Monthly Archives: August 2017



Co-Creation: Viewing Partnerships Through A New Lens

Favorite“Co-Creation” is a series of case studies about the Connecticut Early Childhood Funder Collaborative, a project of the Connecticut Council for Philanthropy. The case studies, written by Patricia Bowie, examine co-creation, an emerging systems change collaboration model which grew out of a funder-and-state partnership. This unique partnership led to the creation by executive order of a new and independent Office of Early Childhood, which was formally approved by the Connecticut State Legislature in 2013.





National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations

FavoriteThe Council on Foundations takes a leadership role in shaping community foundations’ self-regulation by promoting The National Standards for U.S. Community Foundations®, an accreditation program created by community foundations for community foundations. They are peer-driven, voluntary, and self-regulatory.  





Staying the Course: How a Long-Term Strategic Donor Initiative to Conserve the Amazon Has Yielded Outcomes of Global Significance

FavoriteThis article examines how the design principles of a major philanthropic initiative have influenced its performance, and provides a practical example of strategic philanthropy that can contribute to the current debate over the merits and flaws of this approach.





The Philanthropy As One Big Impact Investment: A Framework For Evaluating A Foundation’s Blended Performance

FavoriteThis article proposes a framework for evaluating a foundation’s blended performance that enables both grantmaking and endowment investing to be evaluated jointly, and thus also allows a complete evaluation of how impact investments could improve — or fail to improve — overall performance.







Marguerite Casey Foundation: Reflecting on 15 Years of Philanthropic Leadership Through a Summative Evaluation

FavoriteThis article presents the findings of a summative evaluation of the Marguerite Casey Foundation that was conducted on the occasion of its 15th anniversary. The evaluation was designed to gauge stakeholders’ perceptions of the foundation’s operations to facilitate organizational learning. In sharing these results, the authors seek to elucidate the role of evaluation as a learning practice within the field of philanthropy.





Foundations as Network Strategists, Weavers, and Managers: Learning From One Foundation’s Journey and Results

FavoriteThis article shares insights from a five-year evaluation of the Oral Health 2020 network, an effort by the DentaQuest Foundation to align and strengthen efforts in service of a national movement to improve oral health. The evaluation helped to place the foundation’s journey in the context of a broader field seeking new approaches to achieve deep and sustainable social change.





Program for Philanthropy and Fundraising

FavoriteThe George H. Heyman, Jr. Program for Philanthropy and Fundraising at NYU’s School of Professional Studies offers courses and intensive study options for fundraisers and grantmakers, professional development, and conferences and events designed to provide information on the latest industry trends and developments.