Blog

Results for: Topic: “Blog”

Key Insights From the 2022 Foundation Operations and Management Report

March 2, 2022 Brendan McCormick / Benchmarking Data

Exponent Philanthropy’s 2022 Foundation Operations and Management Report (FOMR) continues to offer mission-critical statistics about member foundations’ boards and governance, investments, administration (including salary and benefits), and grantmaking. Thank you to the 400+ members who participated in the 2021 survey informing this report. Below are some of its interesting and exciting findings. However, we encourage... Read More

How a Diversity Focus Changed One Foundation’s Board

February 15, 2022 Chaletta Huertas / Equity

Over 20 years ago, the Anna B. Stearns Charitable Foundation launched its Girls’ Initiative to amplify support for women and girls. More recently, the foundation’s board, historically mostly women, expanded its equity and inclusion focus to include race and culture for both grantmaking and board composition. Leadership sees its own diversity as essential to driving... Read More

Let’s Be Candid About Board Succession Planning

January 31, 2022 Katie Ensign Deirdre Garton Megan Bell / Boards and Governance, Family Philanthropy

Joe Wilson, founder of the Xerox Corporation, and his wife, Peggy, formed the Wilson Foundation in 1963. A few years ago, we engaged in strategic planning to revisit our giving priorities. At the time, our board had 24 members that spanned three generations, and were spread across the country. In order to achieve our impact... Read More

Preventing Wire Fraud at Foundations and Family Offices

January 13, 2022 Tom Donahoe / Technology

Wire fraud is a daily danger. Cyber-security filters may stop 90%+ of attempts, but some still get through. For international clients, efforts are especially focused when US, European and Asian bank holidays are out of sync. Scammers want to prevent you from verbally verifying a wire request, since the requester’s office is closed. Here are other... Read More

Lessons From Launching an Impact Investing Portfolio: One Family Foundation’s Journey

January 11, 2022 Richard W. Goldman Family Foundation Board of Directors Cyrus Kharas / Investments

We established the Richard W. Goldman Family Foundation in honor of our late father. The foundation aims to promote equality and reduce barriers to opportunity for marginalized families. It does this by increasing access to education, health and financial resources during early childhood. We enthusiastically explored impact investing in 2016, but didn’t know how to... Read More

7 Types of Successful Philanthropists

December 14, 2021 Patrick Sampson / Leadership

Understanding the type of funder you are—and matching with like-minded nonprofit leaders—is one of the most important building blocks to achieving your funding goals. As nonprofit development consultants, we create funder profiles to help our clients better understand the various types of philanthropists and how to best engage them. What Type of Philanthropist Are You? A... Read More