Tag Archives: grantee relations

ASK THE CENTER: How do we help the leaders of our grantees find the peer support they need? (April 2013 FGN)

Posted on April 22, 2013 by

By The Pierce Family Foundation JJ Hanley faced a situation well known to nonprofit executives: the number of volunteers that wanted to help was outstripping the agency’s capacity to manage them.  Operating with a small staff, volunteers were key to … Continue reading →

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ASK THE CENTER: How do I know if I have a great collaboration? (December 2012 FGN)

Posted on December 18, 2012 by

The National Center hosted a special webinar on the topic of “Avoiding Leaky Pipes: Enhancing Donor-Grantee Collaboration” this past October. On the webinar Susan Wolf Ditkoff, a partner in the Boston office of the Bridgespan Group,  provided a “litmus test” … Continue reading →

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FEATURE: Avoiding Leaky Pipes: Enhancing Donor-Grantee Collaboration (July 2012 FGN)

Posted on July 24, 2012 by

Editor’s Note: In this month’s FGN, Thomas J. Tierney and Richard M. Steele of The Bridgespan Group offer thoughts on how donors and grantees can overcome persistent traps to true collaboration, and get better results for society. The below article … Continue reading →

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Ask the Center: Can Private Foundations Serve as Fiscal Sponsors? (October 2011 FGN)

Posted on October 17, 2011 by

By Andras Kosaras, Associate, Arnold and Porter LLP Private foundations frequently receive grant applications from groups that are under the fiscal sponsorship of a section 501(c)(3) public charity.  But sometimes the request is for the private foundation itself to serve … Continue reading →

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Ask the Center: How should our family foundation think about the use of site visits? (September 2011 FGN)

Posted on September 13, 2011 by

Our board is trying to figure out how – and when – to use site visits in our grantmaking. How can we make sure these visits are useful both for our board and staff, and for the organizations we work … Continue reading →

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Celebrating Milestones in Family Philanthropy: For your family, for your grantees, for the community (July 2011 FGN)

Posted on July 12, 2011 by

Milestone birthday celebrations are momentous events in all families. For many, this tradition carries over directly to the philanthropic institutions they create. A growing number of families celebrating their 40th, 50th or 60th anniversaries have found ways to honor the … Continue reading →

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Ask the Center: Attracting the right grantseekers… and keeping them from drowning in paperwork (June 2011 FGN)

Posted on June 7, 2011 by

How do we put together guidelines that attract the right grantseekers… and that are respectful of their time and resources? Many family foundations have written the National Center over the past 15 years asking for guidance on how to create … Continue reading →

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President’s Message: A Generosity of Spirit Drives Today’s Generation of Family Foundation CEOs (April 2011 FGN)

Posted on April 5, 2011 by

What do lawyers, ministers, a whole lot of teachers, military officers, nurses, government officials, investment advisors, Peace Corps and Vista volunteers, a public relations executive, and many, many fundraisers have in common? They are all now chief executive officers of … Continue reading →

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Families Step Up to Meet the Economic Crisis (January 2009 FGN)

Posted on January 17, 2009 by

On a sunny Sunday in November, 2008, the board of the Durfee Foundation gathered in the 48-year-old foundation’s office in Santa Monica, California. The trustees already knew that the foundation’s assets of approximately $30 million had fallen 30 percent. The … Continue reading →

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President’s Message: Strategies for Family Giving in Difficult Times

Posted on January 17, 2009 by

One of the many privileges of my work is the opportunity to speak with, share a little experience, and – often – sympathize with grantmaking families on a daily basis. The phones have been busy quite a bit over the … Continue reading →

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Five Questions for Effectiveness (September 2008 FGN)

Posted on September 18, 2008 by

A new survey by the National Center for Family Philanthropy has concluded that most family foundations are conscientious guardians of charitable legacies. They observe high ethical standards of grantmaking practices, including fiscal oversight and accountability. Are you among them? Today, … Continue reading →

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Giving in Tough Times (June 2008 FGN)

Posted on June 18, 2008 by

The American economy is being buffeted by rising food and energy prices, housing foreclosures, a credit crunch, and falling stock prices. Nonprofits are caught between two crosswinds: surging community needs and a drop in donations from individual givers—the main source … Continue reading →

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President’s Message: The Voices of Family Philanthropy (January 2008 FGN)

Posted on January 18, 2008 by

It’s January and the New Year is still young enough to leave most of us feeling invigorated by its possibilities. I think of possibilities when I think of New Year’s resolutions, but I’m not sure that is the prevailing attitude. … Continue reading →

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Creating an Effective Grant Agreement (November 2007 FGN)

Posted on November 22, 2007 by

For most of its fifty-year history, the Dyson Foundation didn’t use grant agreements. The Millbrook, New York-based family foundation was concerned the contract-like letters of agreement between grantmaker and grantee would make the foundation too formal and bureaucratic. “We started … Continue reading →

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President’s Message: How We Give (October 2007 FGN)

Posted on October 22, 2007 by

There is a lot of justifiable attention paid these days to some of the BIG questions about philanthropy and the philanthropic process: Why give? How much to give? What to give to? What difference does it make? In my conversations … Continue reading →

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