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10 Tactics To Simplify and Streamline Paperwork
Having specialized grant applications and reports imposes a big administrative burden on nonprofits. Consider, a nonprofit receives grants from 20 or 30 foundations—and some are funded by many more. The nonprofit spends its resources in two major ways: It applies for funding from 40, 50 or 60 different foundations. Each foundation has its own application... Read More
Going Beyond the Grant To Support Nonprofits
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
Grantmaking Due Diligence: Organizational Budget Size
This post originally appeared on GMA Foundations’ blog. Organizational budget size is a favorite proxy indicator in philanthropy. Donors use rules of thumb to streamline grantmaking due diligence, but generalizations are imperfect. Using organizational budget size as a proxy indicator can reinforce funding inequities and lead to lost opportunity. Here are a few ways to... Read More
Is This Self-Dealing? Three Quick Questions To Ask
Self-dealing rules are sometimes confusing. In any event, a small foundation has to determine whether a potential transaction constitutes self-dealing. For this reason, we’ve come up with three straightforward questions that lean funders can apply to any situation. 1. Does the transaction involve a disqualified person? The Internal Revenue Service defines a disqualified person as one of... Read More
What the Law Requires When Making Grants
The law requires very little when making grants to most domestic public charities. Other than knowing a grantee’s tax status—your foundation has a great deal of flexibility. However, I regularly encounter funders, foundation staff and professional advisors who do not know this. What the Law Requires When Making Grants A few years ago, Project Streamline... Read More
Lessons From a Founder Winding Down Their Foundation
In 1993, well before I left my job as CEO of Applied Materials, my wife Becky and I started our family foundation. Giving brings us joy. At the same time, we thought giving locally was important in Silicon Valley, where great need exists alongside great wealth. Becky and I wanted to identify good nonprofits and... Read More