A few years ago, the Robert Sterling Clark Foundation made the difficult decision to let go of certain issues and organizations in order to focus our giving more effectively. Our board of directors chose to invest in city leaders, their networks, and the organizations that support them. This shift led us to rethink our entire approach... Read More
By the time young people reach their teens, they are trying to develop their own identities and often prefer spending time with peers. Parents can help guide their teens’ philanthropic interests, but not dictate them. If teens aren’t interested in engaging in philanthropic activities with their families, parents may find opportunities for teens to do... Read More
For nearly a century, donor-driven development has struggled to create sustainable change in the Global South. Today, funders realize the key to improving community self-reliance lies in healthy collaboration with beneficiary communities. A challenge, then, is how to collaborate with rural communities in the Global South. How do we maintain financial management standards when our... Read More
I just returned from leading the team that successfully cleaned up the world’s most plastic-polluted beach as part of the multi-disciplinary Henderson Island Plastic Pollution Expedition 2019. From the first day of my involvement with the Expedition, as founder of Howell Conservation Fund and leader of the beach cleanup team, I had two key performance... Read More
On Friday, March 20, Exponent Philanthropy hosted a live discussion among lean funders to discuss how they are responding to COVID-19. We will continue to host these discussions every Friday at 2 PM ET to give all lean funders the opportunity to connect around their response. We are also compiling COVID-19 information and resources relevant... Read More
In the past, I was a nonprofit capacity building adviser, and this question came up often. The principles that applied to those charitable nonprofits can also help foundations. It’s useful to think of this question in two-parts: Should the executive director serve as a board member? Should the executive director be a voting or non-voting... Read More