As part of the Learn Foundation Law team, I am excited to announce the launch of our new training course, Working with Government Officials: Rules for Private Foundations. This course is designed to help private foundation staff navigate the rules and regulations surrounding interactions with…

Today we celebrate a major victory for community foundations and your donors. The charitable “tax extenders” are no longer “extenders” that must be reinstated each year, but have become a permanent part of our tax code. In a historic vote, Congress passed the IRA Charitable Rollover into…

This article appears in the December 2015 edition of Alliance Magazine. The Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide an opportunity to not only address challenges in developing countries, but also to make progress on many of the same challenges that persist in ‘developed’ countries. Each of the…

Today, more than 30,000 organizations, countless individuals, and a host of policymakers are celebrating the importance and impact of charitable giving and philanthropy. Under the banner of #GivingTuesday, Henry Timms & New York’s 92nd Street YMCA in partnership with the UN Foundation have…

According to The Chronicle of Philanthropy, the nation’s top 50 donors committed $1.6 billion to support a wide range of scientific research initiatives. The foundations investing in scientific research are helping to pave the way for many significant advances that are saving lives, reducing costs…

Sherry Magill PhD, Chair of the Board of Directors I am deeply saddened to learn of the death of Rick Cohen. He and I first met in the mid 1990s when he served at national LISC and we were attempting to develop a local LISC chapter in northeast Florida. Over the years, we met annually at the…

Last Friday, a string of terror attacks took place across Paris, killing more than 130 people on a warm, lively Friday evening. The day before, a double suicide bomb attack killed more than 40 people and wounded 200 more in a market in South Beirut. These attacks happened the same week as a bomb at…

  As the number of foundations choosing to sunset increases, the learnings from which all foundations can benefit are increasing as well. Even foundations choosing to fund in perpetuity often have programs, strategies and grants that come to a close. There is value in…

Building a culture of local involvement We could all name an instance where an act of goodwill impacted our lives or even changed it. Often these reflections aren’t about giving or receiving a significant sum of money. They involve genuine engagement and empathy, especially in a time of need. For…

As autumn begins, the research team at the Council inevitably sees an increase in the number of foundations seeking data on the salaries, benefits, and administrative expenses of their peers. There is no more comprehensive study of these trends than the Council’s Grantmakers Salary & Benefits…

Community foundations are, by title and definition, about community. So when the time came for us to celebrate the 90th anniversary of the Hartford Foundation for Public Giving, we agreed: our celebration had to be for, from and about the community. How would we achieve that goal? As a…

In philanthropy we’ve long known that we play a unique role by addressing society’s most pressing challenges at their root. Our work is distinct from charity – focused less on meeting immediate needs and more on tackling the underlying causes. And we’re well positioned to take risks to figure out…

A Note for Community Foundations The IRS guidance in question refers to section 4944 of the Internal Revenue Code, which regulates jeopardizing investments made by private foundations. The section—and therefore the guidance—only pertains to private foundations. However there is no equivalent…

It’s an ever-clear sky today. Just as it was in 2001. And yet ever-clear and jet trails slicing September blue-skies then are now reminders, important ones, of the events of 9/11 and the losses and learnings we have experienced since. Reminders of those we mourn can help us grieve.  Public…

NOTE: This post originally appeared in the Huffington Post. As a boy, I remember reciting the Pledge of Allegiance with my first grade class. We said it in unison; we stood together; and over time we came to understand what it meant. As I got older, I would listen to the recorded voice of a young…

Part of the Orton Family Foundation’s Heart & Soul Talks series, Storytelling for Engagement that Counts!,  is a 60-minute conversation about how story sharing is an effective way to bridge divides, involve everyone,  and unite community members around what they value.  Personal…