RACE TO THE CAPITOL The call came to West Central Initiative early in the work day on Dec. 17: Minnesota was one of nine states chosen for the Department of Education’s Race to the Top early childhood challenge grant.  We greeted the news with excitement. West Central Initiative is part of a…

Responding to Demand It can be frustrating to look for useful bits of information on grantees and strong programs inside an agency that produces large amounts of data each and every day. Since its inception two years ago, our Office for International and Philanthropic Innovation (IPI) has fielded…

I looked down at my phone as it began to ring and I screamed with frustration, “Seriously? Again?!? Don’t they realize that it is 3 p.m. on a Friday?” That was the tagline I was known all too well for when I did housing relocations for tenants. Housing inspectors would notoriously find a home to…

Based on what I’ve witnessed, many nonprofit and philanthropic professionals are lax in paying attention to copyright because they assume their nonprofit status allows them to use materials any way they see fit. The problem isn’t just respecting copyright for printed materials like articles, book…

How do foundations make giving decisions? Hope Consulting and Guidestar have released the much-anticipated Money for Good II study (MFG II) to answer these questions. Here is what they found about foundations-a category dominated by family foundations. Foundations research nine out of 10 grants to…

In my humble opinion, Millennials bring together all of the aspects of a perfect donor. At Building Tomorrow and in general in my watching of the fundraising world, I have seen Millennials do some amazing things by  giving their time, talents, and resources to others and to causes they believe…

I’ve long been wary about in-house videos. Because, let’s face it, videos can be tough to pull off. So it was with some trepidation that we decided not just to make our first set of short videos this year, but to feature them at our 25th anniversary annual meeting-indeed, to make them the…

by Elizabeth Carrott Minnigh Riding the train home to Washington, D.C., after a meeting in New York City earlier this week, I found myself immersed in a New Yorker article by Malcolm Gladwell, "The Tweaker: The Real Genius of Steve Jobs." The article contended that the real genius of Jobs was…

by PJ Watters As a community foundation, we are always talking about our role connecting "people who care" with "causes that matter." When we award grants from our funds, people don't usually know who's behind the fund name-and they should! It's time we tell our fund founders' stories. So we…

by Matt Charles Do you know how to make your community a better place to live? Do you have an idea that would touch a large population or wide area? These are questions that Danville Regional Foundation (DRF) posed to those within its service area. To turn their ideas into reality, DRF launched its…

by Adrienne Mansanares Ten years ago, The Denver Foundation embarked upon an uncharted journey to help nonprofits and funders connect with communities of color. With the creation of the Expanding Nonprofit Inclusiveness Initiative (ENII) in 2001, and its evolution to the Inclusiveness Project…

by Hillary Nather-Detisch This past Tuesday we celebrated National Philanthropy Day, a day to celebrate the good that's happened, the change that's been created, the effects of philanthropy, and the generosity of others. At a luncheon today in Omaha, our local chapter of the Association of…

by Suzanne Skees The world reverberates with crashing economies and toppling dictatorships from Detroit to Italy, Egypt to Syria; and one vital outcome of these changes is this: Everyday people know more about one another, feel connected through communication, and take action in the collective.…

by Elizabeth Douglass July was an incredibly busy month for me this year. Not only did I marry my best friend, I also started working as a volunteer teacher for Computer Community Outreach and Education (Computer CORE), a nonprofit based in Alexandria, Va. Computer CORE is a place where low-income…

by Daniela Fainberg The Council's Family Philanthropy Conference is an opportunity for international philanthropists to meet and exchange experiences with peers from the U.S. and other countries. It is a place to learn with other participants representing other foundations and specialists…

by Nelli Garton I know I am not alone in feeling overwhelmed by the state of the world and the incredible needs that philanthropy is trying to address. We can't fulfill these on our own, so where do we start? Are we just providing short-term solutions when the whole system is breaking down?…