This book discusses the role of grant-making foundations in supporting local communities, and how effective governance can contribute to greater success of the social projects they finance. The book considers the extent to which granting foundations act as social investment banks or strategic philanthropists, and identifies possible areas of evolution and improvement in the granting process of foundations similar to other innovative firms. It seeks to explore the possibility of foundations becoming a reference point in the Third Sector for innovativeness and risk taking.

FROM GRANTMAKER TO LEADER The past one hundred years has borne witness to an extraordinaryrevolution in the constitution and activities of philanthropicfoundations. The evolution of the governance of foundations-fromfounder to family to professionals to institutions-has necessarilyaltered the role that foundations play within a society. Ascommunity foundations, for example, strengthen the essentialcommunal fabric and help all organizations gain a financialfoothold, they find themselves at times in conflict with commercialgift funds, whose transactional nature between the donor and theorganization stimulates philanthropy in a wholly different fashion.From Grantmaker to Leader: Emerging Strategies for 21st CenturyFoundations takes stock of this shifting landscape, presenting boldleadership strategies for directing philanthropic organizationsinto the unchartered waters of the future. Seasoned foundation executives Frank Ellsworth and Joseph Lumardaassemble an all-star roster of insider contributors, dividing theirtrenchant study into three sections. "From Carnegie to Gates: TheChanging Faces and Needs of Philanthropy" examines the history offamily and community foundations and how the turmoil of the "NewEconomy" will affect these organizations in the future. SectionTwo, "The Foundation's New Reach: The Emerging Role of Leader,Communicator, and Facilitator of Change" addresses the criticalresponsibility of effectively articulating a foundation's message,showing how messages can successfully penetrate the media. Finally,the third section "Building the Foundation Board of the 21stCentury: Diversity and Strategic Planning" analyzes all aspects offoundation boards of directors, including their makeup,responsibilities, backgrounds, necessary diversity, and the role ofboards in foundation planning. Throughout all three sections, FromGrantmaker to Leader tackles all the critical issues facingphilanthropic foundations today, such as: * Transfer of wealth * Legislative concerns * IRS audits * The role of foundations in public policy issues, such as campaignspending * Accountability * Planned giving * Assessment of the effectiveness of giving * Socially responsible investment and social return oninvestment Even as the very nature of foundations has changed, a fundamentalquestion remains: will philanthropies play a more pervasive role insociety's future or will their influence forever remain elitist andselective? Writing directly for trustees, practitioners, foundationCEOs and CFOs, and every philanthropic professional, Ellsworth andLumarda make the convincing case that foundations matter more thanever, offering proven strategies for philanthropic success. FRANK L. ELLSWORTH is a vice president at Capital Research andManagement Company, where he oversees and coordinates programs andservices to endowments in Los Angeles. JOSEPH LUMARDA is the Executive Vice President of External Affairsfor the California Community Foundation in Los Angeles.

Winner of the 2009 Skystone Ryan Prize for Research, Association of Fundraising Professionals Research Council “All outstanding philanthropic successes have one thing in common: They started with a smart strategic plan,” say authors Paul Brest, president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and Hal Harvey, president of ClimateWorks. Money Well Spent explains how to create and implement a strategy that ensures meaningful results. Components of a smart strategy include: Achieving great clarity about one’s philanthropic goals Specifying indicators of success before beginning a project Designing and implementing a plan commensurate with available resources Evidence-based understanding of the world in which the plan will operate Paying careful attention to milestones to determine if you are on the path to success or if midcourse corrections are necessary Drawing on examples from over 100 foundations and non-profits, Money Well Spent gives readers the framework they need to design a smart strategy, addressing such key issues as: Effective use of tools—education, science, direct services, advocacy—that can achieve your objectives. How to choose the forms of funding to achieve stated goals How to measure the impact of grants or programs When to be patient and stick with a winning strategy and when to abandon a strategy that isn’t working This is a book for everyone who wants to get the most from a philanthropic dollar: donors, foundations, and non-profits.

How to foster community problem solving: Filled with fresh ideas, concrete strategies, wisdom from the field, compelling case studies, and contact information, Community Visions, Community Solutions provokes both thought and action, fosters new ideas, and leads to solutions. This book is for community, independent, public, family, or corporate foundations; federated giving organizations; government agencies; corporate giving programs; capacity building providers; independent consultants; management support organizations; for-profit consulting firms; intermediary organizations; retired executives; community support organizations; state associations of nonprofits; research groups; staff or trustees of a nonprofit; and academic institutions. Benefits you'll get include a three-step process for laying groundwork for community-wide change, pros and cons of different community governance strategies, three strategies for funding solutions, a list of community support organization dos and don'ts, case studies, and an extensive resource list for further reading. This book is the second in a series of funders guides developed by Fieldstone Alliance and GEO. The series is aimed at strengthening nonprofit organizations, the communities they serve, and the nonprofit sector through effective grantmaking.

The issues facing today’s grant makers are significant. Although foundations provide only part of the support for nonprofit organizations, obtaining foundation support is often thought to help in raising other forms of support from individuals, corporations, and government. Today, grant makers are questioning how they select grant recipients, how they assess success in their grants, and how they measure their own management. The answers to these and more questions are still being formed. The goal of this issue is to share the questions and invite others to join in suggesting solutions to improve and strengthen grant-making organizations. The chapters in this issue can be read as loosely interconnected and building on one another. They include an historic overview of grant-making and grant-seeking; views of governance and how mission can be attained through talented grantsmanship; an examination of the principles and practices for effective grantmaking from the Council on Foundations membership in the council; and the benefits of self-evaluation as it has been applied at the David and Lucile Packard Foundation as a way to increase transparency, accessibility, and accountability. Other chapters look at the process from knowledge management to knowledge builing; development of a common language and performance standards for private foundations; foundation ethics, the growth of the online sector of philanthropy, and philanthropic choice and donor intent. This is the 45th issue of the quarterly series New Directions for Philanthropic Fundraising.

Using detailed and comprehensive analysis, Generations of Giving: Leadership and Continuity in Family Foundations examines continuity and leadership over time within family foundations. Although the foundations in the study are quite diverse in their goals and management, they have all had to confront and survive a common set of challenges. At the core of this volume is the study of two aspects of philanthropy: funding and volunteers_each essential to the survival of a foundation. This study is about the 'why' and the 'how' of these two crucial aspects. Published in cooperation with the National Center for Family Philanthropy.

The growth of philanthropic foundations in numbers and significance raises two immediate questions. First, what makes for success and failure of foundations’ projects and activities? Second, what yardsticks or benchmarks are used to measure performance and track goal attainment? The purpose of this book is to delve deeper into the complex set of issues that lie behind the performance and wider impact of philanthropy. Performance Measurement in Philanthropic Foundations looks at the strengths and weaknesses of philanthropic foundations, which are independent of both the market and ballot box and yet open to signal and incentive deficiencies. The authors use in-depth case studies from different countries to illustrate the problems and challenge much of the conventional wisdom on foundation "success" and "failure." The book also outlines the main contours of a proactive governance and management style to address those problems.