grantmaking | TPI

Responsive vs. Proactive Grantmaking: Lessons from Leaders Dec 20, 2018 Many funders are challenged by how to respond to the multitude of needs in their communities, even within a narrower lens of specific interest areas: If we’re too responsive in our grantmaking,...

Better Grantmaking, Baseball and a Billion Dollar Challenge Mar 06, 2014 Early March is one of my favorite times of year. Spring training is finally here, after a depressing and dark stretch of no baseball; March Madness is set to begin; the race for the playoffs in the...

Mutual Misunderstandings? Grantee-Donor Relations Jun 30, 2011 While the relationship between donors and “doers” has been a hot topic since the dawn of philanthropy, there seem to be too few conversations in which donors and doers come together to explore these...

Changing the World, One Girl at a Time Jun 14, 2011 In accepting the Tony Award for Best Actress Sunday night, Ellen Barkin said that being in the play The Normal Heart (which recounts the early days of the AIDS crisis) , “ Taught me something I never...

Three strikes and then what? Jun 06, 2011 “While we do not want to place undue burdens on the organizations we support, we do feel it is essential that we know the people to whom we give grants and have assurances of their management...

Philanthropic Vehicles – As in Most Things, Form Follows Function Feb 14, 2011 Last week’s New York Times carried an article by Paul Sullivan under the headline “ Weighing the Best Vehicles for Charitable Giving .” It raises good questions and makes good points. But like most...

What Do Donors Want Anyway? Sep 22, 2010 That seemed to be the question behind grants recently made by the Gates Foundation to two consulting firms for developing tools and sharing best practices that will help donors make better investment...

Finance Executives reap ROI of 36:1 (but it’s not what you think) Aug 10, 2010 We love to say it: go beyond grants. But it feels even better see how it pays off – as illustrated in this recent Newsweek article . In 2004, The Family Van , which provides free preventative care in...

Storytelling as Advocacy: Whose story is it? Jun 29, 2010 As someone who has been in the field of grantmaking – both in government and philanthropy – I’ve had many, many reports “submitted” to me and, truth be told, too many of these have been put directly...

Leadership Great and Small May 20, 2010 Back in Boston, we've been submerged in conversations around leadership in philanthropy - mainly top down kind of stuff - talking with the people out front, the CEOs and corporate leaders who define...