This paper is the culmination of five years’ work evaluating Ford Foundation’s portfolio of grants, “Community Philanthropy and Racial Equity in the American South.” It is based on reflective, focused, and appreciative conversations with nearly 100 philanthropic organizations operating in both African American and White American settings. […]
Philanthropy by definition is a noble endeavor. Yet people want to know, “what good does philanthropy do?” The answer is hard to get, partly because philanthropy doesn’t really want to know, and evaluation doesn’t really know how to serve up good answers. This article illuminates the dilemma. […]
Op-Ed: Philanthropy Must Address Structural Inequities (pdf) Pathways to Progress: Moving Philanthropy Closer to Social Justice and Racial Equity. Developed with support from the Ford Foundation. By Steven E. Mayer. Until foundations address the structural inequities […]
Living in Minneapolis I’ve followed the life of our dearly beloved Prince perhaps more than others have. I’d heard nothing, though, about Prince’s philanthropy. So at his untimely death, I was very struck by Van […]
Highway markers, we’ve discovered, make great reading. Posted by state and regional historical societies all along State, US, and Federal highways, they provide lessons and insight into what happened right there, where you’re standing, in […]
Can community foundations learn, if given the opportunity, to be effective vehicles for channeling support to low-income neighborhood organizations while increasing their own resources, grantmaking skills, and leadership role in the community? That was the […]
Should we invest in social service or social change – or both? Should we invest in saving drowning babies one at a time (social service), or should we look upstream for causes and invest in […]
Dashboards for philanthropy are all the rage. Dashboards have taken over the corporate sector as part of the “business intelligence” movement. Websites such as Tableau or Phocas have sprung up offering displays of dials and […]
Some of you have asked the meaning of social justice. “Social justice” is a hot-button term, drawing anger, indignation, and passion. You already knew that. Why “social justice” is a hot-button term “Social justice” gets […]
On this site you’ll see how useful program evaluation can connect with effective philanthropy, social justice, nonprofit management, and community development. Useful program evaluation is illustrated with each of these titles: Wanted: Better Evaluation Practices […]
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