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Foundation Trustee Legal Duties: 5 Strategies to Keep Your Board Compliant
Trustees have a lot on their plates, but nothing matters more than getting their legal duties right. A foundation’s board does more than show up to meetings. Trustees must ensure the foundation follows its own bylaws, meets federal and state requirements, and stays true to its charitable purpose. Beyond simply following the law, a foundation’s... Read More
2026 Mid-Year Update: Milestones & Momentum From Exponent Philanthropy
This year, Exponent Philanthropy celebrates 30 years of supporting, connecting, and amplifying the impact of lean funders and transforming communities through informed giving. As philanthropy faces rapid change, growing complexity, and ever-increasing community needs, the role of lean funders — and the need for strong peer connections, practical resources, and community-connected leadership — has never... Read More
Nonprofit Site Visits: What Every Grantmaker Should Know
For grantmakers, few things are as illuminating as seeing a nonprofit’s work up close. A site visit cuts through the paperwork, brings the work to life in a way no document can, and opens up conversations that simply don’t happen over email. But site visits are also high-stakes moments. They raise expectations, shape relationships, and... Read More
People Are Hungry to Connect. Here’s How Funders Can Lead the Way.
The pandemic reminded us of something we already knew; there’s no substitute for being in the same room. But the hunger to connect runs deeper than COVID. The U.S. Surgeon General declared loneliness a public health epidemic in 2023, and noted that approximately half of American adults were already experiencing loneliness before the pandemic even... Read More
Listening as Leadership: How One Question Changed Our Role as Funders
“What do you need?” It may be one of the simple questions a funder can ask, and one of the most transformative. In this moment, that question carries new urgency. Across our communities, nonprofits are under real strain, taking on more risk and doing more with fewer resources. Philanthropy is being called to respond. The... Read More
Designing a Grant Application Process That Works for Everyone
Across the nonprofit sector, an enormous amount of time is spent on grant applications that will never be funded. Some of that is unavoidable. A lot of it isn’t. When application processes are more complex than they need to be, the burden falls on the nonprofits least equipped to handle it, and the real value of... Read More