesting grantee feedback, but whether it is able to create productive change based on the feedback it receives. ...
From Vision To Reality
December 4th, 2012
Around this time in December 2002 – 10 years ago! – The Rhode Island Foundation sent CEP one of the best emails we’ve ever received. ...
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...
