Stanford Social Innovation Review

Grantees of foundations have little control over which program officer takes their case. Yet program officers make or break grantees’ experiences with foundations. To trigger social change, foundations must give program officers better training, clearer expectations, and regular performance feedback.

Some books ought to be read as pairs. Joel L. Fleishman’s and Martin Morse Wooster’s recent offerings are such a duo, offering sometimes diametrically opposed perspectives on philanthropic successes and failures. 

Human-caused climate change, sharply declining conventional energy sources, and population growth are threatening the very platform of human life. Yet only 5 percent of U.S. foundation spending goes to the environment, and a paltry 2.9 percent goes to science and technology.

A growing number of foundations are offering low-interest loans, buying into green business ventures, and investing in other asset classes to advance their missions. To bring about real change, foundations need to make strategic mission investments that complement their grantmaking and leverage market forces.

Breaking down the firewall between foundation
investments and programming.

Social movement and grassroots organizations left in the cold.

Lessons on grantmaking.

Where the charitable response to 9/11 went wrong.

How funders flout their own rules.

How did the Jacobs Foundation help revitalize a
neighborhood? By listening to its residents.

In the frenzy over accountability, funders, donors, and the general public are calling for more program evaluation. But few understand evaluation well enough to conduct or bankroll high-quality studies. Without sufficient knowledge or funding, nonprofits are often collecting heaps of dubious data, at great cost to themselves and ultimately to the people they serve.

What gets lost when donors follow their own hearts instead of recipients’ needs.

Organizational Success Through Deep Diversity and Gender Equality