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Why It’s Important to Start Planning for Leadership Succession Now
“Our foundation had succession planning thrust upon us,” shares John Valliant, president of the Grayce B. Kerr Fund. “We had been talking about succession for some time, and then we were blindsided by illness and death.” Fortunately, not every foundation faces such sudden and tragic events. But experiences of this nature are profound reminders of... Read More
A Citizen and a Small Foundation Awaken a Community’s Ties
In America, we recognize that individuals working toward common purpose can accomplish great things. We celebrate well-functioning teams, especially in the realms of sports and business enterprise. In our communities, our states, and the nation as a whole, however, we are divided. We separate ourselves by class and race, and pledge ourselves to political ideologies,... Read More
Five Barriers to Focus and Ways to Push Past Them
In our many conversations with funders, we hear that finding a focus—for all or part of your giving—is the most fundamental step you can take on a journey toward fulfilling philanthropy. Focusing at least part of your giving is not only powerful, it’s critical. Our communities desperately need new solutions to social challenges. We need... Read More
Listening and Learning to Assess Needs, Find Your Niche
Scanning, a seldom discussed but powerful strategy for philanthropic impact, involves taking time to learn more about your community or a particular field to find out how your giving can be most effective. It involves intentional learning to develop a giving focus or design—or refine—a giving strategy. Why scan? Because the most effective giving is... Read More
Change Demands More Than Programmatic Grants
As grantmakers, we know the programs and projects we support are often by themselves insufficient to create the level of substantive change we hope for in the communities and issues we care about. Yes, a well-run tutoring program can indeed change the lives of children. There are so many factors, though, that go into improving... Read More
‘Opting out’ is OK in this funder-nonprofit dynamic
Originally appeared in a July 6, 2015 post to The Patterson Foundation’s blog You have a good idea for your organization. You have the opportunity to receive free consulting to help implement that idea. However, you aren’t sure your organization has the capacity to execute on that idea. What do you do? Do you take... Read More
