There is no doubt that measuring impact is the hottest trend in philanthropy today. How can our organization track the outcomes our grants are having? How can we track more useful information to make better decisions? At Foundant, we hear iterations of these questions regularly. From working with almost 1,000 grantmakers, we’ve identified some steps you... Read More
We’ve had the great pleasure of serving as the grantmaking and foundation management partner for Kathleen deLaski and the deLaski Family Foundation for the past three years. The foundation brought us on to help it adapt its mission, vision, and goals in a way that makes the most of the current board’s knowledge, networks, and... Read More
The Principles of Black Equity Framework is a tool for funders, developed by the Black Equity Collective, that integrates equity as a key metric for assessing organizational effectiveness. The Black Equity Collective is a California-based organization whose mission is to join funders and communities in strengthening the long-term sustainability of Black-led and empowering organizations. Read More
For more than 60 years, Foellinger Foundation has provided resources for Allen County, Indiana, residents to increase their self-reliance through grants to nonprofit organizations that directly serve them. But, as our grantees are helping people move from dependence to independence, measuring how they do that, and do it effectively, has often been challenging. To address... Read More
I had one of my more interesting and productive meetings with two colleagues the other day. Like me, these colleagues are both executive directors of grantmaking foundations that work in our community. One has tenure of more than 15 years, and I have known him for those years and more. The other is celebrating his... Read More
How do we make the biggest decisions in life? How do we decide to get married? Have a child? Begin a new career? Start a business? How do organizations such as foundations transform themselves? Sometimes change comes from deliberate planning—a weighing of pros and cons, mapping out scenarios, looking at the different considerations (financial, practical,... Read More