Stanford Social Innovation Review : Informing and inspiring leaders of social change

Philanthropy

New Florida Legislation Is a Slap in the Face to Nonprofit Diversity Advocates Everywhere

Let’s get one thing straight. I don’t really spend a lot of time worrying about those that have already made it clear that they don’t care about diversity in nonprofits. But I do have beef with those in the nonprofit world who profess to care about diversity, yet refuse to do anything about it. Actions speak louder than words. Outcomes matter much more than intentions. Which is why everyone in the nonprofit sector... (continue reading this blog post)

Philanthropy

Al Gore Calls on Foundations to Align Mission and Strategy

Al Gore at the Council on Foundations meeting today spoke passionately about the need for foundations to align their mission with their investing strategies.

The current economic crisis is the result of a huge misalignment of short term, personal benefits and long term sustainability, he said... (continue reading this blog post)

Philanthropy

We Need to Do Better: How the Now Generation of Leaders Can Change Philanthropy

Council on Foundations President Steve Gunderson opened the morning plenary for the second day of the 2010 EPIP National Conference with this strong statement that I agree with wholeheartedly:

EPIP needs to change their tagline from the “next generation” of grantmakers to the NOW generation of grantmakers. The future is now.

With 50 years of experience in philanthropy, Bill Somerville, author of Grassroots Philanthropy and President of the Philanthropic Ventures Foundation brought a wealth of inspiration and insight... (continue reading this blog post)

Social Innovations

Social Innovation Fund Names Director

The Corporation for National and Community Service announced earlier this month that they have named Paul Carttar as director of the Social Innovation Fund. To my surprise and great honor, Paul called me the day before the announcement to say that he and his team have been reading my commentary on the Fund at Tactical Philanthropy and to fill me in on his plans... (continue reading this blog post)

Philanthropy

Professional Altruism Is Harder than It Looks

If you've spent any time as a social entrepreneur or running a non-profit, you've had a conversation with a foundation program officer. If you've spoken with more than one program officer, you no doubt have had at least one bad experience. I could spend several posts developing a taxonomy of program officers you'd rather not deal with...ever.

But hard as it may be to muster after several negative encounters, program officers deserve our sympathy... (continue reading this blog post)

Philanthropy

Fairness, Justice and the Social Sector

Foundations—and by extension nonprofits—should try to focus on "common good" to realize their full potential, argues Mark Rosenman, Director of Caring to Change. In the new report, "Foundations for Common Good," Rosenman suggests that no matter how narrow a foundation’s (or by extension, a nonprofit’s) mission, it should creatively serve a broad base of beneficiaries and not exclude the poor/minorities. The report and other information is available free at www.caringtochange.org... (continue reading this blog post)

Philanthropy

Foundations Can Step Up as Shareholders

Many foundations continue to miss a great opportunity to put their money where their mission is by failing to be more informed and active shareholders in the companies in which they invest their endowment funds.

As You Sow Foundation estimates that, despite the crisis in the capital markets, the combined value of the endowments of the 75,000 private foundations in the U.S. totals roughly $550 billion... (continue reading this blog post)

Philanthropy

A Revolution in Foundation Transparency

Hot on the heels of rolling out real time tracking of foundation grants in support of Haiti, the Foundation Center has quietly launched a new project with the whimsical name Glass Pockets.

With a mission to “bring transparency to the world of philanthropy” Glass Pockets offers reports on how transparent large, well known foundations are… (continue reading this blog post)

Philanthropy

Grantmakers Can Do More than Make Grants

Charitable grants get much of the focus of the more than 75,000 grantmaking foundations in the U.S.

But with the recession vaporizing over one-fifth of the value of foundations’ assets, foundations should be looking harder for additional strategies they can use to advance their charitable mission… (continue reading this blog post)

Philanthropy

Friending, Texting and Tweeting: Social Media and Community Foundations

Last week, I attended the Larger Community Foundations meeting in Miami, Florida, which is the annual meeting of the 35 or so largest community foundations in the United States. One of our speakers was the very provocative Dr. Lucy Bernholz of Blueprint Research and Design. As usual, she challenged us by presenting her view of the changing landscape of philanthropy and the impact it will have on community foundations in particular… (continue reading this blog post)