If you believe all you have is money, think again! Small foundations—including those managed completely by trustees—have at their disposal a host of nondollar resources: Human assets—The creativity, passion, energy, and resourcefulness of your founders, trustees, and staff create huge potential for impact above and beyond dollar impact. Knowledge about community need— Foundations accumulate knowledge... Read More
With more than 2,100 members, SVP is a global network of philanthropists with affiliates in 25 cities across North America and Japan. Since 1997, we’ve given $40 million and hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours to strengthen nonprofits that are improving the lives of children and protecting our environment. Social Venture Partners International (SVPI) helps... Read More
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
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
Private foundations are a great way to give. And many foundations use multiple giving vehicles to accomplish their charitable goals. One of these vehicles is donor advised funds (DAFs). This primer looks at how DAFs work and how your foundation can use DAFs to further its philanthropic goals. It covers: How DAFs differ from private... Read More