Leslie Cheu Recent Posts

Reflections on Participatory Grantmaking from a Retiring Executive Director

October 21, 2025 Leslie Cheu / Grantmaking

For more than 20 years, I served as the executive director for a leanly staffed foundation with deep roots in a small city in upstate New York. The Troy Savings Bank Charitable Foundation, the philanthropic legacy of a community bank founded in 1823, grew substantially after the bank’s acquisition by another financial institution in 2004.... Read More

Funders Pool Resources to Provide Capacity Building to Their Region’s Nonprofits

June 4, 2019 Leslie Cheu / Grantmaking

Grantmakers are known for asking questions. We ask our nonprofit applicants to tell us about their mission, programs, budgets, and ability to sustain the programs that we fund. We also try to understand the challenges they face and the plans to overcome those challenges. Sometimes, however, we can learn even more by listening to the questions they... Read More

Leslie Cheu Recent Posts

Reflections on Participatory Grantmaking from a Retiring Executive Director

Funders Pool Resources to Provide Capacity Building to Their Region’s Nonprofits

Multiyear Funding and General Operating Support: Why They’re Stronger Together

The Hows and Whys of Multiyear General Operating Support

AI in Action: Practical Tools and Guardrails for Smarter, More Equitable Giving

Navigating the New Exponent Philanthropy Dues Structure

AI in Action: Tools and Tactics for Smarter, More Equitable Giving