Foundation management

2002, 27 pages. Published by the Hybrid Vigor Institute, 1459 18th Street, Suite 189, San Francisco, CA, 94107, 415-543-8113, info@hybridvigor.org, www.hybridvigor.net

Download pdf: http://www.hybridvigor.net/interdis/pubs/hv_pub_interdis-2002.10.30.pdf

The moniker, "Grantmakers in the Arts," could suggest that our job as funders is solely to read proposals and write checks, a straightforward transaction that takes a hiatus when the award letter goes out and revives when the final report comes in. In reality, we know that the most important work we do may take place before the proposal is even submitted and that the impact of our work only improves as the quality of our ongoing interaction with our grantees strengthens.

The Broad Art Foundation, based in Santa Monica, California, was founded by philanthropists Edythe and Eli Broad in 1984 to encourage and strengthen a greater public appreciation of contemporary visual art. Under the leadership of director and curator Joanne Heyler, the foundation operates as an educational and lending source for the nearly 800 art works in its collection, rather than as a standard grantmaking program.

What can evaluation accomplish for grantmakers and grantees? What roles should each play in the design and execution of the evaluation process? Recent briefings from The Conservation Company and the Neighborhood Funders Group examine these questions from different vantage points.

Evaluation: The Good News for Funders
Andrew Mott

2003, 86 pages. $40 nonmembers; 1 copy free with membership. Association of Small Foundations, www.smallfoundations.org

Do you want to start a foundation? Full of practical advice, The New Foundation Guidebook is a good place to start. This book concisely describes how to establish and operate a foundation by adapting articles from pertinent experts. It is easy to skim as essential points are highlighted with bullet points.

September 2001, 20 pages. The Cultural Policy Center at the University of Chicago.

April 2001, 96 pages. The Urban Institute, 2100 M Street N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037 (202) 833-0687

Sitting across the broad desk from David Bergholz, in an office that is clearly being packed up as he pre-pares to retire after fifteen years as president and CEO of the George Gund Foundation, there is a poignant juxtaposition that is very hard to miss. Just outside his office's large, eighteenth floor windows is a magnificent view of the industrial might that made Cleveland a player in years past; huge barges moving under steel bridges that cross an impossibly crooked river. The pewter river flanked by smoking chimneys and orderly cones of slag and salt and iron ore.

One of the fastest growing affinity groups in philanthropy, the Association of Small Foundations serves trustees, staff, and consultants working with "foundations with few or no staff." Most of its members have assets of $50 million or less, and many of them depend on consulting groups to manage investments and assist with grantmaking. These consultants were well-represented at the conference as speakers, exhibitors, and general participants. As of August 2002, the Association had 2,801 members with assets totaling $47.8 billion.

2003, 8 pages, single issue $20, subscription $50. National Center for Family Philanthropy, 1818 N Street N.W. Suite 300, Washington, DC 20036, 202-293-3424

The latest article in the National Center for Family Philanthropy's Passages series is a glass half-empty/glass half-full look at how family foundations are coping with the current economic downturn.