As funders, we are expected to measure things: dollars given, grants distributed, organizations served, and what results. These are all familiar metrics. But what if we reconsidered our attachment to these metrics? What if instead of expecting a specific outcome, we pursued a promising hypothesis? This is an accepted practice in other fields, such as... Read More
Originally published by Forbes (February 19, 2018) Are you damming up philanthropic progress by paralyzing decision making and workflow? Nature abhors a bottleneck. Take a look at any stream or river and you’ll see what happens when debris piles up. The water will eventually find a way around, over or through, and the results can... Read More
While attending Exponent Philanthropy’s 2018 National Conference last month, I had a surprise: I saw a significant number of grantmakers genuinely excited about getting involved in advocacy! At the closing luncheon, I was seated with Melinda McAliney, Director of the Brown Sisters Foundation and Vario Philanthropy, in St Louis, Missouri. She noticed it too and... 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
Note: This post originally appeared on the GrantCraft Candid Learning for Funders blog. Exponent Philanthropy is on a journey to understand, embrace, and champion racial equity. So, we’re embedding it in our programs and research. For instance, our 2020 Foundation Operations and Management Report explored the relationship between the relevance of racial equity to a... Read More
2020 was an unexpectedly challenging year. The pandemic changed the nature of work, and how we interact with our boards, staff and the nonprofits in our communities. We asked members of the Exponent Philanthropy community to reflect on COVID-19, how it affected their work in 2020, and what they foresee for 2021. Lean funders stepped... Read More