The Valentine Foundation actively recruits diverse trustees to serve on the board, make grants and oversee all aspects of the foundation’s mission. Phoebe Valentine inherited her wealth from Smith Kline Pharmaceuticals. When she was in her late 40s, Phoebe received a dire cancer diagnosis and decided to mobilize her wealth to help others. The first... Read More
The idea of virtual board meetings has been around since conference calls first began. However, these often were only used as a last resort and gave way to board retreat weekends filled with activities, catered meals and a focus on community building. The goal of these activities is to help form strong relationships to help... Read More
“You need to get out and kick the tires,” is one of two key phrases our founder, Stewart Kean, used frequently when advising his board at the 1772 Foundation before he passed away in 2003. The other was, “I want you to have fun.” Although these may seem to be casual statements, Stewart Kean actually was creating... Read More
This post originally appeared on the GrantCraft by Candid blog. Exponent Philanthropy is on a journey to understand, embrace, and champion racial equity. So, we’re embedding it in our programs and research. For instance, our 2020 Foundation Operations and Management Report explored the relationship between the relevance of racial equity to a foundation’s mission and some grantmaking... Read More
Dear Exponent Philanthropy members, For the past 25 years, I have been involved in philanthropy as an executive, board member and donor. The intense racial strife over the past couple of weeks has compelled me to share the following personal and professional anecdotes as well as suggested solutions. Frustration, anger and fatigue are all vehemently... Read More
In the past, I was a nonprofit capacity building adviser, and this question came up often. The principles that applied to those charitable nonprofits can also help foundations. It’s useful to think of this question in two-parts: Should the executive director serve as a board member? Should the executive director be a voting or non-voting... Read More