Since the start of this year’s EFC conference on 30 May, our Latest from Alliance blog has been featuring views and updates from the event. With a blogging team composed of philanthropy advisors, presidents, project staff and communications coordinators from around the globe, we have been able to reflect many varied attitudes and perspectives.

Posts published as part of our conference coverage include:

• For-impact organizations
  Henrik Mahncke, Project Manager at Realdania, focuses on one of the key points raised throughout the conference – that the most effective way for foundations to improve impact is to enable a change of mindset – and considers the implications of this for the wider ‘non-profit’ sector.

• Cities and the work of soul-building
  Albert Ruesga, President & CEO of the Greater New Orleans Foundation, reflects on the various meanings of a city in light of comments from Kent Martinussen of the Danish Architecture Center and Jan Gehl of Gehl Architects.

• From good to great philanthropy – risk, hypocrisy and viking helmets
  Ise Bosch reports on this highly popular session from members of the Working Group on Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace (PSJP). The workshop was based around the results of a recent survey asking what would make a foundation ‘great’.

• Blame it on bad luck
  Chandrika Sahai, PSJP Network Coordinator and workshop participant at the ‘good to great’ session, asks how much luck plays a role in the work of a foundation that achieves great results.

• The potential power of connection-building
  Paul Evans, Communications Manager at the Barrow Cadbury Trust, considers the importance of communication in philanthropy, a theme that emerged from a number of different sessions.

• There’s a drumming sound inside my head….
  Walter Veirs, regional director for CEE/Europe at the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, writes about the urgency of many of the problems that foundations are trying to tackle and the need to create space for creative thinking to approach these.

• Thinking outside of the box and breaking down the silos
  Jenny Conrad of Alliance magazine reflects on examples of holistic solutions for the problems cities face that were explored in a number of different sessions.

• Sustainable Cities: Building a Foundation for Europe’s Children and Youth
  Joseph Bednarek, Program Officer for Europe and Eurasia at The Global Fund for Children, writes about the importance of community-based projects centered on youth development and inclusion for building stronger communities, following an informational trip sponsored by the LEGO Foundation.

• From flammable agents to minesweepers: accountability of foundation roles
  Halima Mahomed, philanthropy program advisor for Trust Africa, questions what it means for foundations to be catalysts or innovators.

• On the edge of the abyss, what can foundations do?
  Alliance editor Caroline Hartnell confronts the abysses of climate change, economic uncertainty and rampant inequality that were discussed as part of the ‘Sustainable Cities’ theme and considers some of the approaches for foundations to take that were put forward during the event.

Were you at the conference this year? Which themes or sessions did you find most thought-provoking? Leave a comment or share your views on our social media.

Alliance was also one of a number of organizations tweeting from the conference. Read key quotes and highlights by searching for hashtag #AGA24 or view Alliance’s updates by following @Alliancemag.

Those who attended the EFC conference are eligible for a 20% discount on new subscriptions to the magazine. Visit http://www.alliancemagazine.org/EFC to find out more.