Professional Development

Workshop for the Carolinas, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia Region Led by Suzanne Friday, Counsel for the Council on Foundations, this workshop is flexibly organized to ensure that your broad legal questions for administering funds, grants, and community foundation activities are addressed. Suzanne…

Evaluation and philanthropic learning are essential to driving social change. Here are five trends to look out for in 2017 – and likely beyond: 1. Integrating Evaluation into Strategy In the philanthropic, nonprofit, and public sectors, and more recently with socially oriented businesses, demand…

Members, View the Recording The webinar explores the success factors and goals for building a donor base committed to operations. A range of strategies are used dependent on your community market, donor base, and resources required, but expanding your admin support builds value beyond the immediate…

As preparation for winter holidays begin earlier and earlier, the Council wants to provide an important resource for your year-end fundraising and grantmaking activities. The IRS provides a wealth of resources on charitable contribution deductions. While I’d enjoy writing details about each of them…

The Council on Foundations is pleased to announce the application period for its flagship leadership development program, Career Pathways, is open now through October 31, 2016. Through Career Pathways, the Council seeks to increase the number of candidates from diverse backgrounds in the leadership…

Hello, and welcome to New York City. I want to thank you for coming to our second annual Summit focused on finance and endowments. For many years, the Council on Foundations has helped our foundation members understand important issues related to the management and practice of the great work you do…

Stephanie Bell-Rose is the Senior Managing Director and Head of the TIAA Institute. The Council on Foundations’ 2016 Endowments and Finance Summit is just around the corner – Sept. 28-30 – and as co-chair of the convening's working group, I strongly encourage you to register for it! I personally…

Now that August has begun and this is my last week at the Council, I look back and think it’s crazy that I started this internship only two months ago. I had never heard of the Council before I applied here, and I didn’t know what a foundation was or did until I arrived. Needless to say, I was a…

When I noticed late last year that the Council on Foundations’ annual conference would focus on climate change, I was delighted. For The Fund for New Jersey and other place-based funders, climate change has been a daunting challenge. We are a small foundation in a state with no coal-fired…

I have attended a lot of conferences over the years and have always felt driven to go to as many sessions as possible, to gather information and knowledge to bring back to my colleagues at the Maine Community Foundation. This time around was no different: I set out to get the latest on National…

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…

Friends and Colleagues, Last December, I spoke of 2014 as a Year of Action, and it was! We began putting into place the programs, services, and staff we knew would provide value to our members. In 2015, we’ve begun to see these foundational investments pay off, and I hope you’ve begun to see how…

Monday, April 25, 2016 Community Foundation Day 8:00 a.m. - 9:00 a.m. – Breakfast & Registration   9:30 a.m. - 10:45 a.m. – Opening Plenary: Benefits (and Pitfalls) of State Tax Credits for Community Foundations Community foundations in several…

Download the Presentation Slides The Healthy, Hunger-Free Act of 2010 authorizes funding for federal nutrition programs including: the national school lunch and breakfast program; the nutrition program for women, infants, and children; and other child and adult food care programs. This…

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…

Members, Access the Recording and Slides     The Healthy, Hunger-Free Act of 2010 authorizes funding for federal nutrition programs including: the national school lunch and breakfast program; the nutrition program for women, infants, and children; and other child and adult food…