Perspectives From Foundation Executives and Scholars of Philanthropy

If you were to organize a speaker series on philanthropy, whom would you invite? You could include current and former foundation presidents such as:

Susan Berresford (Ford Foundation)
James E. Canales (James Irvine Foundation)
Sandra Hernández (San Francisco Foundation)
Peter Hero (Community Foundation Silicon Valley)
Sally Osberg (Skoll Foundation)
Iqbal Paroo (Omidyar Network)

How about inviting some prominent scholars and thought leaders in philanthropy, such as:

Kathleen D. McCarthy (City University of New York)
Steven Schroeder (University of California San Francisco)
James Allen Smith (Georgetown University)
Thomas Tierny (Bridgespan Group)

These are just some of the individuals who spoke at a lecture series sponsored by Stanford University’s Center for Social Innovation and the Haas Center for Public Service.

The practitioners talked about the experiences that have influenced their approaches and strategies. The experts also examined the key issues and challenges facing philanthropy, including foundation accountability, the effectiveness of philanthropy, foundation perpetuity, and more.

The sponsors of the series have just released summaries of these presentations in the volume entitled Stanford Conversations in Philanthropy. We have added this title to our library collections to inspire further discussion on the field. Enjoy!

Recent "Off the Shelf" Book Reviews

Here are highlights from Philanthropy News Digest's Off the Shelf book reviews by Foundation Center staff:

Yours, Mine, and Ours: Creating a Compelling Donor Experience. Barry J. McLeish (John Wiley & Sons, 2007)

"...McLeish explains how nonprofit organizations can succeed in a rapidly changing philanthropic environment by shifting to a more donor-centric approach and, at the same time, addressing five "macro" internal management issues: the future, strategies and tactics, integrating stakeholders, communication and feedback systems, and creating an organizational culture." More...

How to Write Fundraising Materials That Raise More Money. Tom Ahern (Emerson & Church, 2007)

"In his new book, Ahern doesn't write about how to create individual types of PR materials such as annual reports, donor letters, Web sites, etc. And he doesn't provide whole examples, even though he refers to real examples for every instruction. What he does do is present a "donor-centric" outlook and method that should be at the core of any communications piece." More...

Angels in the American Theater: Patron, Patronage, and Philanthropy. Robert A. Schanke, editor (Southern Illinois University Press, 2007)

"...the volume is an excellent and readable introduction to the history of arts patronage, and includes richly textured biographies of early philanthropists such as Otto Kahn and the Lewisohn sisters, as well as an up-to-the-minute look at how contemporary media moguls such as David Geffen, philanthropies like the Ford Foundation, and companies such as Disney are transforming America's performing arts landscape." More...

For a full list of archived Off the Shelf reviews, click here.

Giving Circles: Selected Readings

We are glad so many of you were able to join us this past Friday for the New York Library/Learning Center's second annual open house. For those of you who missed the event, we distributed a brief reading list on giving circles that we'll share with you here:

Bearman, Jessica. More Giving Together: The Growth and Impact of Giving Circles and Shared Giving. Washington, DC: Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, 2007. 36 p. Subject File Number: 458 (full text)
Reports on a survey of 160 giving circles, with a focus on groups that have existed for more than five years. This second report from the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers updates basic giving circle data from the 2004 study, describes how giving circles sustain themselves, and encourages the formation of more giving circles.

Clohesy, Stephanie J. Donor Circles: Launching and Leveraging Shared Giving. San Francisco, CA: Women's Funding Network, [2004]. 58 p. (The New Wealth, Women and Philanthropy Project). Call Number: 580 CLO (full text)
Describes best practices for giving circles and provides guidance on evaluation.

Eikenberry, Angela M. Giving Circles and Fundraising in the New Philanthropy Environment. Center for Public Administration and Policy, Virginia Tech, 2007. 20 p. Subject File Number: 703 (full text)
Eikenberry interviewed fundraising professionals to determine how they are responding to new funding mechanisms such as giving circles.

Eikenberry, Angela M. Giving Circles and the Democratization of Philanthropy. Ann Arbor, MI: ProQuest, 2005. 254 p. Call Number: 458 EIK
Eikenberry collected data on giving circles through a survey, identifying 188 groups that qualified for inclusion. Information that was gathered includes membership fees, size and structure of the group, number of participants, and types of activities. Different types of groups are illustrated by case examples.

Krotz, Joanna. Giving Together: The Guidebook to Giving Circles. Washington, DC: Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers, 2005. 12 p. Subject File Number: 458
Provides direction for those who would like to create giving circles, as well as profiles of four well-established groups. According to the publisher, there are approximately 220 such groups, and more than 80 percent were founded in the last five years.

Robinson, Kim. Collaborative Grantmaking: Lessons Learned From the Rockefeller Family's Experiences. Washington, DC: National Center for Family Philanthropy, 2001. 88 p. Call Number: 454 ROC ROB
Relates the experience with six funding collaborations, sometimes called "giving circles" as practiced by members of the Rockefeller family, and housed at The Philanthropic Collaborative. The specific collaborations described are Population, Development and Environment Collaboration; Northern Forest Lands Collaboration; Youth, Community Gardens, and Urban Environment Collaboration; Rockefeller Preserve Collaboration; Genetically Modified Foods Collaboration; and Corporate Social Responsibility Collaboration. For each issue, indicates date of inception, amount distributed, grant range, family members who are sponsors, partners, staff, and current status.

Shaw-Hardy, Sondra. Creating a Women's Giving Circle: A Handbook. Madison, WI: Women's Philanthropy Institute, 2000. 67 p. Call Number: 450 SHA
Giving circles are groups of people who combine their donations to fund projects in their communities. This booklet provides a blueprint for establishing such a group, from determining its purpose, giving it a name, recruiting members, establishing giving guidelines, meeting routines and other issues. Includes worksheets and resource list.

For complete a bibliography on the topic, search the Catalog of Nonprofit Literature by entering “giving circles” in the Keyword search field (click here). Visit the Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers’ Giving Circle Knowledge Center to find a giving circle or to learn how to start one with sample templates and documents.

Nonprofit Organization Best Practices

Maybe you have read the Jim Collins book, Good to Great: Why Some Companies Make the Leap...and Others Don't, to understand the qualities of superior corporations. You may have even looked at the follow-up title, Good to Great and the Social Sectors, to explore his views on effective nonprofits.

Readers have been eager to learn about addition research on great charities. Now Leslie R. Crutchfield, managing director of Ashoka, and Heather McLeod Grant, adviser to the Center for Social Innovation at Stanford University, have released Forces for Good: The Six Practices of High Impact Nonprofits (published by Jossey-Bass).

The authors surveyed thousands of nonprofits and conducted interviews to examine the traits of great organizations. The book focuses on twelve case studies of the following organizations: America's Second Harvest, Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, City Year, Environmental Defense, Exploratorium, Habitat for Humanity, Heritage Foundation, National Council of La Raza, Self-Help, Share Our Strength, Teach for America, and YouthBuild USA.

The research indicates that great nonprofits often have advocacy programs, take advantage of market forces, encourage their volunteers to promote their causes, use networks and collaborate, adapt to changing conditions, and share leadership.

Corporate Philanthropy Best Practices

How can companies succeed at becoming good corporate citizens and achieve business objectives at the same time? This past summer, the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University released a report that examined current and emerging trends in corporate philanthropy and explored best practices for supporting nonprofit organizations. The analysis for Corporate Philanthropy: The Age of Integration was based on interviews from with representatives from Boeing, Cisco, General Mills, IBM, Levi Strauss, Procter & Gamble, Starbucks, Target, Toyota, and Wachovia. Findings from the interviews are available at the Center on Philanthropy's web site.

Who Gives and Why: A Review of Academic Research

Are you looking for a systematic overview of research related to charitable giving by individuals? Look no further because René Bekkers (Utrecht University - Department of Sociology) and Pamala Wiepking (Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam - Department of Philanthropic Studies), have examined nearly 500 studies for their report Generosity and Philanthropy: A Literature Review. The authors explore various demographic indicators that may correlate with giving including religion, education, income, and age. Other factors may also affect philanthropy, such as the cost of giving, as well as psychological benefits. The authors also recommend areas for further research. The paper is available at the Social Science Research Network web site.

Special Book Signing Event With Author Tracy Gary, Inspired Philanthropy

Wednesday, November 14, 2007 (8:00-10:00 am)
New York Regional Association of Grantmakers

Join Tracy Gary, author of the newly released third edition of Inspired Philanthropy: Your Step by Step Guide to Creating a Giving Plan and Leaving a Legacy, and guest speakers for a conversation about women's philanthropic leadership, new trends in the nonprofit world, and how women donors are boldly changing the foundation sector. Attendees will receive a free copy of the book.

Hosted by the National Council for Research on Women and co-sponsored by the Foundation Center, New York Regional Association of Grantmakers (NYRAG), Financial Women's Association, and The Sister Fund, this program will be held at NYRAG, 79 Fifth Avenue at 16th Street in Manhattan. Please RSVP to Jessyca Dudley at the National Council for Research on Women, (212) 785-7335 ext. 200, or jdudley@ncrw.org. Click here for more information.

(Originally posted on New York Library News. Click here to subscribe to free newsletters from the Foundation Center.)

Legal Guide for Collaboration

Nonprofits may achieve their missions more effectively when working together with other organizations. The Lawyers Alliance for New York’s new publication, Building Successful Collaborations: A Legal Guide for Nonprofits, focuses on the careful planning required before organizations enter into binding agreements. The booklet provides discussion questions to help organizations analyze the benefits and risks of collaboration. A due diligence checklist is included to help identify appropriate collaborators. The guide also discusses the lawyer’s role, the negotiation process, the written agreement, and collaboration management. The appendices contain sample agreements in the area of workforce development.

While the guide is not intended to substitute for advice from an experienced lawyer, it will give nonprofits a head start in the planning process.

To find more readings on collaboration that are listed in the Catalog of Nonprofit Literature, click here.

Succession Planning for Nonprofit Organizations

There has been much discussion on what can be done to address the the leadership challenges the nonprofit sector may face as more baby boomers retire from the workforce. Should nonprofits hire interim executive directors during transition periods? What are some succession issues that board members face? How should family foundations get younger generations involved?

We hope that our new topical resource list, Succession Planning for Nonprofit Organizations, will help you explore some of these questions. Please let us know of additional readings that you would like to share.