GIVING LESS BUT LEADING MORE
A summary of the Council on Foundations presentation, ““New Agenda/Harsh Realities: Opportunities for Foundations to Step Up in 2009” in On Philanthropy.
The economic downturn has hit the nonprofit world hard and foundations are struggling as well. How do they respond in a way that maintains crucial services but minimizes damage to their own endowments? How do they manage the heightened scrutiny of all financial transactions in this “Madoff era”? What regulations may the Obama administration and Congress impose? How can foundations meet rising expectations that they fill the funding gap?
Now, more than ever, it’s vital to showcase foundations’
value beyond dollars and cents. In the current climate, foundations have a chance to seize the spotlight and communicate their missions to old audiences and new ones, in traditional ways and more newfangled ones.