Site visits are a very valuable tool for funders, because they give you first-hand insight into the places and personalities that will put your charitable investments to work. In-person visits are always best, because they allow you to tour facilities, see programs in action, and observe grantees at work. However, sometimes a grantee can be […]
Short on Time and Money? Consider a Virtual Site Visit Read More »
It’s back-to-school time across most of the country, and my colleagues and I have all been trading stories of the build up to that first big day. Whether it’s pre-K or high school, there’s always something special about starting out on a new year. New clothes, fresh supplies, seeing old friends and making new ones
5 Back-to-School Lessons for Philanthropists Read More »
I love developing new grant initiatives for foundations and individual philanthropists. There is nothing more exciting that identifying a problem where you have the potential to make a difference and then putting a plan in place to do just that. However, once the fanfare has subsided, I’ve noticed that many funder initiatives lose steam. Frustration
3 Reasons Your New Funding Initiative Will Falter Read More »
In my experience, few words strike fear in the hearts of foundation grantees like the following, when dropped by a program officer’s lips: We’re about to start a strategic planning process. Aarrrgh! Nooooo! I can almost hear the screams of terror here in my top-secret vacation retreat spot. And who can blame them? A funder
How to Strike Fear in the Hearts of Grantees Read More »
This is a guest post by Susan Crites Price, and it was originally posted on The National Center for Family Philanthropy’s blog Family Giving News on November 15, 2009. Like a lot of smaller funders, the 20-year-old McCarthy Family Foundation operated out of Treasurer Tim McCarthy’s home office. He learned a lot of important lessons
Are You Prepared to Operate Your Family’s Philanthropy in a Disaster? Read More »
I recently had the pleasure of helping to tell the story of an incredible grantmaking initiative at the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust called “Healthy Places NC.” This is an effort to improve health and wellness in several of North Carolina’s poorest counties, but the activities that are part of this effort are all community
How Flexible Are You, Really? Read More »