Developing an Investment Policy Statement (IPS) sets the course for managing your foundation’s assets through time. It also reinforces how your investment policy and practices will help to achieve your foundation’s mission and goals. This primer describes how to develop your IPS and guides you through three main tasks, including: Making strategy decisions that lay... Read More
Funders are being asked to show how they are addressing social inequities by specifying what they do and how they are doing it—as well as who they are. How does philanthropy begin to embed equity into grantmaking, policies, and culture? Healthy Communities Foundation has been on a journey to address this question by advancing health... Read More
To highlight the current state of lean funder evaluation, this report provides an overview of the evaluation methods funders use most often, what they find most useful, how those techniques play out in practice, and how funders use evaluation information to support their work. This report expands on data presented in Exponent Philanthropy’s 2020 Foundation... Read More
This toolkit is for seasoned donors, donor advised fund holders, foundation trustees, and staff who are taking steps to significantly ramp up the impact of their giving. No longer content with just “making good grants” or “doing good things for the community,” you have taken a fresh look at your goals, strategies, and outcomes and... Read More
Every foundation’s goal is to have a thoughtful, disciplined investment process that is aligned with the foundation’s purpose and goals. This guide provides a high-level overview to quickly help you understand different aspects of foundation investment. Within these pages, you’ll find out how to start off with an investment policy statement (IPS), why your foundation... Read More
In April, Exponent Philanthropy and PEAK Grantmaking each fielded a survey to see how our respective communities of funders were responding to the impact of COVID-19 on their communities, grantees, and internal operations and processes. Inspired by our members’ collaboration during these challenging times, PEAK Grantmaking and Exponent Philanthropy partnered to analyze the survey results... Read More