INSP - New workshop for foundation professionals

Acknowledging the need for professional training for foundation professionals in Europe, INSP decided to hold a Summer Academy on Philanthropy together with the European Foundation Centre (EFC) and the Centre for Civil Society at the London School of Economics (LSE). The 35 participants came from 15 European countries, with one from the US.

The three-day workshop, held in London on 27-30 August, was facilitated by INSP members Helmut Anheier, Dirk Eilinghoff, Diana Leat, Richard Mittenthal, James Allen Smith and Volker Then, as well as André Deridder (EFC) and Barry Knight (Centris).

The aim of the workshop was to provide participants with a broader view of foundation work and concrete, hands on information and examples regarding the effective planning and management of foundation programmes. The evaluation[1] suggested that it was largely successful in achieving these aims. Although participants seemed to want more extensive use of case studies and more sessions on specific topics, particularly internal and external communications and evaluation, they had clearly learned a good deal. New insights into evaluation and a framework for rethinking programmes were two things participants claimed to have gained from the workshop. Most participants said that they were going to implement evaluation, be more focused on implementation, do more networking, and attempt to create win-win cooperation with other foundations as a result. The evaluation also confirmed that the summer academy was a timely and high-quality event, and that there are as yet few comparable offerings at a European level. People were keen to attend future events of this kind. These findings will be taken into consideration for following summer academies.  

INSP provided four fellowships to promising young foundation professionals from Eastern Europe who were recommended to us by project partners and chosen through a selection process. The recipients came from Hungary, Slovakia, Romania and Bulgaria.

New database to link to INSP website

Later this year, the INSP website will be linked to a searchable database with summary descriptions of more than 300 foundation capacity-building programmes. Philanthropic Capacity-Building Resources (PCBR) promotes exchange of the latest information about capacity-building among foundations, service providers, non-profits, intermediary organizations, researchers, evaluators and academic institutions. It will also offer conference presentations, training programmes, and community-wide technical assistance on capacity-building. PCBR is an initiative of the Human Interaction Research Institute and led by INSP member Thomas E Backer.

1 Conducted by Barry Knight, who is the INSP evaluator.

For more information please visit www.insp.efc.be

Anyone with interesting and challenging texts on strategic approaches to philanthropy for inclusion on the website, please submit them to the INSP management at dirk.eilinghoff@bertelsmann.de

Upcoming events

Second INSP plenary meeting

To be held 13-14 March 2003 in the Harrison Conference Center, Glen Cove, in New York, USA.

Third round of working group meetings

• Group 1 (Foundations as Investors in the Public Benefit): 28-29 October in Los Angeles, USA
• Group 2 (Organizational and Governance Structures in Philanthropic Institutions): 7-8 November in Cambridge, Mass, USA
• Group 3 (Innovative Program Design, Evaluation and Communication): 11-12 September in Andechs, Germany
• Group 4 (Venture and E-Philanthropy/New Donors): 4-5 November in Seattle, USA