Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Enabling Community And Trust: Shared Leadership For Collective Creativity, Mohammed Mohammed, Kurian Thomas

The Foundation Review

The strength of nonprofit organizations comes from well-developed human connections that spur productive collaboration across levels of hierarchy. This article, exploring the experience of the Fetzer Institute, demonstrates that workplace creativity is best fostered if it is matched by a style of leadership that invites a wider spectrum of internal actors to actively participate.

While acknowledging the significance of shared leadership, this article does not necessarily advocate for the dissolution of hierarchy; rather, it points out that the key lies in finding the sweet spot between organizational structure and a creative community.

The article describes tools that are particularly effective …

Front Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

What We Have Learned About Grassroots Philanthropy: Lessons From Mexico, Artemisa Castro Félix, A. Scott Dupree

The Foundation Review

Mexico is going through a transition from traditions of authoritarian, top-down social and political management that have tended to marginalize the efforts of community groups in addressing social and environmental challenges.

While there are many important questions about strengthening civil society organizations in general, grassroots groups in particular are challenged by the weak enabling environment for social action.

Despite this, the Action in Solidarity Fund has found that it is very possible for philanthropists to reach small grassroots groups with the support they need and to begin to strengthen the social fabric for communities to act on their own behalf. …

Redefining Expectations For Place-Based Philanthropy, Katelyn Mack, Hallie Preskill, James Keddy, Moninder-Mona K. Jhawar

The Foundation Review

This article discusses how The California Endowment has used a midcourse strategic review to refine Building Healthy Communities, aiming to provide insight for other place-based initiatives and to add to the body of knowledge about how to support transformative community change.

With Building Healthy Communities, the endowment is taking a new approach to community change using a dual strategy to build community capacity in 14 places and scale the impact of its local efforts through statewide policy advocacy and communications. In 2013, it commissioned a strategic review to reflect on what it has learned from the first three years of …

Executive Summary

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Peeking Behind The Curtain: The Operations And Funding Priorities Of Rural Private Foundations, Dorothy Norris-Tirrell, Brandi Blessett, Claire Connolly Knox

The Foundation Review

This article examines the operations and funding priorities of rural private foundations in Florida, using data from the U.S. Census, the Urban Institute’s National Center for Charitable Statistics, and interviews with foundation leaders.

The study found that grantmaking by rural foundations is split between out-of-state and in-state giving, determined by the intent of a benefactor or the personal choices of a foundation founder and/ or family.

This finding presents opportunities for nonprofit organizations and community groups in rural counties to communicate community needs in order to retain a larger amount of foundation dollars in the foundation’s home state and county.

Editorial, Teri Behrens

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Maximizing Return: An Evaluation Of The Walton Family Foundation’S Approach To Investing In New Charter Schools, Matthew Carr, Marc Holley

The Foundation Review

The Walton Family Foundation’s social-impact goals include reform of the American K-12 education system by increasing the number of highquality schools available to low-income students. One of the foundation’s signature strategies toward this end is to support charter schools.

This article presents the findings of a study that suggests the foundation’s investment approaches to charter school startups have been successful in supporting the creation of high-quality seats for low-income students. Specifically, the foundation has invested in charter schools where test-score performance has shown greater improvements than at local district schools and charter schools that have not received foundation funding.

These …

Drugs, Depression, And Dating Violence: Partnering With Schools To Collect And Use Data On Adolescent Risky Behaviors, Rebecca H. Donham, Shari Kessel Schneider

The Foundation Review

In 2005, the MetroWest Health Foundation launched a 10-year initiative to conduct the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Youth Risk Behavior Survey biennially with every high school and middle school student in the foundation’s 25-town region. The survey asks students about substance use, violence, sexual behaviors, mental health, and nutrition.

In the first year of the initiative, about two-thirds of public high schools and half of the middle schools in the region participated. By 2012, every public high school and middle school participated. Encompassing some 40,000 students, the survey is considered to be one of largest, if not …

Giving Circles In Asia: Newcomers To The Asian Philanthropy Landscape, Robert John

The Foundation Review

Amid the rapid development of philanthropy across Asia, over the past 10 years a number of giving circles have appeared in the region.

This form of philanthropy, where individuals pool resources and provide grants to nonprofit organizations in their community, is well known and studied in the U.S. This article examines the phenomenon in Asia, and finds giving circles there to be either indigenous or based on models transplanted from the United States or Europe.

While ancient traditions of charitable giving have existed for centuries in Asia, the concept of organized philanthropy in order to effect specific societal benefit is …

Back Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Incentivizing Employees Through Benefits And Recognition Programs At Pace University, Diana Dumitru

Master in Public Administration Theses

The nonprofit sector has seen a 20% increase in the number of higher education institutions over a period of 10 years, from 2000-2010, (Blackwood et al. 2012), which had a big impact on the public charity revenues and expenses. In this fast-paced growing environment, employees working in higher education are directly influenced by the changes and increase in the number of students. Motivating employees in such an environment can be challenging, therefore finding a comprehensive package that includes fair compensation levels, benefits, awards and recognition ceremonies and other incentives such as promotions and opportunities for growth are important for the …

Fundraising Techniques Of San Luis Obispo Nonprofit Organizations, Samantha Suyemoto

Graphic Communication

The purpose of this study was to identify the strengths and weaknesses of using direct mail and electronic media in the fundraising techniques of local San Luis Obispo nonprofit organizations. The intended audience includes the nonprofits interviewed in each case study as well as the other organizations that fundraise within the San Luis Obispo area. Three case studies of nonprofit organizations within the area were conducted in conjunction with research on various types of funding. Results of this study are intended to benefit the nonprofits by providing more information on successful fundraising habits.

2014 A National Review Of Community Leadership Programs, Caster Family Center For Nonprofit And Philanthropic Research, University Of San Diego

Nonprofit Leadership and Capacity Building

In May 2014, LEAD San Diego commissioned the Caster Center for Nonprofit and Philanthropic Research (Caster Center) to conduct a national review of organizations that support leadership development and civic engagement (i.e., community leadership programs). The Caster Center researched 32 such organizations and conducted phone interviews with 12 of them. The interviewed organizations included nine community leadership programs: six were independent nonprofits, two were nonprofits housed within a Chamber of Commerce, and one was a Chamber of Commerce program. The remaining interviews were with two statewide community leadership programs that were foundation funded and a university research center.

Editorial, Michelle Greanias

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

In Other Words, The Budgets Are Fake: Why One Funder Eliminated Grantee Budgets To Improve Financial Due Diligence, Molly Schultz Hafid, Carol Cantwell

The Foundation Review

· In 2013, the Unitarian Universalist Veatch Program at Shelter Rock eliminated budgets from its application requirements. Over the last 18 months, it has worked to overhaul the financial information it requests and the ways in which it is used.

· This article examines the role of financial information in the grant application process, the practice of developing and reviewing funder budgets, and the ways in which they too often fail to provide information relevant to a thorough review of the financial health of a nonprofit organization.

· The Veatch Program provides a case study in how to engage board …

Financial Analysis For Measuring And Comparing Risk In Grantmaking Portfolios, Sheena Ashley, Lewis Faulk

The Foundation Review

· Risk has not been treated in a systematic way that allows for a rich understanding of the extent to which foundations are, or should be, incorporating or evaluating risk in philanthropy.

· In this article, we conceptualize and develop a tool to evaluate the levels of philanthropic risk that foundations maintain through their grant portfolios.

· We create an index of aggregated risk at the portfolio level using several financial indicators based on previous theory and literature. Then, we test the index on a sample of foundations and their grantees in the state of Georgia and compare risk levels …

Back Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Executive Summary

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

Front Matter

The Foundation Review

No abstract provided.

The Impact Grants Initiative: Community-Participatory Grantmaking Modeled On Venture Philanthropy, Adin Miller, Elisa Gollub, Ilana Kaufman, Adina Danzig Epelman

The Foundation Review

· The Jewish Community Federation and Endowment Fund (JCF) launched the Impact Grants Initiative (IGI), a model of grant making based on venture philanthropy, but offering high engagement opportunities for previously unaffiliated local donors and community leaders.

· Before adopting the IGI model, the JCF used a community-participatory grantmaking approach that had become stale in engaging its donors, community leaders, and professional staff. Younger existing and potential donors were developing interests in documented outcomes, metrics, and impact, and those interests did not align with JCF’s grantmaking approach.

· IGI builds on the concepts of venture philanthropy, combining theories and techniques …

Climbing The Mountain: An Approach To Planning And Evaluating Public-Policy Advocacy, Sam Gill, Tom Freedman

The Foundation Review

· This article proposes a new methodology for planning and evaluating public-policy advocacy. The methodology is designed around a series of stages, each with a different set of strategic planning and assessment requirements.

· The article suggests that both planning and evaluative approaches that fail to take account of the necessary stages required to develop and then implement an advocacy strategy will likely assign the wrong indicators of success.

· This analysis is based on direct experience working with both policy processes and a wide range of foundations and nonprofits that have invested in public-policy advocacy, including the Rockefeller, Ford, …

Ripple Effects Of Process Change, Rebekah Usatin, Nancy Herzog, Myriam Fizazi-Hawkins

The Foundation Review

· Decisions to change processes in one area have the potential to cause ripples throughout the entire grantmaking process, impacting both donor and grantee. Recognizing this, the National Endowment for Democracy (NED) thoroughly examines and/or tests any changes before they are integrated into the grantmaking practice. In 2009, NED launched a pioneering grantee self-evaluation process that significantly altered its grantmaking processes.

· This article describes how NED tasked a team of staff from the different sections of its grantmaking program to determine the most effective way to capture the information needed to determine whether a grant should be recommended for …

Development Discourse And Practice: Alternatives And New Directions From Postcolonial Perspectives, Paul Donnelly, Banu Ozkazanc-Pan

Books/Book Chapters

Development and aid programs, such as those aimed at promoting economic growth and prosperity in ‘Third World’ nations and transition economies, often arise out of Western and neo-liberal policy ideologies and practices. These programs may, in some cases, provide useful guidelines for restructuring institutional structures and governance mechanisms in nations that have long struggled with poverty, economic instability, health crises, and social and political turmoil. However, a growing number of critical voices are raising concerns over the guiding assumptions and inclusiveness of these policies and programs in their aims to promote economic development and social well-being in non-Western nations. We …

Using A Priority Grid As A Tool For Shaping Strategy And Building Impact, Lori Fuller

The Foundation Review

· This article describes the priority grid – an analytic tool to assess grant proposals – and how it has fundamentally changed and improved the work of the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust.

· Developed by the Trust, the priority grid focuses staff attention on key strategic elements: alignment with focus areas, depth of impact, and scope of impact. It has also served as an agent to develop, disseminate, and implement a foundation’s grantmaking strategy, helping program officers understand how specific projects serve the larger goal and cultivate projects and applications that align with the foundation’s long-term mission.

· With …

Community Assistance For Refugees And Gender Roles: What Could Make This C.A.R. Run Better?, Nathan E. Meyer

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

Community Assistance for Refugees is a non-profit service organization in downtown Mankato, Minnesota. Secondary migration to southern Minnesota has increased the refugee population as well as the need for research assessing the needs and concerns of refugees. The purpose of this project was two-fold: first to analyze how C.A.R. is able to meet the needs of its clients and second, to investigate ways in which C.A.R. could improve its services. Traditionally female refugees are less educated and less mainstreamed into American society. This research was designed to help all clients, but special attention was paid to the specific needs of …

Study The Differences On Maritime Search And Rescue System Between China And Britain, Weizheng Chen

Maritime Safety & Environment Management Dissertations (Dalian)

No abstract provided.

Foundation For An Independent Tomorrow: Treatment Effects Of The Stages Of Employment Job Readiness Program On Program Completion And Employment Outcomes For Ex-Offenders, Michael Hammer, Stephanie Pocchia, Stacy Howell

UNLV Theses, Dissertations, Professional Papers, and Capstones

Foundation for an Independent Tomorrow (FIT) is a local not for profit organization that seeks to assist residents of Southern Nevada by providing workforce development services (e.g., interviewing skills, job searching techniques, resume assistance) to increase a program participant’s opportunities to obtain and maintain employment. FIT is currently being federally funded through the Department of Labor’s Workforce Investment Act (WIA) grant, with a specific goal of serving the re-entry, or ex-offender, population. This population presents with a very unique set of barriers to obtaining employment, and in order to combat these barriers, FIT created the Stages of Employment job readiness …

A New Look At Nonprofit Online Fundraising: Persuasion Through The Means Of Credibility And Psychological Consistency, Kaytlin Lemier

Journal of Undergraduate Research at Minnesota State University, Mankato

A study was conducted to examine how the persuasive elements of a message contribute to non-profit organizations’ potential to gain financial support. The purpose of the study was to apply theories of persuasion to advance an understanding of the underlying elements relevant to successful fundraising appeals. The two main constructs examined were credibility and psychological consistency. Applied to the context of non-profit fundraising, credibility refers to the judgments granting institutions and/or donors make about the believability of the non-profit organization or its individual representatives, and psychological consistency refers to donors’ internal drive to reduce inconsistencies between their behavior and their …

An Examination Of South Carolina’S Institutions Of Reform And Their Impact On The Self-Narratives Of African American Men, Ashley E. Krejci-Shaw

Capstone Collection

In the State of South Carolina (SC), African American male adolescents disproportionately face disciplinary action in public schools and other institutions. In 2013, South Carolina’s Department of Juvenile Justice (SCDJJ) released data that listed Black male children comprising 57% of all juvenile referrals in the state. This disproportionate trend is also present in South Carolina’s correctional system. In 2013, South Carolina’s Department of Corrections (SCDOC) reported that out of 20,777 male prisoners, 13,631 were Black. For adolescents or young adults looking to continue their education, alternative programs are available. One program that captures educationally displaced children in South Carolina is …