Nonprofit Administration and Management Commons^™

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Philanthropy In The Faith Community: Mobilizing Faith-Based Organizations For Substance Use Prevention, Ashley Townes, E. Kelly Firesheets, Mary Francis

The Foundation Review

· The Assistance for Substance Abuse Prevention Center, established by the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, has worked with community partners in the faith community to prevent alcohol, tobacco and other drug abuse.

· Reviving the Human Spirit (RTHS) was a collaborative project that provided resources to help congregations provide substance use prevention and recovery support in their communities, including the adoption of evidence-based practices.

· Slightly more than two thirds of the congregations that participated in follow up interviews reported that their programs were still operating.

· Faith-based programs have many things in common with programs operated by other …

Investigating The Roles Of Community Foundations In The Establishment And Sustainability Of Local College Access Networks In Michigan, Nathan Daun-Barnett, Haley Lamm

The Foundation Review

· Community foundations have a long history of supporting college access, particularly through the management of scholarship programs. This article examines the role of community foundations in the creation and establishment of local college access networks (LCAN) across the state of Michigan.

· We use the collective impact model as a framework to examine the roles of community foundations in the creation and development of LCANs.

· Our findings illustrate that community foundations have played a variety of roles, from fundraising to convening to cheerleading.

· The success of the community-foundation approach to LCAN development is evident both in the …

Tactics In Philanthropy: The Case Of The Moving Spotlight, Dan M. Martin

The Foundation Review

· In recent years, strategy has been a muchdiscussed topic in philanthropy, while tactics have received little attention.

· The experience of the MacArthur Foundation’s environmental program and its Moving Spotlight approach provide examples of the importance of tactical decisions.

· Tactical decisions such as the timing of grants, foundation staffing levels, and the timing of evaluations all contribute to grantees’ ability to achieve outcomes.

· Structure and flexibility can be complementary approaches to grantmaking if the tactics are well thought out.

The Logic Model Guidebook: Better Strategies For Great Results (Second Ed.): Book Review, Beverly Parsons, Patricia Jessup

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Assessing And Advancing Foundation Transparency: Corporate Foundations As A Case Study, Marta Rey-Garcia, Javier Martin-Cavanna, Luis Ignacio Alvarez-Gonzalez

The Foundation Review

· This article explores the mix of forces explaining variability in good-governance standards and practices by charitable foundations.

· A six-drivers framework for explaining improved foundation accountability and transparency is proposed and discussed in the context of a country study. Those drivers are: regulatory pressures, self-regulation, demands for information from donors and other relevant stakeholders, societal pressure derived from scandals, emulation, and third-party assessment.

· A simple tool for assessing foundation transparency internationally is proposed and then applied to corporate, endowed, and fundraising foundations in the U.S. and Spain.

· Foundations’ financial structure compounds with institutional factors to influence the …

Toward A High-Performance Culture: From Strategy To Strategic Human Capital At The Rhode Island Foundation, Melanie Coon

The Foundation Review

· The Rhode Island Foundation successfully applied to be part of the first cohort of the Talent Initiative, enabling the foundation to engage in human resources planning in support of its strategic plan.

· The strategic plan called for a shift from responsive to proactive grantmaking, fundraising, and leadership, which required different staff roles and skills.

· The Talent Initiative focused on three areas: talent, systems, and culture.

· The changes that were implemented included adoption of a new performance review system, a road map for professional development, and a streamlined approach to operations and technology support.

· Initial results …

Executive Summaries

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

How Inclusion And Equity Are Transforming A Foundation And A Community, Rebecca Arno, Lauren Casteel, Maria Guajardo, Adrienne Mansanares

The Foundation Review

· Racial inequities in health care, education, incarceration rates and economic stability have persisted, in spite of federal policies to promote equity.

· The Denver Foundation launched what is now known as the Inclusiveness Project in 2002 to help nonprofits, including funders, become more inclusive of people of color.

· The Project defines diversity as one component of inclusiveness; inclusive organizations are defined as learning-centered organizations that value the perspectives and contributions of all people.

· The Project operates on three levels: individual, organizational and sector.

· An extensive evaluation has shown that there are impacts at all levels, including …

Managing Expectations When Measuring Philanthropic Impact: A Framework Based On Experience, Frank Ridzi

The Foundation Review

· In order to achieve more targeted community change than possible in conventional grantmaking, foundations have developed a portfolio of activities ranging from capacity building to venture and catalytic philanthropy.

· Key to each of these approaches is a desire for meaningful impact. Yet, funders across the nation express dissatisfaction with their ability to prove or demonstrate impact.

· Conversations with colleagues and personal experience suggest that part of this dissatisfaction is due to a disconnect between the expectations of board members, donors, staff, and participants on one hand and what is actually feasible to measure on the other.

· …

Lessons In Building A Better Community, One Voice At A Time, Erica Wood

The Foundation Review

· By 2035 there will be an estimated 1.2 million new jobs and 900,000 new households in the San Francisco Bay Area (Association of Bay Area Governments, n.d.); without planning and management, this population increase will result in rising air pollution levels, climate change, escalating cost of living, increasing traffic, and less green space.

· Silicon Valley Community Foundation partnered with area nonprofits and government agencies on a two-year initiative, Envision Bay Area, to engage residents and community leaders in conversations about growth.

· At a series of 10 public forums more than 800 participants came together, including those who …

Practice, Practice, Practice: Preliminary Findings From An Evidence-Based Practice Funding Initiative At The Peter And Elizabeth C. Tower Foundation, Nicholas G. Randell

The Foundation Review

· The Tower Foundation supported a five-year initiative to support the implementation of evidencebased practices (EBP). The average award was a three-year award of $84,050.

· The underlying grantmaking theory of change was that behavioral health providers could bring empirically tested protocols to their communities and sustain them over time if supported by long-term funding to support the real costs of implementation (e.g., training, technical assistance, adherence to program protocols, and cultural change).

· Grantees cited the high cost of training, certification, and recertification – especially in the face of high staff turnover – as a primary challenge to implementing …

Bridging Silos, Improving Systems, Deidre Johnson, Phillip Chung, Jennifer Schroeder, Judith Meyers

The Foundation Review

· Systems that provide services to children tend to operate in silos; foundations can play a role in helping bridge these silos by supporting “systems building” efforts.

· Using examples from two foundations and two communities, this article explores the challenges and lessons learned in systems building work.

· Educating grantees and other community members about systems and systems building is a critical first step in the process.

· Supporting systems building requires an iterative process and foundations should continuously reinforce the importance of systems building activities.

Impact Investing: A 21st Century Tool To Attract And Retain Donors, Amy L. Cheney, Kathryn E. Merchant, Robert Killins Jr.

The Foundation Review

· A familiar private foundation tool is being used by the Greater Cincinnati Foundation as a way to engage donor advisors to make a positive difference in the community.

· While due diligence and risk management of the financial return for these investments is crucial, the social return to be achieved is the primary consideration.

· Donors can achieve a modest financial return, which is recycled into their donor-advised fund, by investing locally in projects that make a significant difference.

· Initial donor interest in participating in impact investing has been strong and provided valuable insight into program design.

· …

Models Of Social Change: Community Foundations And Agenda Setting, Nathan Duan-Barnett, Jessica Wangelin, Haley Lamm

The Foundation Review

· This article focuses on a particular approach to large-scale, community-based educational change – Local College Access Networks in the state of Michigan – to answer two key questions: What factors serve to shape the social-change agenda? How can community foundations serve to promote and advance the agenda?

· A multidimensional framework is developed for agenda setting, drawing on linear transformation models, layering, and collective impact to examine the contributions of community foundations to the formation of local college access agendas.

· Particular attention is paid to the horizontal alignment of partners within a community to address local challenges and …

Strategies For Impacting Change In Communities Of Color, Kenneth W. Jackson, Alandra L. Washington, Russell H. Jackson

The Foundation Review

· Historically, organized philanthropy has given scant attention to giving among communities of color; however, as the population changes it is becoming more important to learn about and promote giving in these communities.

· The W. K. Kellogg Foundation supported the Cultures of Giving (COG) initiative over a five-year period to understand, develop, and support philanthropic giving within and among communities of color.

· COG began with two major principles of action – advancing strategies, approaches, and tactics of community philanthropy and connecting leaders of color in a community of practice such that they might learn, share, and collaborate with …

Using Civic Engagement And Collaboration To Create Community Change: Lessons From Charlotte, N.C., Joanne G. Carman, Rebecca A. Hefner

The Foundation Review

· The city of Charlotte, N.C. undertook a deliberative democracy process using the AmericaSpeaks “21st Century Town Meeting” process.

· The University of North Carolina-Charlotte performed a retrospective, process evaluation of the initiative examining the initiative’s components, coverage, participant feedback, short-term outcomes, and lessons learned.

· Early planning and implementation was done by volunteers, which ultimately was not sustainable. A new center, housed within an existing organization, was created to implement the recommendations.

· The initiative achieved a number of early successes, such as increasing the number of school nurses, expansion of an early childhood development program and an increase …

Dimensions Of Change: A Model For Community Change Efforts, Jara Dean-Coffey, Nicole Farkouh, Amy Reisch

The Foundation Review

· The Dimension of Change Model (DOCM), developed by the authors, is offered as a potentially useful tool for foundations, government, bodies, consultants, coalitions, and even individual organizations that are initiating or engaged in substantive efforts to bring about community change.

· The dimensions contained in the model - structure, parameters, intention, approach, and people - offer a frame for addressing key aspects that emerge from the literature as fundamental to all change efforts. The model is offered as a way to design, implement, adapt, and evaluate change initiatives.

· The work of First 5 Marin Children and Families Commission …

The Role Of The Congregation In Community Service: A Philanthropic Case Study, Mark T. Mulder, Kristen Napp, Neil E. Carlson, Zig Ingraffia, Khary Bridgewater, Edwin Hernández

The Foundation Review

· The Family Leadership Initiative (FLI), part of the larger Gatherings of Hope Initiative, was a collaboratively designed program to strengthen families and improve children’s education in Grand Rapids, Mich.

· FLI was launched in 2011 with two cohorts of 20 congregations who took part in a six-step design process.

· Programs were implemented in fall 2011. The program entailed holding monthly meetings for parents and children that included bonding time, parent education and homework support for students, and time for ministry.

· The initial evaluation shows high levels of satisfaction, with students reporting some academic improvements.

· For the …

The Tangled Web: How Nonprofit Board Members Experience Organizational Crisis, Elizabeth A. Valicenti

Antioch University Dissertations & Theses

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to develop an understanding of what board members experience during a time of organizational crisis. Major corporate and nonprofit failures of previously successful organizations in recent years have raised questions and led to speculation about the role of boards of directors through the crises. In this study twenty board members of nonprofit organizations who had experienced an organizational crisis during their board service were interviewed. Participants were asked to share their perceptions and explore how they identified and made meaning of the events and board processes that went on as the crisis …