Today is Equal Pay Day, the day when women’s earnings “catch up” to men’s earnings from the previous year. The average American woman would have to continue to work through this date in 2017 to earn as much as the average American man in 2016. The Pay Equity Landscape According to the most recent data,... Read More
Most conversations on succession planning turn to how to bring on the next generation or whether to sunset the foundation. Eldon and Betts Mayer thought differently. They wondered if their community on an island in Maine would be willing to take on their family foundation. Three years later, the fund has an engaged board of... Read More
The first blog in a 3-part series When Fran Sykes, founder and president of Pascale Sykes Foundation, tells people she is purposely closing her foundation’s doors in four years as a conscientious business strategy, people seem puzzled. Why would anyone purposely go out of business? Like many foundations, Pascale Sykes was originally established in perpetuity.... Read More
Long interested in issues of international development and aid, in 2003 I conducted a qualitative study on Barriers to International Giving by U.S.-based Foundations. Nearly a decade later, the findings from this research are still relevant to funders engaged in or interested in international philanthropy. One of the interesting findings from my research was that... Read More
For a number of years, it has been our privilege to offer programming and resources geared to the unique needs of foundation executive directors. Most come to this work from outside philanthropy, through a mix of skill and serendipity, and work up, down, and across their organizations, often as sole-staffers or in very small offices.... Read More
Educating and developing board members can be a challenge for even the most well-intentioned foundations. Board members’ time and energy can be limited. Longstanding board members can grow increasingly comfortable in their roles and with their colleagues. Grantmaking decisions and general business can easily fill agendas. And yet, we know from our foundation members that... Read More