Category

Combating Climate Change With Your Foundation’s Investment Portfolio

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Investing in companies that are adapting, transitioning and innovating around climate change can be an important part of mitigating some of its most harmful effects. At the same time, it might also help your foundation meet its financial goals: research increasingly suggests that on average, corporations with stronger environmental policies may also exhibit stronger corporate... Read More

My Family’s Foundation Entered the Policy Arena, and We Are Not Looking Back

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The system needs to change. Like many family foundations, we receive several worthy requests that we turn down due to lack of funds. Most of our grants are program/project-based—reactive to the problems at hand rather than tackling them before they become an issue. In the light of this, the Wright Family Foundation is trying different... Read More

I Used To Be on the Other Side: Reducing the Power Dynamic in Philanthropy

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For the past 30 years, I have had the privilege to work in leadership positions at nonprofit organizations from local through international arenas. I’ve also worked as a consultant for nonprofits doing strategic planning, staff and board development, and fundraising. I know first-hand what it’s like to run programs, engage in advocacy, and have to... Read More

Many Small Funders Don’t Engage in Advocacy. That’s A Mistake.

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Amid a devastating pandemic, civic turmoil, and the worst economic contraction since the Great Depression, it might be tempting for small funders to turn away from engaging policymakers. But that’s a mistake. Now more than ever, funders with few or no staff should engage in or double down on advocacy. For far too long, foundations... Read More