With fiscal crisis and a fragile economy the focus of concern in California, it is easy to overlook the state’s other challenges. But three troubling trends deserve attention because they threaten the well-being of Californians and the state’s prosperity for years to come. These threats also…

We often think of grantees as people who provide a service or act as advocates. But are they the only ways grantees can make change? And are there other kinds of grantees worth considering? I had the pleasure of attending the Brainstorming Bus Tour, hosted by the Greater New Orleans Foundation,…

Day two of the Fall Conference yielded several important insights, but the ones that moved me most began at lunch. To be honest, I get tired of talk about violence. It wears me out emotionally. It frustrates me about our society. It drains me. But we absolutely can’t stop hearing real truths if we…

Not a day has gone by since I joined the Council two months ago when I haven’t thought about the awesome responsibility and privilege I have to help make the Council an organization that fully reflects the promise of philanthropy and impact you generate. With more than a thousand philanthropic…

E.B White said, “I arise in the morning torn between a desire to save the world and a desire to savor the world. This makes it hard to plan the day." It’s not so hard here in New Orleans at the Fall Conference. Last night, I took a leisurely stroll down flamboyant Bourbon Street where the only…

The first day of the conference presented several interesting opportunities to expand our understanding of the issues community foundations face. After a nice dinner with fantastic oysters at Bourbon House the previous night, we were well prepared for the first day’s options. Because I am attending…

One of my core identities is "learner." In fact, three of my top five strengths (according the Gallup StrengthsFinder tool) have to do with collecting, savoring, and sharing information. I love the Fall Conference for all its different ways to experience learning. But there is a flip side to every…

Traveling from Northern New Hampshire to the Fall Conference in New Orleans offered me a birds-eye reminder of the rural-urban connections in our lives. And got me thinking about a slightly different role for community foundations. Getting to the airport is often the first real leg of any…

Although philanthropic professionals have strong relationships with their donors and fund holders, they often have yet to develop relationships with the successor trustees or family members who are due to become the next generation of community foundation donors. Using findings from a first-of-its…

Throughout the sessions I attended today, one word seemed to be woven throughout various discussions. That word is “authenticity.” The central purpose of community foundations is to do good in the community. We provide an avenue for donors to use their funds to help organizations address vital…

“The subtlest change in New York is something people don’t speak much about but that is in everyone’s mind. The city, for the first time in its long history, is destructible. A single flight of planes no bigger than a wedge of geese can quickly end this island fantasy, burn the towers, crumble the…

As one who has been in the field as a community foundation CEO since 1994, I have seen many themes. We were sorted by asset size for many of our conversations in the belief that such distinctions defined our capabilities and philanthropic contributions. (We now understand that was absolutely false…

I’m a native New Orleanian representing the Greater Milwaukee Foundation (GMF) attending the Fall Conference in New Orleans. Some might call it fate. I call it homecoming. I have lived in Milwaukee for nearly seven years, and many would agree with the adage, “Home is where the heart is.” However,…

As a “newbie” to the community foundation field in 2007, the first thing I did was attend the ProNet annual meeting in San Francisco, where I met about 75 other program staff from across the country. I was amazed by the geographic diversity and the warm reception by the “ProNetters.” And I was…

My brother-in-law, Alfredo, is a trauma paramedic. He works in an emergency room every weekend from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m. He shares his workday the way I might share mine. “Had some coffee, saved a life, did some paperwork, saved a life….” And yet he somehow remains connected enough to his work to…

At this morning’s opening plenary, Grant Oliphant talked about the difference between a revenue model and a business model. A revenue model is how you make money, such as providing services to donors and charging a fee. A business model, on the other hand, is how you add value—for example, helping…