If your “to-do” list includes “increase the impact of our giving” read on! Below are five grantmaking mistakes you should avoid. 1) Jumping on the latest philanthropy craze. Every year a new set of tools and ideas emerge that become the hot trends (think infographics, collective impact, Ice Bucket Challenge, crowd funding, social media) […]
5 Grantmaking Mistakes to Avoid Read More »
I’m a highly organized person, and can spend endless hours creating strategies, with corresponding tactics, timelines and to-do lists. But in my experience, one thing trumps strategy: clarity. You can have all the strategies, logic models, and theories of change in the world, but you won’t get far if you aren’t crystal clear inside your
Clarity Trumps Strategy Read More »
Philanthropy and nonprofit leaders will continue jumping on tools and tactics, when strategy and judgment are needed. That’s the first philanthropy trend I predict for 2015, and I will share four more in the coming weeks. Let me give you a few examples of what I mean: 1 – Infographics: I’m all for finding visual
Philanthropy Needs Strategy and Judgment, Not Tools and Tactics Read More »
We all need friends and colleagues who have our backs. But maybe we need something else, too. Maybe we need someone who can think like the enemy. The CIA calls it the “Red Team.” The military, the Federal Aviation Administration, and major corporations like IBM also use the term to refer to a group designed
Special Ops: 5 Situations for Deploying a Red Team Read More »
Today I was fortunate to listen to a terrific webinar on the “Unique Challenges of Strategy for Foundations” provided by the Phil Buchanan and Ellie Buteau of the Center for Effective Philanthropy as part of the National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers webinar series. Here are 5 tips I heard on the webinar that I
5 Tips for Strategic Grantmaking Read More »
If your foundation is developing a new grantmaking program or initiative, it’s critical to concurrently develop plans for how you will evaluate success. But before jumping into methodologies and measurements, think about these three questions: What you want to know? Who needs to know it? and How will the findings be used? This will help
3 Questions To Ask When Evaluating Your Grantmaking Initiative Read More »