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5 Reasons Why It’s Hard to Give Money Away

What?  It’s hard to give money away?  That sounds preposterous, doesn’t it?  Unfortunately, there are moments which complicate foundations’ abilities to provide funding.  Here are five real-life examples: Where’s Waldo?  On behalf of a foundation I work with, I attempted to contact the development director of a large nonprofit organization.  I was beyond flabbergasted to […]

Bill Gates has his 2020 List, Here’s Mine

Bill Gates recently shared his list of “5 good books for a lousy year.” As I did in 2019, I’d like to share my own year-end list, albeit of a different kind. I wear many hats in my work with foundations and nonprofits – thought-partner, planner, facilitator, coach and organizational “therapist.”  The connecting thread is helping […]

Bettering Political Civil Discourse in Your Community

Voting Stickers

This blog was originally posted by Exponent Philanthropy on November 9, 2020. No matter your political or philosophical orientation, nor how you voted in the election, we can likely agree on the continued polarization and erosion of civil discourse in our country. There are any number of factors exacerbating our inability to talk to one […]

How Foundation Legacy Statements Provide a Roadmap Through Uncertainty

One of the greatest gifts that a founder can provide to current and future foundation trustees is a well written legacy statement. Similar to estate planning, a legacy statement can document one’s values and vision and encourage family unity by minimizing the risk of disagreement on the foundation’s direction in both grant-making and longevity. I […]

PART TWO – How Funders Can Strengthen Connections To Community

Calibrating Your Role for Success September 15, 2020 David Moore, Jeff Glebocki As practitioners, advisors and consultants to funders, conveners and conductors of community collaboration, we have observed collaboration and collective impact in communities across the country. From our on-the-ground experience, we have seen it done well, and not so well. The first of this […]

How Funders Can Strengthen Connections To Community

Exponent Philanthropy just published the first of a two-part series on how funders can better connect to the communities they work in.  The series was co-authored by colleague David Moore (Moore Strategic Consulting) and myself.  Here is the first installment.  Part 1: How Funders Can Strengthen Connections To Community; Seeing Your Community and Navigating Relationships […]

Fatigued by School Reform

In his new book, “Fatigued by School Reform,” Jack Jennings calls out policy makers, funders and the school reform movement for missing the target on what really influences student success. I’m very pleased to share my recent interview with Jack about his book, how we got to this moment in history, and his thoughts on […]

Leading Through the Unexpected

You know the drill – here’s yet another article/blog/webinar about how leaders should be more resilient, more agile, more creative in responding to and managing change.  Well, what happens when the meteor comes crashing through your roof and upends pretty much everything?  Much like the past few months of 2020. Through my work on a […]

How Funders are Pivoting Quickly in This Crisis

The past several weeks have seen impressive and quick pivots by many funders adapting to the new environment brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic.  Case in point – there are now more than 300 community response and relief funds organized by foundations, United Ways and other organizations. Learn More Many funders have streamlined application and reporting requirements, […]

5 Things Funders Can Do Right Now to Help Nonprofits During This Crisis

COVID-19:  This story is unfolding by the hour, and we don’t know what the ramifications will be next week, much less six months or a year from now.  Even with the roller-coaster market at play, though, funders have options on how they can best support their grant partners through this crisis.  You and they are, […]