As foundations strive to make meaningful change in support of their missions, understanding what leads to philanthropic impact is crucial. In the 2023 Foundation Operations and Management Report, foundations named insufficient grantmaking impact as one of their top challenges. In this blog, I’ll discuss a few factors that drive impact, as well as strategies for... Read More
Foundations play a critical role in advancing equity and addressing disparities in our society. One key practice that foundations are increasingly adopting is the collection and use of disaggregated data. Disaggregated data refers to the separation of compiled information into smaller units based on various characteristics such as age, sex, geographic area, education, ethnicity, or... Read More
Choosing which of the many worthy causes to fund is difficult, which begs the question: How bad is it to give to multiple good causes? The answer is: Not bad at all. However, when we approach charitable giving another way—How can we achieve the most with our resources?—the answer is different. That’s because getting focused... Read More
A little over 30 years ago, Pro Football Hall of Famer and venture capitalist investor Ronnie Lott and his wife Karen founded All Stars Helping Kids. Ronnie modeled his philanthropic efforts on the lessons he learned playing football and investing in technology starts-up. Much like how venture capitalists invest in startups, All Stars invests in... Read More
Excellent nonprofits are not found. They’re made. As a donor, you can build and strengthen the nonprofits most aligned with your goals. Identifying the impact you want to make will help you narrow the field of potential grantees to those that fit your values, goals and interests. Clarifying your goals also opens opportunities to build... Read More
As program officer at the POISE Foundation, Traci Johnson helps Black-led, Black-serving organizations bring change to their communities. During the pandemic, Traci recognized Black-led organizations and communities were far more impacted. She wanted to alleviate burdens on grantees, and speed up the time it took to get resources into the hands of organizations serving on... Read More