A grantmaker’s guide to evaluating a nonprofit’s theory of change “If we just start nailing that lumber together, we’ll end up with your dream house.” —No architect, ever Nonprofit mission statements evoke powerful visions of social change. To translate these lofty rallying cries into action, many thoughtful organizations have developed a detailed blueprint illustrating the... Read More
Adapted from materials created by Jessica Bearman, Mark Sedway, and Rusty Stahl for the Talent Philanthropy Toolkit (Version 1.0) Between 1992 and 2011, according to research by Talent Philanthropy, foundations devoted less than 1% of grant dollars toward supporting the recruitment, retention, compensation, development, or retirement of nonprofit talent. In fact, the signals grantmakers send often... Read More
For funders, especially private foundations, the federal tax rules governing supporting organizations can be important. Grants by private foundations to certain types of supporting organizations are subject to expenditure responsibility and may not be counted toward the private foundation’s annual 5% minimum distribution requirement. The complexity of the rules governing supporting organizations, updated on February... Read More
Every organization, no matter the size, should consider developing a media strategy. Beautifully landscaped Facebook pages and carefully crafted tweets are less important than unified messages and timely goals. The following general guidelines, excerpted from our Media Toolkit for Exponent Philanthropy members, can be adopted by any nonprofit or foundation seeking to build relationships with its community... Read More
Forgive me for stating the obvious, but the word “no” has a negative connotation. And that’s a shame because, if used properly, “no” might actually be the ultimate philanthropic teaching and learning tool. We live in a society where so many of us are afraid to say that magic word— “no”— and so, we become... Read More
To help more foundations get involved with policymaking, candidate education, and voter engagement, Nonprofit VOTE worked with the Council on Foundations and Independent Sector to create resources that would illustrate best practices and put to rest concerns. The result is The Voter Engagement Toolkit for Private Foundations and The Voter Engagement Toolkit for Community Foundations.... Read More