Tag Archive
nonprofit sector
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. ...
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. ...
Diving Deeper into Nonprofit Performance Assessment
March 27th, 2013
“We started off where many of your respondents started, which was having an intention around evaluation, wanting to know more. It’s not our core business. ...
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. ...
Appreciating an Underdeveloped Source of Insight
February 21st, 2013
Amidst a flurry of recent talk about the opportunities and challenges presented by the application of “big data” in philanthropy, one aspect of the conversation that is often overlooked is beneficiary feedback. Yet, with a growing body of research that demonstrates a link between beneficiary perceptions and outcomes, there is both a moral and an effectiveness argument to be made for listening to those we seek to help. ...
Data Point: Foundations’ Information Needs vs. Nonprofits’ Needs
February 6th, 2013
One of the key findings in our Room for Improvement report was that nonprofits want more help in their performance assessment efforts than they are currently receiving from their foundation funders. For foundations, nonprofit effectiveness is critical: the extent to which foundations make a difference in society depends, in large part, on the effectiveness of the organizations they fund. ...
Making Evaluation Matter
January 23rd, 2013
Evaluation matters. When we surveyed foundation CEOs about performance assessment in 2011, we saw that nearly all rely on formal evaluations—including of grantees, program areas, and grant clusters—to inform their understanding of their foundations’ effectiveness. ...
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. ...
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...
