Author Archive:
Foundation Center
Disaster grantmaking
As when every natural disaster strikes, we are saddened by the destruction that Typhoon Haiyan has caused. Philanthropy continues to play an important role in disaster relief, but because of the quick response time needed, …
The Brave New World of Good
The Brave New World of Good ‘O wonder! How many goodly creatures are there here! How beauteous mankind is! O brave new world, That has such people in’t.’ (William Shakespeare) ‘Most human beings have an …
Philanthropy and the Millennium Development Goals
New York has been abuzz this week with the reconvening of the United Nations General Assembly and the annual meeting of the Clinton Global Initiative, and in the streets, cafes and restaurants you can hear people from all …
Foundation Center – Charting the scope of human rights grantmaking
Each year foundations around the world fund efforts to ensure the protection and promotion of human rights. Advancing Human Rights: The state of global foundation grantmaking, a new research report produced by the Foundation Center …
How do I general support thee, let me count the ways!
With apologies to Elizabeth Barrett Browning, I could not resist paraphrasing her famous poem for an appeal to foundations to stop trying to be so unique. But, I promise you, this will be the shortest …
Version 2.0: The Giving Pledge globalizes
They said that the Giving Pledge was ‘made in America’, they said that Bill and Melinda Gates and Warren Buffett didn’t understand other cultures, and that their brand of philanthropy was inappropriate for (substitute the …
‘Beep, beep’: The sound of philanthropy and the social economy in 2013
‘We will change what we do with and without institutions, and we will change how our institutions (funders, non-profits and others) work.’ So predicts self-described philanthropy wonk Lucy Bernholz in Philanthropy and the Social Economy: …
Of fire trucks, Obama, Romney and philanthropy
‘I live in a rural community where the Tea Party dominates, no new taxes can be passed without a super majority, and government is cutting back on everything. The other day someone asked me how …
Are Chinese foundations more transparent than American foundations?
On 29 August, the China Foundation Center launched its online Foundation Transparency Index, a ‘proactive solution to set a new standard for the ethical conduct of foundations in China’. Many people are surprised to learn …
Philanthropy’s data dilemma
When McKinsey & Co. released its seminal study Big Data: The Next Frontier for Innovation, Competition, and Productivity, the firm confidently predicted that the world was ‘on the cusp of a tremendous wave of innovation, …
