In addition to paying careful attention to how your foundation is governed, it’s also important to think about how your nonprofit grantees are governed. Here’s a checklist to consider when evaluating a potential grantee. How is the nonprofit’s financial health? Does the grantee have at least one financial expert on its board? If not, does... Read More
Challenge (or matching) grants are great tools for stretching a foundation’s grant dollars, helping a group diversify its donor base, and testing the attractiveness of a project or program for other ”investors.” For any given project, a challenge grant also can give a foundation the stamp of approval that comes from someone else being the... Read More
The Homer A. and Mildred S. Scott Foundation was established in 1982. Mr. Scott came from a modest background in Nebraska, where he graduated from the state university with a degree in civil engineering. Mrs. Scott was a gracious woman with a passion for early childhood, education and literacy. The Scotts created their wealth through... Read More
Before his death in 1999, Harold Edelstein identified his charitable goals: aiding hungry and homeless people, and contributing to population control. Rather than funding bricks and mortar, he sought to build lives by directly and immediately impacting needy people. “We attempt to fill niches with direct grants to organizations which they otherwise wouldn’t have,” says... Read More
As a first step toward determining if your foundation will benefit from a grants management system, discuss your priorities and parameters: What does your foundation want to track? Exponent Philanthropy members tend to track some or all of the following: Contact information for grant applicants and recipients (organizational and individual) Basic application information (e.g., amount... Read More
Simple Actions Family Foundation is a young foundation inspired by decades of family values. My husband, Eric, and I, together with our two daughters in their early twenties, created our family foundation in 2008. We knew from the start that we would be creative about its setup and implementation to reflect the goals at the... Read More