When should a foundation rescind a grant? How is the rescission accomplished? The obvious answer to the first question is that a funder should rescind a grant when the grantee fails to use the grant funds for the purposes for which the grant was made. Most commonly, such failure is because the grantee’s need for... Read More
My husband and I created The O’Grady Foundation and, after some trial and error, agreed to focus our funding on the arts in our New York City area. Although we support several major arts and cultural institutions in our region, we concentrate our efforts on smaller institutions with annual budgets of $3 million or less.... Read More
If your foundation encounters an organization struggling with its operations, how can you say no—declining or not renewing a grant—in a way that makes a difference? For our small family foundation, the facts were clear. Getting to those facts had not been easy: The board of directors of the nonprofit we were funding had not... Read More
“Too often as funders, we force our grantees to embark on new projects because that’s what we’re willing to fund,” says Exponent Philanthropy member Judy Peckham of the Conrad and Virginia Klee Foundation in Binghamton, NY. “Yet, organizations with good core programs often desperately need funds for administrative costs to keep those programs strong. If... Read More
The legal and practical aspects of international grantmaking may seem burdensome. Yet, small foundations can and do make grants to foreign organizations in legal and trusted ways. Let’s correct seven misconceptions and provide examples of how Exponent Philanthropy members fund effectively around the world. Myth 1: Because our bylaws limit our giving to U.S.-based 501(c)(3)... Read More
Whether joining together to voice your support for a cause or to make grants as a pooled fund, funding partnerships have many benefits: They allow you to work on a larger scale—either in dollars, visibility, or other resources—to risk-share, and to leverage your dollars. Funding partnerships also make for deepened relationships with other funders, which,... Read More