Last week, we looked at five mistakes that new foundation boards often make, and how to avoid them. Below are five more practices that may get new boards off to a rocky start. Fortunately, they’re all avoidable with a little foresight, planning and honest introspection. Failing to learn The opportunity to expand your knowledge doesn’t […]
10 Mistakes New Foundation Boards Make, and How to Avoid Them (Part 2) Read More »
Over the years, I’ve heard a lot of things said about philanthropy. Many were spot on. Some were downright brilliant. A few were head scratchers. And then there are the ones that are so ridiculous they almost make you want to throw your hands up and walk away. Some of the statements below came from
5 Ridiculous Things Said About Philanthropy Read More »
If you’re like me, you spend a lot of time in philanthropy-related conferences. Just this year, I’ve either attended or presented at seven of them. Conferences can require a significant investment of time and money on your part. They also can be highly worthwhile or a complete waste of time, depending on your mindset and
7 Strategies of Highly Effective Conference-Goers Read More »
Most philanthropies seek to be strategic and have an impact. Yet few build their own internal capacity to be strategic grantmakers. In particular, most funders forget to intentionally learn from their initial piloting and testing of strategies so that they can make early modifications and course corrections. Learning isn’t hard to do, but it must
13 Questions To Learn From Your Grantmaking Read More »
In philanthropy, we are driven by the causes that matter to us and bolstered by the opportunity to generate meaningful change. For years, when I was out in the community or talking with my colleagues about the work of Blue Shield of California Foundation, I would rarely start by describing us as a “policy funder.”
An Underutilized Tool For Foundations—Policy Change Read More »
For several years now, funders have found themselves amid a rising tide of metrics and data. We look to numbers to tell us if we’ve “moved the needle,” “closed the gap” or otherwise made progress. We disaggregate data to better understand the populations we want to serve, and to determine where funding opportunities might lie.
Telling the Stories of Change Read More »