We created the Fund for Shared Insight—a funder collaborative with diverse support from 30 different funders—to increase foundation openness. We believe that if foundations are more open—which we define as how they share about their goals and strategies; make decisions and measure progress; listen and engage in dialogue with others; act on what they hear;... Read More
Eager to pilot our new Grantee and Applicant Perception Survey with her grantees, Meg Ramsey (The Ramsey McCluskey Family Foundation, Lincoln, MA) was especially interested to learn what her grantees were thinking about the foundation’s grant process, reporting, and site visits. Anonymity was key, so her grantees did not feel that providing constructive criticism or... Read More
Adapted from materials created by Jessica Bearman, Mark Sedway, and Rusty Stahl for the Talent Philanthropy Toolkit (Version 1.0) Between 1992 and 2011, according to research by Talent Philanthropy, foundations devoted less than 1% of grant dollars toward supporting the recruitment, retention, compensation, development, or retirement of nonprofit talent. In fact, the signals grantmakers send often... Read More
“With capable coaches at their side, nonprofit leaders can learn more about themselves, about their organizations, and about how to manage people and conflicts, how to delegate responsibility for day-to-day tasks, and more. No other intervention can teach these things better than effective coaching, and we hope that grantmakers, both individually and as a field,... Read More
To make an outsized and lasting impact in their communities and issue areas, grantmakers must be intentional about equity and inclusion within their boards, governance, and funding efforts. The journey towards equitable grantmaking is not merely about ticking boxes; it’s a transformative process that demands introspection, learning, and action. While adopting equitable grantmaking practices serves... Read More
This post originally appeared on GMA Foundations’ blog. Organizational budget size is a favorite proxy indicator in philanthropy. Donors use rules of thumb to streamline grantmaking due diligence, but generalizations are imperfect. Using organizational budget size as a proxy indicator can reinforce funding inequities and lead to lost opportunity. Here are a few ways to... Read More