To help more foundations get involved with policymaking, candidate education, and voter engagement, Nonprofit VOTE worked with the Council on Foundations and Independent Sector to create resources that would illustrate best practices and put to rest concerns. The result is The Voter Engagement Toolkit for Private Foundations and The Voter Engagement Toolkit for Community Foundations.... Read More
Imagine the benefit to society—and to funders—if nonprofits generated income, operating with the efficient, effective practices that are necessary to do so? Stronger operating models. More money to drive mission. More people served. More philanthropic dollars available in the community. This has been our experience after working with nonprofit organizations on plans to generate mission-related... Read More
When most people think of foundations, they think of deep pockets. That’s understandable, since the popular public perception of philanthropy has been shaped by the creation of multimillion-dollar foundations by titans of old, and enforced by the glamour of new foundations launched to much fanfare by today’s billionaires. In rural communities, the creation of big-dollar... Read More
In the first blog in this 3-part series, Fran Sykes reflected on how her board’s decision to sunset spurred the foundation to stretch and expand its vision, and try to establish a legacy in its limited time. In this blog, Fran describes their plans and assumptions, and how their path took them into new territory.... Read More
“Whatever may be said about human beings, they are, as a whole, a family.” Our co-founder, Helene Foellinger, stated this publicly in 1954 and cast the vision for the foundation she and her mother would create four years later. They believed that, as individuals and a community, we have a duty to uplift each other... Read More
Originally published by Forbes (February 19, 2018) Are you damming up philanthropic progress by paralyzing decision making and workflow? Nature abhors a bottleneck. Take a look at any stream or river and you’ll see what happens when debris piles up. The water will eventually find a way around, over or through, and the results can... Read More