Executive Director Colleen O’Keefe of the Sauer Children’s Renew Foundation in St. Paul, Minnesota, embarked on a listening tour to inform the foundation’s work on behalf of the state’s foster care children and youth. Colleen blogged about the tour, and, recently, our Senior Program Director Sara Beggs interviewed her to learn even more, including what... Read More
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
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
I see dozens of funders around the country making change—catalyzing new ways of doing and thinking—without the support of a sizeable staff. This kind of change is bigger in scope than starting a new nonprofit organization, or helping a promising organization serve more people. Changemaking by small-staffed funders is transforming how people think about and... Read More
When philanthropists are at work—even if meeting with nonprofits, bringing together people in the community, or speaking out on important issues—it is their potential to bestow grants that draws our attention. Everything philanthropists do, whether or not it involves the transfer of dollars, is called grantmaking. In a society where money consumes our attention, several... Read More
When the Sauer family asked me to learn about foster care children and youth as a potential focus area, I decided to go on a listening tour. I don’t want to say that I “scanned the landscape” because I didn’t want to inventory which organizations did what piece of the work. I wanted to understand... Read More