Center for Effective Philanthropy

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Center for Effective Philanthropy

The Center for Effective Philanthropy is a nonprofit organization focused on the development of data and insight to enable higher-performing funders. CEP’s mission is to provide data and create insight so philanthropic funders can better define, assess, and improve their effectiveness – and, as a result, their intended impact.

Contributions

Policy Influence: What Foundations Are Doing and Why

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Center for Effective Philanthropy

Among its key findings, Policy Influence shows that foundation leaders clearly believe in influencing policy as an important lever for change. This report seeks to provide foundation staff, leaders, and boards with data and insights that will spur them to candidly discuss philanthropic involvement in public policy — and help guide their own practices to engage in policy efforts more thoughtfully as they work to achieve their goals… Read More

Voices from the Field

How to Best Support Nonprofits through Uncertainty

Posted on March 27, 2020 by Hannah Martin, Center for Effective Philanthropy

How can funders help and support those who are working most directly with and for the populations we care most about? Read “Supporting Our Unsung Heroes in a Moment of Crisis” a series by CEP President Phil Buchanan for timely perspectives and advice. The coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic is complicating an already complex funding landscape for nonprofits. While the need for… Read More

Donors: 5 Things Nonprofits Want You to Know

Posted on April 16, 2019 by Center for Effective Philanthropy

Graphic of several cartoon people communicating

The Center for Effective Philanthropy published Donors: 5 Things Nonprofits Want You to Know to help communication between donors and nonprofits. The power imbalance that exists between donors and nonprofits means important things are often left unsaid. At the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP), we’ve collected candid, anonymous feedback over 15 years from more than 100,000 nonprofit leaders that can help… Read More

Greater Good Lessons from Those Who Have Started Major Grantmaking Organizations

Posted on April 16, 2019 by Center for Effective Philanthropy

Photo of honeycombs with a person looking into a microscope overlaying it

Greater Good: Lessons from Those Who Have Started Major Grantmaking Organizations distills insights gleaned from those interviews, offering guidance for a new wave of philanthropic leaders as they seek to build thriving grantmaking organizations that can best support nonprofits to achieve shared goals… Read More

Understanding & Sharing What Works: The State of Foundation Practice

Posted on November 1, 2018 by Center for Effective Philanthropy

Yes No Maybe Signpost Showing Voting Decision Or Evaluation

Assessing the performance of a foundation is notoriously challenging, but it is crucial to learning and improvement. How well do foundation leaders believe they understand what is and isn’t working in their foundation’s programmatic efforts? How are they building that understanding? What information are they choosing to share with others?… Read More

Strengthening Grantees: Foundation and Nonprofit Perspectives

Posted on October 1, 2018 by Center for Effective Philanthropy

Based on survey responses from 170 nonprofit CEOs on CEP’s Grantee Voice panel and 187 foundation leaders who primarily oversee programmatic work at their organizations, Strengthening Grantees: Foundation and Nonprofit Perspectives provides a comprehensive examination of foundations’ efforts to strengthen grantee organizations and leaders… Read More

Nonprofit Diversity Efforts: Current Practices and the Role of Foundations

Posted on July 1, 2018 by Center for Effective Philanthropy

Several faces are enclosed in circular portraits and connected by lines, making a web of connections

Based on survey responses of 205 leaders of nonprofit organizations with annual expenses between $100,000 and $100 million, Nonprofit Diversity Efforts: Current Practices and the Role of Foundations provides a collection of data on topics such as how diversity relates to the work of nonprofits and what demographic information nonprofits and funders alike are collecting — and how that information is used… Read More

CEP’s Definition of Philanthropic Effectiveness

Posted on June 1, 2018 by Center for Effective Philanthropy

The Center for Effective Philanthropy’s definition of philanthropic effectiveness details four mutually reinforcing elements that are essential across all funders — no matter their goals and strategies or the issues and communities that they seek to support… Read More

Staying Connected: How Five Foundations Understand Those They Seek to Help

Posted on December 17, 2017 by Center for Effective Philanthropy

Two women and a man sit at a table, where two woman are clearly advising the man on a topic

This report profiles five foundations ranked among the top 15 percent of foundations that commissioned a Grantee Perception Report (GPR) between 2016 and 2017 when it comes to how their grantees rated them on questions related to their understanding of intended beneficiaries’ needs… Read More

Multigenerational Family Foundation Board Engagement

Posted on July 26, 2017 by Center for Effective Philanthropy, Surdna Foundation

In this publication, the Surdna Foundation and the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) spotlight the practices and structures that seven large, multigenerational family foundations have created to maintain family involvement; select, orient, and engage family members across generations; and keep the board and foundation focused on impact. … Read More

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