Nongrant work has several major impacts: Providing consulting to a small nonprofit on how to develop its management structure, for example, or enhancing its fundraising or technology systems can add tremendous value to grants that build capacity. Embarking on a more intentional process of learning, scanning, or research accelerates and deepens a funder’s understanding of... Read More
“Too often as funders, we force our grantees to embark on new projects because that’s what we’re willing to fund,” says Exponent Philanthropy member Judy Peckham of the Conrad and Virginia Klee Foundation in Binghamton, NY. “Yet, organizations with good core programs often desperately need funds for administrative costs to keep those programs strong. If... Read More
My husband and I created The O’Grady Foundation and, after some trial and error, agreed to focus our funding on the arts in our New York City area. Although we support several major arts and cultural institutions in our region, we concentrate our efforts on smaller institutions with annual budgets of $3 million or less.... Read More
Last summer, I read Three Cups of Tea, by Greg Mortenson and David Oliver Relin, having bought my copy in a New Hampshire bookstore, where the owner just happened to mention, “This book should be in the hands of every high school student in New Hampshire.” Halfway through the book, I understood what she meant... Read More
Our “foundation family” includes teachers, accountants, a doctor, lawyers, business people, executives, software engineers, a photographer, a film producer, and a musician. If you appeal to what people like to do, they are more likely to engage in the limited time they have. We have a host of talents at our disposal; we just have... Read More
At The Triple EEE Foundation, we have used scrutiny of our investment managers and unique investment ideas to weather the recent economic storms and further our mission. Although our family foundation was created in 1993, I became very interested in foundation investing in 2000. That year, at an Exponent Philanthropy conference in Chicago, one of... Read More