The 2020 Giving Landscape

Posted on October 28, 2020 by Nicholas A. Tedesco, Jen Crino

The sector has evolved in the wake of COVID-19, racial injustice, partisan tension, and economic challenges. How have the events of 2020 altered the pace, method, and effectiveness of donor response? What are some major changes in donor behavior? And what can we expect to be longstanding shifts in the sector? The 2020 Giving Landscape outlines ten significant trends in… Read More

The Foundation of Good Governance for Family Impact Investors: Removing Obstacles and Charting a Path to Action

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Cambridge Associates

Family offices and family foundations are among those leading the movement to integrate values and investment strategy through impact investing. Families pursue impact investing for a variety of reasons, ranging from alignment with personal values and philanthropic goals to risk mitigation and long-term out performance to a desire to influence broader social and environmental challenges facing society. This paper from… Read More

Pathways to Sustainable Investing: Insights from Families and Peers

Posted on September 8, 2020 by Cambridge Associates

Every day, wealth owners, families, and family office professionals start down the path of sustainability investing. This paper details the typical path these investors take, the questions many of them face, and the way that many of them successfully develop a winning strategy that generates both returns and impact. Based on observations over the years, we have developed a framework… Read More

Balancing Purpose, Payout, and Permanence

Posted on August 30, 2020 by Council on Foundations, National Center for Family Philanthropy, Tony Macklin

How much should we spend? This is an essential question for foundations, and one of the most complex, particularly in moments of change or turmoil. This Strategy Guide invites you to reflect more deeply on how your foundation chooses to balance four factors—purpose, conditions and trends, time horizons, and assets for mission—especially in times of greater crisis or opportunity. It… Read More

Participatory Grantmaking: Has Its Time Come?

Posted on August 25, 2020 by Cynthia Gibson

The paper synthesizes several existing participatory frameworks, identifies common components, and applies these to philanthropy as a “starter” framework that can, hopefully, be used as a springboard for ongoing discussion and development among grantmakers and non-grantmakers. The paper explores whether these existing frameworks—or at least key components of them—can be applied to institutional philanthropy by proposing a starter framework for… Read More

Integrating Inclusivity Into Your Submission & Application Process: 7 Key Strategies

Posted on August 24, 2020 by Submittable

How can you be more inclusive in a way that’s fair to everyone? And how can you integrate inclusivity into your submission and application processes in a way that doesn’t solely depend on the fallibility of humans, who all struggle with internalized biases and prejudices? This guide examines the importance of being inclusive—and the importance of having concrete and trackable… Read More

Deciding Together: Shifting Power and Resources Through Participatory Grantmaking

Posted on August 24, 2020 by Cynthia Gibson

Deciding Together: Shifting Power and Resources Through Participatory Grantmaking looks at why and how funders are engaging in participatory grantmaking and shifting decision-making power to the very communities impacted by funding decisions. Through examples and insights from a diverse range of participatory grantmakers, the report explores the benefits, challenges, and models of participatory grantmaking… Read More

Bridging The Gap: A Review of Foundation Listening Practices

Posted on August 24, 2020 by Ekouté

While much has been written about how funders can pursue direct listening at the local scale, comparatively less has been written about how larger systems-level funders working across multiple geographies can approach this work in meaningful ways. Based on their research, the authors recommend the following as particularly promising and relevant practices. Advisory committees, if structured correctly, can be powerful… Read More

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