Some years ago, when Jacques Chirac was still president of France, the U.S. State Department asked me to meet with Chirac’s advisor on domestic affairs. She had completed a national tour of institutions of American voluntarism. I was the last stop on her tour, her opportunity to debrief. Her leading question to me was, “How... Read More
Oscar Wilde once said, “To expect the unexpected shows a thoroughly modern intellect.” Many philanthropists these days consider themselves at the cutting edge of innovation and problem-solving. Perhaps at a programmatic level we are, since through philanthropy we have eradicated age-old diseases, supported mass social movements, and turned around entire cities. Yet despite our modern... Read More
This post is the second in a 2-part series on the role of funders in the lively topic of sustainability in the nonprofit sector. Read part 1 >> The series is based on session presentations made by the author at two regional conferences sponsored by the Lodestar Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Innovation at Arizona State... Read More
In 2015, Exponent Philanthropy and partners Mission Investors Exchange and Arabella Advisors released Essentials of Impact Investing: A Guide for Small-Staffed Foundations. This post is adapted from the complimentary and actionable guide, geared to foundations with few or no staff that want to align their investments and missions. Download Essentials of Impact Investing: A Guide... Read More
Question: What does any broker, 401k advisor, or wealth management professional want to know from clients before they invest? Answer: Their risk profile. Some investments are riskier than others, and successful financial advisors need to know in advance how comfortable the client is with risk. But what about our philanthropic dollars, the grants given to... Read More
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