For more than 60 years, Foellinger Foundation has provided resources for Allen County, Indiana, residents to increase their self-reliance through grants to nonprofit organizations that directly serve them. But, as our grantees are helping people move from dependence to independence, measuring how they do that, and do it effectively, has often been challenging. To address... Read More
How do we make the biggest decisions in life? How do we decide to get married? Have a child? Begin a new career? Start a business? How do organizations such as foundations transform themselves? Sometimes change comes from deliberate planning—a weighing of pros and cons, mapping out scenarios, looking at the different considerations (financial, practical,... Read More
I had one of my more interesting and productive meetings with two colleagues the other day. Like me, these colleagues are both executive directors of grantmaking foundations that work in our community. One has tenure of more than 15 years, and I have known him for those years and more. The other is celebrating his... Read More
How to catalyze impact for the environment using venture philanthropy—three perspectives from our new member Howell Conservation Fund I’m Brett Howell, founder of Howell Conservation Fund, and a new member of Exponent Philanthropy. My mission is to catalyze teams to achieve breakthrough solutions to the systemic sustainability issues we face on our planet. As a... Read More
The Principles of Black Equity Framework is a tool for funders, developed by the Black Equity Collective, that integrates equity as a key metric for assessing organizational effectiveness. The Black Equity Collective is a California-based organization whose mission is to join funders and communities in strengthening the long-term sustainability of Black-led and empowering organizations. Read More
Choosing which of the many worthy causes to fund is difficult, which begs the question: How bad is it to give to multiple good causes? The answer: Not bad at all. However, when we approach charitable giving another way—How can we achieve the most with our resources?—the answer is different. That’s because getting focused is... Read More