This peer space is curated for foundation staff that manage and lead scholarship programs, designed to be informal, peer-led conversations with fellow foundation staff (of all types) to share best practices and explore common challenges in scholarship programs. Whether you are new to managing scholarships or have years of experience, you’ll gain fresh ideas and build relationships with colleagues. 

This peer space is curated for foundation staff that manage and lead scholarship programs, designed to be informal, peer-led conversations with fellow foundation staff (of all types) to share best practices and explore common challenges in scholarship programs. Whether you are new to managing scholarships or have years of experience, you’ll gain fresh ideas and build relationships with colleagues. 

Topic: Measuring Impact & Success

How do we know scholarship programs are making a difference – and how do we tell that story? In this peer event, scholarship professionals will explore practical ways to measure impact and success beyond dollars awarded. In peer discussion, we will discuss how to track and understand long-term impact of scholarship programs on students and communities.

Participants will share what they are measuring, what has been most useful, and where challenges still exist. Whether you are just starting to think about impact measurement or looking to strengthen your current approach, this peer conversation will offer ideas, tools, and inspiration to adapt to your own program.

To learn more about how you can connect with peers in the field, we encourage you to join the Philanthropy Exchange, as a space to ask questions, provide feedback, and share resources with scholarship professionals. 

In 2026, we are launching a new virtual book club! We will be reading and discussing “Understanding the Phenomenon: A Qualitative Investigation of the McConnell Scholars Program.” Please reach out to Melissa Nolan at engagement@cof.org if you are interested in attending after the peer event! 
 

This peer space is curated for foundation staff that manage and lead scholarship programs, designed to be informal, peer-led conversations with fellow foundation staff (of all types) to share best practices and explore common challenges in scholarship programs. Whether you are new to managing scholarships or have years of experience, you’ll gain fresh ideas and build relationships with colleagues. 

In 2026, we are launching a new virtual book club! We will be reading and discussing “Understanding the Phenomenon: A Qualitative Investigation of the McConnell Scholars Program.” Please reach out to Melissa Nolan (Engagement@cof.org) if you are interested in attending! 
 

Topic: Supporting Students Beyond the Award

Join this peer event to explore how scholarship programs can support beyond the financial award through mentorship, networking, and wrap around services that address real-life challenges. Together, we will share creative strategies for building meaningful connections between students, mentors, alumni, and community partners.

This interactive conversation is designed for scholarship professionals to discuss ideas, learn from peers, and leave inspired with actionable approaches you can adapt to your own scholarship programs.

You are invited to stick around after to join our first Book Club! We will be reading and discussing “Understanding the Phenomenon: A Qualitative Investigation of the McConnell Scholars Program.” Please reach out to Melissa Nolan (Engagement@cof.org) if you are interested in attending!

To learn more about how you can connect with peers in the field, we encourage you to join the Philanthropy Exchange, as a space to ask questions, provide feedback, and share resources with community foundation donor service professionals.

Philanthropic organizations face heightened attention and expectations. To support Council members, our Legal Resources team is hosting a webinar on what philanthropic organizations need to know to engage confidently and responsibly in civic engagement work.

This session will focus on what organizations can and cannot do, and how to participate in civic engagement with integrity and impact. Whether your foundation is planning education efforts, community conversations, or other activities, this webinar will provide you with helpful information.

Join us to strengthen your understanding and ensure your civic engagement efforts remain compliant.

We’ll discuss the essential elements of stories that are authentic, accurate, and ethical and that serve our communities and issues well. 

In this session, you’ll learn: 

1. How to incorporate a range of voices into your stories, including those closest to the issue, decisionmakers and people with a range of expertise. 
2. Principles for ensuring that the stories you share accurately reflect the experiences of the people they’re about. 
3. How to apply the principles of “asset framing” to highlight strengths and potential, 
4. How to select and represent characters inclusively in storytelling efforts, applying storytelling techniques that create meaningful transparency and foster trust
5. How to incorporate systems into your stories–including how they started, who they serve, and how they help or harm real people. 
6. The importance of committing to and sustaining engagement in narrative change work over time.
7. How to make the case for better storytelling with others in your organization and get the resources you need. 
    

Annual reports, 990 PFs, and all the other language foundations use don’t help people understand what we do. This workshop will help you replace the jargon and harmful metaphors with visual, memorable language. You’ll also learn the essential elements of stories that build trust. Bring your jargoniest content and let’s decode it together. Replace your philanthrospeak with compelling, memorable language, and tell unforgettable stories that displace harmful narratives about the issues you work on or the communities you serve. 

Learn to tell fascinating, compelling stories about how change happens and how the charitable sector works with communities to make a difference on today’s most pressing issues.  We’ll discuss how narratives are formed, the essential elements of stories that build trust and understanding, and how to create collaborative narratives that show how communities and the charitable sector work together to drive change. Everything you learn will be rooted in insights from our Philanthropy’s New Voice report, the largest study ever conducted on narratives in the charitable sector. 

Over this 3-hour workshop, you’ll:

1. Learn the science behind compelling, unforgettable stories that help people see issues in new ways.
2. Discover which elements of storytelling build trust and understanding of your foundation and how to incorporate them into your own stories.
3. Apply the principles of great storytelling to your own work. 
4. Learn to tell stories that resonate with a range of moral values, 
5. Bring your work to life with vivid, detailed language. 
6. Make language choices that replace buzzwords, acronyms and jargon with memorable, meaningful language. 

In this session, you’ll learn to align your stories with your theory of change and develop meaningful measurements that go beyond clicks, likes and shares. 

You’ll learn:

1. How to set meaningful goals that align with your organization’s mission and theory of change.
2. How to write a theory of change for your communications efforts.
3. How to identify the people who can make that change happen. 
4. How to know whether you’re reaching the right people.
5. The distinct and significant value of including both output and outcome measures in your communications strategy–and how to write both. 
6. How to design an evaluation for your communications efforts that holds you accountable to your strategy and the outcomes you’re working toward. 
    

Workshop Hours

• Tuesday, August 25: 1-5 p.m. ET
• Tuesday, August 27: 1-5 p.m. ET

Government policies and programs affect almost every aspect of our lives, from housing, healthcare and the environment to education, transportation, and safety.  For foundations striving to create equitable, inclusive, and widely prosperous communities, it is necessary to focus on strengthening and reimagining policies and systems.

Participation in advocacy is an essential strategy to advance the mission of community foundations. Yet a lack of understanding of the rules of advocacy and lobbying, confusion about the appropriate governance and risk management, as well as a dearth of tools and internal capacity needed to be successful prevents many community foundations from engaging in public policy. 

This learning opportunity is intended for CEOs and senior leadership staff from community foundations of all sizes that are committed to getting more involved in policy and advocacy work.

This training will provide community foundations across geographies and of all sizes with:

• Increased understanding of the importance of public policy to improve outcomes
• Improved policy practice
• Increased advocacy action

In this training, participants will:

• Understand a comprehensive picture of possible community foundation strategies to engage in effective public policy advocacy that advances the greater good
• Understand the complex dynamics around foundation staff’s relationships with policy advocacy organizations and explore the optimal relationship for your foundation
• Learn how to build support for advocacy among your foundation’s staff and board
• Learn how to improve your foundation’s grantmaking to more effectively participate in policy advocacy

Offered in partnership with: