Foundation management

Foundations think they're doing the right thing by requiring grantees to form partnerships with each other. There are, however, two sides to every story, and grantees share their stories of frustration here.

Free online from the Stanford Social Innovation Review.

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Like well-meaning rich aunts, foundations are full of advice for nonprofit organizations and their leaders. From positions of relative financial security and isolated from the risks and challenges confronting most nonprofit executive directors, foundation leaders and program officers issue a constant stream of admonitions: Focus on finding dependable sources of income. Produce measurable results. Evaluate whether you are making a difference. Be strategic, not opportunistic. Build diverse boards. Spend more time on advocacy. Collaborate with other organizations.

First Nations Development Institute and Native Americans in Philanthropy convened a group of Native philanthropic leaders in Minneapolis/St. Paul on September 14 2005, to discuss how we can better support the development of Native foundations and Native philanthropy. The objective of this meeting was to provide insight and input into the design and implementation of a structure to support the further development of Native foundations and Native philanthropy through technical assistance, advocacy and research.

This book features profiles of 18 family foundations and giving groups that have developed unique or noteworthy programs of arts giving, reflecting the values and character of the donors in a variety of ways. Interviews with principals and trustees from each foundation provide further insights to how these programs were developed and realized.

90 pages, perfect bound
ISBN 0-9705157-4-X

This Field Resource Book profiles nine foundations that provide general operating support to arts organizations. The featured foundations reflect geographic and institutional diversity, as well as myriad grantmaking approaches. The chapters are the result of research and interviews with senior staff at each of the nine foundations.

Each chapter includes six sections:

Documents the growth in number, giving, and assets of all active U.S. foundations from 1975 through 2003.

June 2005 / 100 pp.

Available online from The Foundation Center.

Provides a first look at estimates of foundation giving for 2004 and final statistics on actual giving and assets for 2003. It also presents new top 100 foundation lists.

April 2005 / 13 pp.

Available online from The Foundation Center.

Examines 2003 grantmaking patterns of a sample of more than 1,000 larger U.S. foundations, and compares current giving priorities with trends since 1990.
February 2005 / 86 pp.

Available online from The Foundation Center.

Investing in Capacity Building: A Guide to High-Impact Approaches Improving management practices—the most challenging aspect of capacity building—is essential to increasing the impact of a nonprofit's limited resources. Author Barbara Blumenthal helps grantmakers and consultants design better methods of helping nonprofits, while showing nonprofit managers how to get more effective support.

Author Paul Firstenberg challenges grantmakers to proactively assist their grantee's management in maximizing the nonprofit's social impact, showing grantseekers how potential funders increasingly emphasize organizational capacity building.