This week, instead of sharing one point of wisdom, I’d like to share many – 46 of them, in fact. That’s how many entries you’ll find in my newly published book, Confident Giving: Sage Advice for Funders. Why write a book? While a blog is great for sharing advice and helpful content in small, quick bursts […]
Collected Wisdom for Grantmakers 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
Learning How to Learn Read More »
When most people think about philanthropy, it’s all about the money. But cold, hard cash is just one of many tools in a grantmaker’s tool belt. And some of those non-cash tools are far more effective when it comes to addressing grantee needs and community challenges. Here are eight tools grantmakers can – and should
8 Tools Grantmakers Frequently Forget to Use Read More »
This week, I’m taking a quick time-out from my regular blog posts to share some exciting news. I am honored to have been named one of America’s Top 25 Philanthropy Speakers by Philanthropy Media! I was chosen from a survey of more than 25,000 philanthropy experts who submitted more than 1,000 names. To say I
Kris Putnam-Walkerly Named “Top 25 Philanthropy Speaker” Read More »
More years ago than I care to count, I received a Masters in Social Work from San Francisco State University. Although I never practiced as a clinical social worker, I consider myself to be doing “macro” social work every day. The lessons I learned in that program have contributed a great deal to my work
3 Unexpected Lessons That Stuck Read More »
There was a time not too long ago when you rarely heard the word “foundation” and “risk” in the same sentence…or paragraph…or entire document. Risk simply hasn’t been something formally and broadly associated with philanthropy over the past few decades. However, it’s become pretty obvious to many people that the traditional ways of grantmaking are
3 Ways Foundations Squash Risk-Taking Read More »