Upcoming AGF Programs
October 31Efforts in Arizona to Engage Underrepresented Voters
Small and Family Foundation Roundtable Save the date!
December 19
AGF's Annual Meeting: Cultivating a Culture of High Performance
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Philanthropy and Power: The Power of Money
"With money comes power. And, as the saying goes, power corrupts." This article in Alliance explores the many power dynamics within philanthropy, both positive and negative.
Small Foundations, Big Wins: A Guide to Making Smart Choices about Grantmaking for Vulnerable Youth
What does it take to really make a difference? How can we use our limited resources to make a meaningful difference? If you ask these questions, then check out what attributes make successful youth transition grantmaking at small foundations in this report by Youth Transition Funders Group.
The New Family Philanthropy: Investing for Social and Environmental Change [PDF]
This paper focuses on family investing through family offices and foundations. Data was compiled from 17 research interviews in August of 2012 with trustees and staff of family foundations and offices as well as investment advisors and consultants.
Storytelling and Social Change: A Strategy Guide for Grantmakers
Based on over 75 interviews with grantmakers, communications experts and storytellers of all sorts, the guide serves grantmakers interested in so-called "narrative strategies" for their funding and communications programs.
Key Facts on US Foundations
Annual report by the Foundation Center on the scale of the foundation community and the grantmaking priorities of the largest foundations.
Expert Advice on International Grantmaking
With limited staff resources and the complexities of international grantmaking, small foundations are wise to tap the expertise of the philanthropic community here in the U.S. when supporting global initiatives. Read about these helpful resources, including affinity groups, grantees, and public foundations.
The Charitable Giving Coalition has launched its Protect Giving blog to explore the vital role nonprofits play in our communities. Read the blog's first and second posts highlighting the virtues of maintaining the charitable deduction.
Lessons in youth engagement, philanthropy from motivated youth leaders
What can a 15 year old teach you about philanthropy? Apparently, a lot. But you've got to be willing to listen first. And to have an open mind on what giving means to this Millennial generation.
US income inequality at record high
The income gap between the richest 1 percent of Americans and the other 99 percent reached an all-time high in 2012, the BBC reports.
A Decade of Million-Dollar Gifts [PDF]
A new report from the folks at the IUPUI Lilly Family School of Philanthropy provides an analysis of publicly announced million-dollar-plus gifts made between 2000 to 2011.
Edna McConnell Clark Foundation's Growth Capital Aggregation Pilot: A Bold Philanthropic Innovation
This is the first of a group of four pieces that Nonprofit Quarterly will be running on the topic of enterprise capital funding.
In 2007, EMCF launched GCAP, a pilot project focusing on just three "big bet" grantees. The goal? To help them expand their impact, improve their evaluation methodologies, and reach their "sweet spot."
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Next Generation Evaluation: Embracing Complexity, Connectivity, and Change
This Learning Brief draws from literature and research, as well as more than a dozen interviews with foundation leaders, evaluation practitioners, and social sector thought leaders, with the intention of starting the conversation in the field around Next Generation Evaluation characteristics and approaches.
Getting More from Measurement: Five Insights for Social Innovators
This report from ORSImpact captures five key insights to guide organizations as they develop ongoing Measurement, Learning and Evaluation (MLE) plans to achieve greater social impact.
Assessing the How of Grantmaking
This report from Grants Managers Network walks funders through the five core questions and presents key concepts for evaluating and measuring the data you already have access to.
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Research Papers and Briefs
Check out these publications produced by Education Funders Research Initiative, an affinity group of Philanthropy New York with the goal of improving education in New York City using fact-based decision making.
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Philanthropy Must Help Heal the Breakdown in Democracy
Robert L. Gallucci, president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, writes about the crucial role philanthropy can play in fixing a broken American democracy.
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Collaborative Solutions Strengthen Ann Arbor's Social Sector [PDF]
Grantmakers in Washtenaw County, Michigan -- including private and community foundations, nonprofits, and local government -- recently collaborated to better support the region's human service sector. Combining nearly $10 million over a two-year period, the funders worked closely with grantees to establish common goals, prevent funding gaps, and avoid redundancies in service. Their findings are available in this report for other communities to reference.
Working Together to Advance Place-Based Strategies
Engagement among private business, grantmakers, nonprofits, and community residents fosters new opportunities for partnership and growth. In a recent blog for the Council on Foundations, Director of Philanthropy Chris Cardona discusses how foundations and businesses can be creative partners in local economic development. He highlights how San Diego's "urban villages" put this idea into practice.
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Successful Corporate Citizenship: Developing an Integrated Structure at Medtronic
Leading companies recognize that creating strong citizenship programs isn't enough to have true business and community impact. The strength of an integrated structure is dependent on a shared commitment to, and accountability for, the citizenship strategy by all leaders and business units across the company.
Increasing Impact, Enhancing Value Corporate Practitioner's Toolkit
The Corporate Practitioner's Toolkit is designed to help corporate giving practitioners increase the impact of their corporate foundations and philanthropy programs. It provides a framework and resources to support their strategic planning, a platform for internal and external collaborations, and guidance to strengthen the profile and contribution of the corporate philanthropy field.
Giving in Numbers: 2013 Edition This report is based on data from 240 companies, including 60 of the largest 100 companies in the Fortune 500, totaling more than $20 billion in cash and in-kind giving. This report not only presents a profile of corporate philanthropy in 2012, but also pinpoints how corporate giving is evolving and becoming more focused since before the recession of 2008 and 2009. Engaged Leaders: Alignment with Vision & ValuesA recent blog post for CSRwire examines the invaluable role leaders play within their companies. Leaders at companies with reputations for strong corporate citizenship recognize citizenship as integral to a company's very identity, values, and way of conducting business. Inspired Giving: How a Digital Culture Is Changing the World of PhilanthropyWith the digital culture slowly invading every element of our personal and business lives America's Charities conducted a study earlier this year to examine exactly how the world of giving was being impacted. With insights and practices from nearly 100 private sector employers who collectively raise more than $230 million through their annual employee giving campaigns, the study identifies current trends, attitudes and perceptions in employee giving. Give and Take is about why some people rise to the top of the success ladder while others sink to the bottom. For generations, we've assumed that excellence is achieved by people who are hardworking, talented, and lucky. This three-legged stool explains much of success, but it's missing a fourth leg. In a rapidly changing world, our styles of interacting with other people are increasingly important drivers of success.
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Innovative Crossroads: The Intersection of Creativity, Health, and AgingBy 2030, national health care spending is expected to increase by about 25 percent, largely because of the increased number of older Americans. In order to cope with this enormous influx of older people, new adaptations and innovations will be required to meet their health and wellness needs. A field that is gaining increasing attention for its promise to improve the health and well-being of older adult populations is the arts.
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| Nonprofit Challenges: What Foundations Can Do
Center for Effective Philanthropy's most recent report reveals that nearly 50 percent of the nonprofit leaders CEP surveyed believe that foundations are unaware of the challenges they face. In fact, less than one-third of nonprofit leaders believe foundations take advantage of their myriad resources to help them address their challenges.
Nonprofit Compensation Report: 2013 Edition
The GuideStar Nonprofit Compensation Report remains the only large-scale nonprofit compensation analysis based entirely on IRS data. This authoritative report gives nonprofits the information they need to establish appropriate compensation and demonstrate to grantmakers, oversight agencies, and individual donors that the salaries and benefits they offer are justified. Prices start at $349.
The Nonprofit Social Media Decision Guide: Updated for 2013
Idealware created this guide to help organizations determine what results and benefits can come from social media, and how to identify the right channels for different goals. This version features updated research and a practical workbook.
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