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Top Ten Philanthropy Resources: June part 1

Monday, June 6, 2016

Our top ten philanthropy resources from around the sector including native inclusion in philanthropic leadership, engaging in network investment, and foundation transparency.

  1. Philanthropy: Let's Talk About Race, Baby (National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy)
    Caitlin Duffy reflects on her journey as a white woman in philanthropy to learn and practice racial equity through grantmaking. She encourages philanthropy to start understanding effective philanthropy as that which addresses systemic racism and oppression.  
  2. Pay-What-It-Takes Philanthropy (Stanford Social Innovation Review)
    While the movement for full-cost funding is strong among the philanthropic community, Jeri Eckhart-Queenan, Michael Etzel, and Sridhar Prasad argue funders must move beyond that. Full-cost funding means understanding the nuances and complexities of nonprofits, and the diverse budgets under which they operate. 
  3. While investing in women’s leadership is now commonplace, it is often overlooked when addressing other issues we deem “more important.” Taryn Higashi gives 8 suggestions for elevating the voices of immigrant women leaders, reframing such as pivotal to philanthropic effectiveness and success. 
  4. Edgar Villanueva reflects on the need to continually elevate native voices in philanthropy and dispel myths which inhibit their inclusion in leadership.
  5. Four Questions to Ask Before You Engage With a Network (Stanford Social Innovation Review)
    Networks for social impact are effective investments for funders. Anna Muoio and Kaitlin Terry provide four questions to think through as one decides how and where to invest their network dollars. 
  6. John Rogers suggests the first step to adopting the impact investment style is simple: initiate an investment committee discussion. He ensures the process is less overwhelming with his guideline for effective discussions.  
  7. Foundation Center president Brad Smith argues the imminent release of foundation 990-PF (and 990) tax returns as machine-readable open data is the single largest change to foundation transparency in decades. He outlines the potential good, bad, and ugly to come from such a development, and how philanthropy can prepare for such. 
  8. Jeffrey Glebocki challenges funders to transcend the sustainability myth by focusing on the long-term context and arc of real problem-solving. This is to combat matters like funder fatigue and shifting interests and directions which threaten nonprofits. 
  9. To Make a Difference, Family Philanthropy Must Take More Risks (National Center for Family Philanthropy)
    Katherine Lorenz challenges family philanthropies to embrace the promise of philanthropy, innovation through the ability to take risks, to achieve the ambitious goals they set for themselves. 
  10. Regine Webster recently co-authored a paper for the World Humanitarian Summit where she argued philanthropy can no longer remain ignorant to humanitarian crises and their systemic causes and effects. Here she provides a brief ten suggestions for philanthropists looking to invest in humanitarian responses.