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Impact Investing: Impact Measures and Monitoring Tools
This post is an excerpt from the complimentary resource Essentials of Impact Investing: A Guide for Small-Staffed Foundations, created by Exponent Philanthropy and partners Mission Investors Exchange and Arabella Advisors. Want to align your investments with your mission? Download your copy >> By Christa Velasquez, University of Chicago So much time and effort is focused on getting an impact investment closed and... Read More
How Funders Can Support Grantees’ Storytelling
Storytelling is a powerful tool for change. The right stories—shared well—have unlimited potential to raise awareness and resources, and inspire action. How many of your grantee partners are sharing their stories in a strategic way? And how can you, as a funder, support your partners in sharing stories that matter? Since before 2000, the Meyer... Read More
How Funders Can Help Nonprofits Leverage Their Data
“If you cannot measure it, you cannot improve it.” (Lord Kelvin) As part of their day-to-day operations, many nonprofits automatically collect data, like clients served and services provided. Whether they realize it or not, these represent a wealth of valuable data that could be leveraged to solve today’s pressing societal issues. This information could be... Read More
Perpetuity Doesn’t Have to Be Forever
Foundation surveys often ask if the foundation is operating with a limited life span, or in perpetuity. The choice is typically presented as a binary one: Did you set a time limit, or are you going to be around for eternity? There is a third choice, however, if perpetuity is not mandated in the foundation’s... Read More
Curiosity as Catalyst for Personal Renewal, Community Transformation
At some point in our life and work, we ask ourselves, Is there more to know? Is there more to experience? Is there more impact or change we can make? It’s not that we’re ungrateful for what we have. It’s that we get restless, frustrated, fatigued. We heard somewhere that philanthropy was about taking risks,... Read More
Try These 7 Methods to Get to a Giving Focus
Exponent Philanthropy recently revised The Foundation Guidebook, our signature publication for those new to foundations or philanthropy. Below is an excerpt from the 128-page resource. Get your copy >> Many foundations use a combination of methods to settle on a focus. Once you consider the approaches that follow, it is important to recognize when you may... Read More