“Few tasks in the foundation world prove as interesting, rewarding, and exhilarating as the site visit,” write the authors of Grantmaking Basics: A Field Guide for Funders. “Site visits can lift your spirits and enliven your day by reminding you precisely why you chose to work in the foundation world.” Make the most of your... Read More
You can make a difference before and after disasters in a variety of ways: Grants for relief—These grants can meet critical needs in the aftermath of disasters. Victims may need rescue, food, shelter, or clothing just to survive. This phase requires intensive activity but usually ends quickly—within a few days. Grants for recovery—Such grants can... Read More
Through two separate grants to the Florida Audubon Society, the Conservation, Food & Health Foundation (CFHF) of Boston supported the work of distinguished sea turtle researcher and conservationist Dr. Peter Pritchard to protect a critical sea turtle nesting beach on the northwest coast of Guyana in South America. Despite 30 years of efforts and the... Read More
“Foundations experience the moment at different times,” writes Jed Emerson in the Stanford Social Innovation Review. For the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation, it was the 1980s; for the F.B. Heron Foundation, the mid-1990s. In both cases, the foundations recognized the division, even conflict, between their investments and their grantmaking. The Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation focuses... Read More
The Rockwell Fund, Inc., a private foundation in Houston, TX, recognized the significant infrastructure needs of local zip code assistance ministries, organizations named for the restrictions they placed on themselves to serve only those within their adjacent zip codes. Although these organizations were providing excellent direct services to the communities, many were lacking the support... Read More
Three Exponent Philanthropy members shared how their foundations were forging ahead during the Great Recession of 2008: Henry Berman, president and trustee, The Edith Glick Shoolman Children’s Foundation, New York and Massachusetts; Billie Hall, president and CEO, Sunflower Foundation, Kansas; and Mari Brennan Barrera, vice president, Eos Foundation, Massachusetts. Where do you find energy and... Read More