Philanthropic advisors/consultants/professionals can help you assemble your initial team and be key members of that team. Below you’ll find a guide to working with philanthropic advisors, along with a list of philanthropic advisors and consultants that were recommended by donors throughout this project.

Publications

Fidelity Charitable. (n.d.). A guide to working with philanthropic advisors.
This resource was co-created by Fidelity Charitable and a group of philanthropic advisory firms to provide a resource for donors wanting to learn more about how to engage expert help to become more effective givers. Further, this resource provides guidance to common and important questions about the role that philanthropic advisors play in supporting charitable planning and giving, as well as factors to consider before engaging an advisor.

Stanford PACS. (n.d.). Philanthropist resource directory.
This directory contains a comprehensive inventory of over 250 organizations that provide support to high-net-worth donors. The organizations are categorized as Advisor, Ecosystem Funder, Ecosystem Supporter, Education Provider, Funding Intermediary, Peer Network, and Research & Data Provider.

Organizations that provide philanthropic advisory and consultant services

Arabella Advisors. https://www.arabellaadvisors.com/
Founded in 2005, Arabella Advisors assists donors, corporations, and foundations with strategic guidance for effective philanthropy. Located in eight major cities, Arabella provides services for grants management, impact investing, evaluation, and more.

Dalberg. https://dalberg.com/
Dalberg Advisors is a strategic advisory firm that partners with and serves communities, government, and companies around the world. They provide advisory, data insights, design, implementation, media, and research services and consultancies.

FSG. https://www.fsg.org/
FSG is a global consulting firm for corporate, foundation, and nonprofit/NGO leaders. FSG has provided services in strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation since 2000.

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. https://www.rockpa.org/
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) is a nonprofit that partners with individuals, families, and institutions and provides them with financial, advisory, and management services. Since 2002, they have facilitated more than $3 billion in grantmaking worldwide.

The Bridgespan Group. https://www.bridgespan.org/
The Bridgespan Group is a global nonprofit whose services include strategy consulting and advising, sourcing and diligence, and leadership team support. Their clients include individual donors, nonprofit and NGO leaders, and impact investors.

The Institute for Wise Philanthropy. https://wisephilanthropy.com/
Wise Philanthropy is a boutique consulting firm dedicated to helping individual philanthropists, families, and foundations make better decisions. It works with individual funders and both private and public foundations to help them make more impact with their giving. Its founder, Richard Marker, serves as a faculty co-director for the Center for High Impact Philanthropy’s donor education programs.

The Philanthropic Initiative. http://www.tpi.org/ 
The Philanthropic Initiative (TPI) provides consulting and management services to help individuals, families, foundations, and companies increase the impact of their philanthropy. TPI’s services range from strategy, governance, program design, implementation, and evaluation.

These resources are publications on collaborations and organizations that provide opportunities for peer-to-peer learning, including peer forums. Many of these organizations offer free resources accessible to all, in addition to other member-only resources.

Publications

Foster, P. (2019). The crucial role collaboratives can play for new philanthropies. The Center for Effective Philanthropy.
In this article, the author details several advantages that come with joining a philanthropic collaborative. She believes that collaborative philanthropy is one of many activities donors can do in their early days of philanthropy or in lieu of creating a new organization, with one benefit being insights from more experienced philanthropists.

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. (n.d.). Collaborative giving.
This guide describes the types of questions funders should consider before and during collaborative giving. The guide also lists different kinds of collaborative models and pitfalls to avoid and highlights several case examples as successful collaborative giving models. Finally, the guide describes a series of questions a donor should ask themselves and their potential partners to find alignment before giving.

The Bridgespan Group. How philanthropists can collaborate for better results.
This article argues that collaboration is essential to success for philanthropists who hope to tackle society’s most pressing problems. To that end, this article provides several tips to create effective partnerships that create impact.

Membership Organizations

Council on Foundations. https://www.cof.org/
Founded in 1949, the Council on Foundations is a member organization that provides a variety of services and resources to individual donors and grantmaking foundations.

Exponent Philanthropy. https://www.exponentphilanthropy.org
Exponent Philanthropy is a member-led community of lean-staffed funders. Members can connect with peers and experts for resources, programs, and collaborations specifically designed for funders, individuals, or families with little or no staff.

Fund for Shared Insight. https://www.fundforsharedinsight.org/
Fund for Shared Insight is a national funder collaborative. It pools financial and other resources to connect foundations and nonprofits to produce community-building and collaborative relationships.

Global Philanthropy Forum. https://philanthropyforum.org/
Established in 2001, the Global Philanthropy Forum is a peer-learning network of philanthropists and social investors. It provides conferences, programs, and matchmaking services to enhance members’ giving and social investing.

Grantmakers for Effective Organizations. https://www.geofunders.org/
Since 1997, GEO has provided opportunities for grantmaking individuals and foundations to come together to share knowledge and make connections. Currently, the GEO community consists of more than 6,000 members.

National Center for Family Philanthropy. https://www.ncfp.org/
The National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP) is dedicated exclusively to families who give and those that work with them. NCFP provides research, expertise, and learning opportunities to their national network of giving families.

National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. https://www.ncrp.org/
NCRP is a member organization for nonprofit organizations. It provides members with a variety of benefits, resources, and a community through which members can collaborate and partner. 

NEO Philanthropy. https://neophilanthropy.org/collaborative-funds/
Through 12 funds, including the Four Freedoms Fund and State Infrastructure Fund, NEO has designed and led large-scale collaborative grantmaking funds, connecting donors with aligned values to support their work.

Philanthropy Roundtable. https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/
The Philanthropy Roundtable currently consists of more than 620 philanthropic member organizations and individuals. It provides members with conferences, publications, and resources on donor intent and policy issues. 

Resource Generation. https://resourcegeneration.org/
Resource Generation organizes young people, aged between 18 and 35, who have wealth and class privilege in the U.S. to become leaders working towards the equitable distribution of wealth, land, and power.

The Giving Pledge. https://givingpledge.org/
The Giving Pledge is a movement of philanthropists who commit to giving the majority of their wealth to philanthropy or charitable causes, either during their lifetimes or in their wills.

The Philanthropy Workshop. https://www.tpw.org/
The Philanthropy Workshop (TPW) is a network of over 450 global leaders, whose mission is to accelerate social impact by mobilizing the resources and collaboration of this network. TPW provides their members with community and network resources, advisory services, and partner opportunities.

Trust-Based Philanthropy Project. https://trustbasedphilanthropy.org/
The Trust-Based Philanthropy Project is a five-year, peer-to-peer funder initiative to address the inherent power imbalances between foundations and nonprofits. It curates resources and puts on events to encourage grantmakers to embody a trust-based approach.

United Philanthropy Forum. https://www.unitedphilforum.org/find-your-regional-philanthropy-serving-organization
United Philanthropy Forum is a member network of associations of regional grantmakers and donors. It provides members with philanthropy education and knowledge services. Search by state to find other philanthropic players in your geographic region.

Women Moving Millions. https://womenmovingmillions.org/
Women Moving Millions is a community of 340 individuals who each make a minimum $1M commitment to organizations and initiatives benefiting women and girls.

Hart, A., & Bernard, C. (2020). A consumer’s guide to grants management systems. https://offers.techimpact.org/reports/gms2020
This guide, produced by Tech Impact and on its fifth edition, reviews 14 of the most widely used grants management systems against criteria developed with the expertise of consultants, vendors, foundation program officers, and system administrators.

The following resources are platforms for grants management that were recommended by donors and grantmakers throughout this project.

CyberGrants. https://impact.cybergrants.com/
CyberGrants provides corporate social responsibility (CSR) software for grants management, corporate philanthropy, employee giving, and foundations. 

Fluxx. https://www.fluxx.io/products/grantmaker-fluxx-grants-management-software
Fluxx’s grant management software streamlines several grant operations, from letters of intent (LOI) to payment and reporting.

Foundant. https://www.foundant.com/
Foundant provides cloud-based solutions to meet the needs of grantmakers, grantseekers, and community foundations. It helps streamline tasks and maximizes philanthropic impact.

SmartSimple. https://www.smartsimple.com/amplify-grantmaking-software
SmartSimple provides a platform called Amplify to manage all of grantmaking and business processes on one platform.

Submittable. https://www.submittable.com/
Submittable provides a platform for grants management and corporate social responsibility. Both platforms include an online form builder, workflow, and reporting tools. 

SurveyMonkey Apply. https://apply.surveymonkey.com/solutions/grants/
This portal provides a portal to collect applications, manage communications, and process financial activities for both grantseekers and grantees.

WizeHive. https://www.wizehive.com/
WizeHive offers a portal called Zengine that can be personalized to your needs. Zengine enables the full life cycle of grants.

These resources offer important information on ways donors may use their wealth, alongside philanthropic gifts and grants, to achieve their social impact goals.

Impact Investing/Mission-Related Investing/Program-Related Investing

Books

Bugg-Levine, A., & Emerson, J. (2011). Impact investing: Transforming how we make money while making a difference. Jossey-Bass.
In 2007, a group convened by the Rockefeller Foundation coined the term ‘impact investing’ to refer to how investments in businesses can produce public good. This book defines the industry of impact investing, provides examples of impact investing success stories, and discusses how the work might expand.

Publications

Arabella Investors. (2015). Essentials of impact investing: A guide for small-staffed foundations.
This guide reviews key questions to consider for impact investing and guidelines to answer them by providing a variety of impact investing tools, resources, and information.

Henriques, R., Nath, A., Cote-Ackah, C., & Rosqueta, K. (n.d.). Is there a bigger opportunity for mission investing by private foundations?
The goal of this paper is to convey an empirical understanding of the current state of foundation use of mission investing (PRIs and MRIs). This paper presents definitions, analyses of Mission Investor Exchange data to outline the current state of the sector, and barriers to the use of mission investing with specific examples. It also includes the authors’ thinking on what, if provided, might remove the obstacles.

Meyer, R., Rodgers, T., Rosqueta, K., & Hobble, R. (2018). The XX Factor Guidebook: How to Align Financial Investments to Improve the Lives of Women & Girls.
This guidebook provides actionable guidance on how to align financial investments in public equity to improve the lives of women and girls. It includes common investment theses, relevant for other cause areas; sample investment policy statements that illustrate how to incorporate social impact considerations into financial investment policies; strategies to align portfolios; and case examples.

Rosqueta, K. (2017). Impact Investing: Aligning Money, Values, and Social Impact Goals.
In this article, the author discusses philanthropic alignment between financial investments and social impact goals. While many families may be clear on their social impact goals, their foundation endowments may be invested in ways that counter their grantmaking strategies. She offers several real-life examples and resources which families seeking better alignment may learn from.

The Stanford Social Innovation Review. https://ssir.org/topics/category/impact_investing#
The Stanford Social Innovation Review (SSIR) provides several updated resources and publications on impact investing to produce both financial and social returns.

Organizations that provide news and research for the field

ImpactAlpha. https://impactalpha.com/
ImpactAlpha is a subscription-based, multi-channel digital media platform focused on the impact investing space. Its team curates news, opinion pieces, podcasts, and other resources to inform their audience, which includes asset owners (institutional and individual), asset and fund managers, foundations, advisors (including accountants, lawyers, consultants), entrepreneurs, and advocates.

Wharton Social Impact Initiative. https://socialimpact.wharton.upenn.edu/
WSII’s mission is to strengthen the role of business in creating a more inclusive, equitable, and sustainable global economy. Its research and training opportunities provide students and professionals the tools to create business-driven solutions for a better world.

Membership Organizations

The Global Impact Investment Network. https://thegiin.org/impact-investing/need-to-know/
The Global Impact Investing Network (GIIN) is the global champion of impact investing, dedicated to increasing its scale and effectiveness around the world. It does this by building critical infrastructure and developing activities, education, and research that help accelerate the development of a coherent impact investing industry.

Mission Investors Exchange. https://missioninvestors.org/
Mission Investors Exchange is an impact investing network for foundations dedicated to deploying capital for social and environmental change. They provide resources, inspiration, and connections to help members increase the scale and impact of their impact investing practice. They have a number of offerings and services, including topical webinars, a portfolio of case studies, and a monthly newsletter.

Toniic. https://toniic.com/
Toniic is a membership community of impact investors who come together from around the world to collaborate, educate, and support one another on their impact journeys. Toniic members meet and connect through regional member gatherings, interactive webinars, intimate local meetups, and personalized member introductions, facilitated by dedicated Toniic team members.

Policy and advocacy, including role of lobbying and political campaigns

Organizations that provide education and information

Bolder Advocacy. https://bolderadvocacy.org/
Bolder Advocacy provides nonprofits and foundations with accessible information, resources, and tools to help them navigate complex advocacy rules and regulations. It also conducts workshops and trainings around the country and offers one-on-one technical assistance by phone and email.

GrantCraft. https://grantcraft.org/listing/?fwppi_strategies=advocacy/
GrantCraft by Candid provides a series of articles and resources geared towards donors who wish to incorporate advocacy into their philanthropic strategy.

Stanford Social Innovation Review. SSIR guide to influencing public policy.
This series by SSIR is continually updated with articles to help nonprofits and advocates build support for addressing social issues highlighted by the 2020 U.S. presidential election.

Membership Organizations

The Funders Committee for Civic Participation (FCCP). https://funderscommittee.org/
FCCP is a network of funders supporting non-partisan efforts to engage voters, eliminate structural barriers to voting, advance reforms to improve government and electoral systems, and inspire public involvement in civic life. The State Infrastructure Funders Table is a group based at FCCP dedicated to supporting state-based civic engagement efforts. FCCP also has active working groups on the Census, Money in Politics, as well as research and experimentation.

Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE). http://www.pacefunders.org/
PACE is a membership network of foundations and funders that invest in civic engagement and democracy. PACE’s mission is to inspire interest, understanding, and investment in civic engagement within philanthropy and to be a voice for philanthropy in larger conversations about civic engagement, service, and democratic practice. It is also a leading source of resources on civic engagement, including primers on civic engagement, civic education, and democracy.

Publications and other tools (e.g., guidebooks, podcasts)

Alliance for Justice. Investing in change: A funder’s guide to supporting advocacy.
This guide is geared towards funders and staff of all types of foundations who wish to incorporate advocacy efforts into their strategy, but are unsure of which levels of involvement are legal and appropriate.

Alliance for Justice. Philanthropy advocacy playbook: Leveraging your dollars.
This playbook is designed for foundations and provides information on how to both fund and conduct advocacy. It includes several examples on how foundations’ investments have generated policy change and provides other resources.

Arabella Advisors. A framework for planning, monitoring, and assessing advocacy.
This framework describes the seven components of an enabling environment for policy change. This framework is based on Redstone Strategy Group’s 2013 article “Assessing Advocacy”, which itself draws upon other models including Urban Institute, the Hewlett Foundation, and Capitol Impact.

Baker, L. (2019). Using feedback to inform policy and advocacy work. Center for Effective Philanthropy.
This article summarizes the importance of feedback for organizations focused on changing systems and policies through advocacy, communications, and research.

Brody, A. S., & Wegbreit, J. (n.d.). Making advocacy a family philanthropy affair. National Center for Family Philanthropy.
Focused on family foundations, this article summarizes how they have used advocacy as a philanthropic strategy in the past. The article also summarizes different categories of advocacy work that nonprofits engage in along with examples of each type.

Brown, E. (2018). Advocacy for impact. The Atlantic Philanthropies.
This book presents several case studies and key findings from nonprofits and donors who have attempted to change policies and practices. Issue areas covered are the death penalty, AIDS crisis, marriage equality, and school discipline reform.

Carroll, C., Berger, W., La, H., & Rosqueta, K. M. (2019). We the people: A philanthropic guide to strengthening democracy.
For individual donors, foundation professionals, and other philanthropic players, this guide provides a framework for identifying high impact philanthropic opportunities to strengthen democracy. It outlines the key elements of a strong democracy, along with indicators of success and the determinants that drive that success.

Carroll, C., Berger, W., La, H., & Rosqueta, K.M. (2019). We the people: Nonprofits making an impact to strengthen democracy.
A supplement to We the People: A Philanthropic Guide to Strengthening Democracy, this guide profiles organizations that are making an impact in energizing civic engagement and reinvigorating local media.

Independent Sector. Civil Renewal Podcast.
Independent Sector’s President and CEO Dan Cardinali hosts a podcast series called Civil Renewal. During each episode, he invites a sector leader to discuss major themes brought up in the Civil Society for the 21^st Century series, in collaboration with the Stanford Social Innovation Review article series on contemporary civil society (see below).

Learn Foundation Law. Advocacy and Lobbying Rules for Private Foundations.
This website provides free, online, web-based trainings and tools for private foundations (and others who are interested) related to the basic legal rules for private foundations. Of note, there is an Advocacy and Lobbying Rules for Private Foundations course with an associated lobbying analysis tool. It is the product of a collaboration of legal staff at four large staffed foundations (Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, and David and Lucile Packard Foundation).

Stanford Social Innovation Review. https://ssir.org/civil_society_for_the_21st_century#
Partnering with Independent Sector, SSIR publishes an article series called Civil Society for the 21^st Century. Leading thinkers and practitioners explore the origins, boundaries, and opportunities of important issues of contemporary civil society. Several of these authors are also featured in Independent Sector’s corresponding podcast series (see above).

Whelpton, S., & McArthur, L. Ending the era of mass incarceration. Arabella Advisors.
This case study highlights the influence that 501(c)(4) organizations can have on public policy through a case example of how 501 (c)(4) spending promoted support for California’s Proposition 47, which brought sweeping reforms to end mass incarceration.

There are many books, publications, and organizations dedicated to helping you improve your philanthropic practice, no matter what social impact goal or high-level approach you have selected.

Books

Arrillaga-Andreessen, L. (2011). Giving 2.0: Transform your giving and our world. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.
Laura Arrillaga-Andreessen is the founder and chairman of the Stanford Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society. Based on her experience as a philanthropist, academic, volunteer, and social innovator, Arrillaga-Andreessen shares the techniques she herself has piloted and studied, along with the many lessons learned during a lifetime of giving and coaching others how to give.

Brest, P. & Harvey, H. (2018). Money well spent: A strategic plan for smart philanthropy. Stanford, CA: Stanford Business Books.
Paul Brest, former president of the Hewlett Foundation, and Hal Harvey, founder and CEO of Climate Works, provide a guide on how to structure philanthropy so that it makes a difference. This book covers how to choose among different approaches, measure progress, and know when to abandon an effort. Now in its second edition, it has been updated to include developments in impact evaluation and the emergence of high-profile, ultra-high-net-worth donors.

Buchanan, P. (2019). Giving done right: Effective philanthropy and making every dollar count. New York, NY: Hachette Book Group.
Phil Buchanan, the president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, outlines what it takes to do more good more quickly and to avoid predictable errors that lead too many astray. It offers the intellectual frameworks, data-driven insights, tools, and practical examples to allow readers to understand exactly what it takes to make a difference.

Frumkin, P. (2006). Strategic giving. Chicago, IL: The University of Chicago Press.
Peter Frumkin is a Professor of Social Policy and Practice at the School of Social Policy and Practice at the University of Pennsylvania. Frumkin proposes a framework for both analyzing and informing philanthropic choices. This framework is neutral on substantive issues and points to five essential questions that donors must answer to plan their giving. Frumkin asserts that there are no clear and unequivocally appropriate answers to any one of these; however, there are sets of answers that fit more or less well together. He defines strategic giving as the clear alignment of the five important philanthropic dimensions.

Marker, R. (2009). Saying “yes” wisely. New York, NY: Blooming Twig Books.
This is a collection of essays for all who do or are contemplating giving money for charitable purposes. These essays were written over time in response to questions which have come from his students, clients, and colleagues in the grantmaking field. It addresses real issues, respects individual needs and family legacies, and he offers his perspective on controversial topics. Richard Marker is also the faculty co-director for CHIP’s High Impact Philanthropy Academy.

Morino, M. (2011). Leap of reason: Managing to outcomes in an era of scarcity. Washington, DC: Morino Institute.
Philanthropist Mario Morino, McKinsey & Company, and top social-sector innovators make a case in this book that the nation’s growing fiscal crisis will force all in the social sector to be clearer about aspirations, more intentional in defining approaches, more rigorous in gauging progress, more willing to admit mistakes, and more capable of quickly adapting and improving, all with a focus on improving lives.

Santi, J. (2015). The giving way to happiness: Stories and science behind the life-changing power of giving. New York, NY: Jeremy P. Tarcher/Penguin.
Told firsthand by notable people such as Academy Award winner Goldie Hawn, Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus, Teach for America founder Wendy Kopp, philanthropist Richard Rockefeller, environmentalist Philippe Cousteau, and many others, the stories in this book make a passionate case that oftentimes the answers to the problems that haunt us, and the key to the happiness that eludes us, lie in helping others.

Schein, E. (2009). How to offer, give, and receive help. San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
In this book, Schein analyzes the dynamics of helping relationships, explains the importance of trust in helping relationships, illustrates what any would-be helper must do to ensure that help is actually provided, and what any recipient of help must do to facilitate the process. Using a broad range of examples Schein has experienced both personally and professionally, he explores the social and psychological dynamics of helping.

Sharken Simon, J. Five life stages of nonprofit organizations. New York, NY: Fieldstone Alliance.
Sharken Simon uses the Life Stage Model to help readers understand where their organizations are. She offers a useful guide to help understand which problems are typical for various developmental stages, how to effectively manage stage transitions, and how to watch for potential warning signs. The guide also includes The Nonprofit Life Stage Assessment tool.

Shoemaker, P. (2020). Taking charge of change: How rebuilders solve hard problems. Nashville, TN: HarperCollins Leadership.
Paul Shoemaker, Founding President of Social Venture Partners International—a global network of thousands of social innovators, entrepreneurs, philanthropists, and business and community leaders—shows leaders how change is happening and profiles the leaders behind it so that they have a model to follow. Featured leaders include Peter Drucker Award winner Rosanne Haggerty, Trish Millines, and David Rishner.

Weinstein, M.M., & Bradburd, R.M. (2013). The Robin Hood rules for smart giving. New York, NY: Columbia Business School Publishing.
This book outlines a metrics-driven approach developed by the Robin Hood Foundation, a New York-based foundation dedicated to alleviating poverty. The authors explain how donors can seek the greatest benefit per philanthropic dollar and provide guidance on how to tackle the challenges faced by donors who want to understand and measure the benefits produced by their philanthropic activities.

Publications

Adler, P. S. (2003). Making the HR outsourcing decision. MIT Sloan Management Review, 53-60.
This is an extensive review and synthesis of the literature on outsourcing in general and HR-BPO in particular, including separate studies and surveys conducted by Gartner/Dataquest, International Data Corp., and Robert W. Baird & Co. Inc.

Jung, T., Harrow, J., & Leat, D. (2018). Mapping philanthropic foundations’ characteristics: Towards an international integrative framework of foundation types. Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly, 47(5), 893–917.
This paper provides a framework which clarifies distinctions and identifies commonalities between different foundation forms. The article critically reviews the ways in which foundations have been differentiated in academic and practice literature and then proposes a new integrated framework of foundation types.

Kania, J., Kramer, M., & Russell, P. (2014). Strategic philanthropy for a complex world. Stanford Social Innovation Review. Summer 2014: 26-37.
The authors’ premise is that to make greater progress in the urgent societal challenges of today, funders must move beyond rigid and predictive models of strategy towards a more nuanced model of emergent strategy. They also posit that strategy must be co-created and co-evolve among multiple organizations, instead of being shaped independently.

ORS Impact and Impact-Driven Philanthropy Collaborative. Donor education and organizing: A 2020 snapshot.
ORS Impact and Impact-Driven Philanthropy Collaborative partnered to conduct a landscape analysis to assess the current state of donor education and donor organizing in the U.S. The intent of this report is to provide practitioners with a higher-level view, and insight into how you can work with other organizations and donors towards greater impact.

The Philanthropic Initiative. (2015). Strategic planning: Potential roles and strategies. Boston, MA.
This report serves as a guide to funders who wish to take a more proactive and strategic approach to philanthropy. This process consists of: a development of mission and goals, research and analysis, design of the philanthropic strategy, implementation, and evaluation, reflection, and revision. Finally, TPI provides several philanthropic strategies, along with examples of how to put each of these strategies into practice.

The Philanthropic Initiative. (2015). Place for passion in philanthropy. Boston, MA.
This primer helps donors reflect on their feelings about what they want to accomplish with their giving and how this connects to their satisfaction as philanthropists. The primer provides ways in which having a passion can positively benefit donors mostly in a personal way, but also their beneficiaries. Finally, the authors prescribe strategies to help donors find their passion and provide exercises and reflections to assess donors’ interests and values.

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. (2014). The theory of the foundation.
The Theory of the Foundation initiative aims to help “enhance the capacity of a foundation to align its resources for impact by identifying promising theories for foundations, as well as operating models, organization structures, and leadership practices” (p. 4). In three reports, Theory of the Foundation displays and discusses the results of the three-year program of research, convening, and publications in collaboration with 18 foundations.

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. (n.d.). Your philanthropy roadmap.
This guide is intended for donors (individuals, couples, families, or groups) and offers questions to consider (with your advisors and/or families) as “they create their own giving strategies.” It lists and describes five milestones in a donor’s philanthropic journey: 1) Why are you giving; 2) What do you want to achieve; 3) How do you think change will happen; 4) How will you assess your progress; and 5) Who will join you.

Scherer, S. C. (2017). Organizational identity and philanthropic institutions: Patterns of strategy, structure, and grantmaking practices. Nonprofit Management & Leadership, 28(1), 105-123.
In this article, Scherer proposes a framework for viewing the behavior of philanthropic institutions through the lens of organizational identity. Scherer’s research revealed three identity profiles: 1) agenda setter, 2) supporter, and 3) community builder. The organizations that fit into these three profiles differ in terms of foundation strategy, operational structure, and grantmaking practices.

Stevenson, A., Bockstette, V., Seneviratne, A., Cain, M., & Foster, T. (April, 2018). Being the change: 12 ways foundations are transforming themselves to transform their impact.
FSG interviewed 114 practitioners representing 50 funders and eight philanthropic services organizations that have gone through or advised internal transformation. The objective of this report is to present its findings on internal practices to create impact at scale and to change systems. The authors organize their findings by four broad categories: Staffing philosophy; Structure and design; Skill Development; and Supportive culture.

Walton Personal Philanthropy Group. (2019). Structuring for impact: A new approach for creating integrated engines of change.
The Walton Personal Philanthropy Group outlines a new, five-step approach in structuring for impact for donors who want to strategically structure their philanthropies to achieve the greatest impact in their giving. The authors interviewed 20 organizations of high-net-worth founders, speaking with both founders and staff members.

Watkins, M. (2007). Demystifying strategy: The what, who, how, and why. Harvard Business Review Press.
Watkins defines strategy as just one element of an overall strategic direction that leaders must define for their organizations. He defines the mission as what will be achieved; the value network as with whom value will be created and captured; strategy about how resources should be allocated to accomplish the mission in the context of the value network; and vision and incentives about why people in the organization should feel motivated to perform at a high level.

Organizations

Center for Effective Philanthropy. https://cep.org/
Founded in 2001, CEP is a nonprofit organization focused on the development of data and insight to enable higher-performing funders. CEP’s mission is to provide data and create insight for philanthropic funders so they can create greater impact.

Center for High Impact Philanthropy. https://www.impact.upenn.edu
The Center for High Impact Philanthropy (CHIP) is a trusted source of knowledge and education to help donors around the world do more good. Founded in 2006 as a collaboration between the School of Social Policy & Practice and alumni of the Wharton School, it is a university-based center focused on philanthropy for social impact. CHIP also curates several resources on how donors can best practice high impact philanthropy, defined as “the practice of using philanthropic funds for social impact.” This includes clarifying your social impact goal, finding the best available evidence, linking considerations of cost and impact, and a commitment to ongoing learning.

GrantCraft. https://grantcraft.org/
GrantCraft by Candid develops and curates resources across different strategies, issues, languages, and formats. Resources are also available by specific issue areas.

These resources discuss due diligence processes.

Publications

Buteau, E., & Coffman, J. (2016). Benchmarking foundation evaluation practices. CEP and Center for Evaluation Innovation.
For this report, survey data was collected from 127 senior evaluation and program staff. The authors define evaluation as “activities undertaken to systematically assess and learn about the foundation’s work, above and beyond final grant or finance reporting, monitoring, and standard due diligence practices” (p. 6) and present key findings on the foundations’ evaluation practices.

La Piana Consulting. (2010). Due diligence done well: a guide for grantmakers. Grantmakers for Effective Organizations. Retrieved from https://www.geofunders.org/resources/due-diligence-done-well-a-guide-for-grantmakers-714
This guide provides an overview of key issues to guide a grantmaker’s approach to due diligence. Their guidance is based on research by GEO and Project Streamline, along with La Piana Consulting’s consultations with several grantmakers on due diligence.

The Center for High Impact Philanthropy. https://www.impact.upenn.edu/issue-areas/
The Center for High Impact Philanthropy provides several guides geared towards donors on a variety of issue areas including, but not limited to: COVID-19 response, mental health and addiction, and democracy and society.

Organizations

Candid. https://www.guidestar.org/
Candid is the world’s largest source of information on nonprofits. It provides analyses, profiles, and reports on 1.9 million 501(c)3 entities.

Charity Navigator. https://www.charitynavigator.org/
Founded in 2001, Charity Navigator has rated over 160,000 nonprofits on financial health, accountability, and transparency.

Fund for Shared Insight. https://www.fundforsharedinsight.org/
Fund for Shared Insight is a national funder collaborative. It pools financial and other resources to connect foundations and nonprofits to produce community-building and collaborative relationships.

GiveWell. https://www.givewell.org/
GiveWell rates nonprofits based on in-depth empirical data, cost-effectiveness, and capacity for increased funding. 

GreatNonprofits. http://www.greatnonprofits.org/
GreatNonprofits provides a platform for community-sourced stories about nonprofits, written by donors, volunteers, and beneficiaries.

The Life You Can Save. https://www.thelifeyoucansave.org/
Created by Peter Singer, The Life You Can Save curates a group of nonprofits that aid the global poor vetted for record of effectiveness.

These resources define and provide guidance and insights on implementing participatory grantmaking.

Publications

Gibson, C. (2018). Deciding together: Shifting power and resources through participatory grantmaking.
This guide on the “why” and “how” of participatory grantmaking draws on real-life examples from a range of participatory grantmakers and presents benefits, challenges, and models of participatory grantmaking.

Gibson, C. (2019). Moving beyond feedback: The promise of participatory grantmaking. Nonprofit Quarterly.
In this article, the author goes over the recent history of participatory grantmaking. She points out lessons learned from philanthropy’s effort in this approach, and what kind of activities are included in participatory philanthropy in general.

Gibson, C. (2017). Participatory grantmaking: Has its time come? 
Commissioned by the Ford Foundation, this paper explores several participatory approaches, models, and frameworks geared towards both grantmakers and non-grantmakers.

IssueLab by Candid. Participatory grantmaking.
This collection of articles explores the experiences and insights of donors who have employed participatory grantmaking into their philanthropic strategy, based on principles outlined in the above publication Deciding together: Shifting power and resources through participatory grantmaking.

Publications

Buteau, E., & Coffman, J. (2016). Benchmarking foundation evaluation practices. CEP and Center for Evaluation Innovation.
For this report, survey data was collected from 127 senior evaluation and program staff. The authors define evaluation as “activities undertaken to systematically assess and learn about the foundation’s work, above and beyond final grant or finance reporting, monitoring, and standard due diligence practices” (p. 6) and present key findings on the foundations’ evaluation practices.

Buteau, E., Gopal, R., & Glickman, J. (2015). Assessing to achieve high performance: What nonprofits are doing and how foundations can help.
For this report, survey data was collected from 183 nonprofit leaders from a mix of organizations receiving foundation funding. The nonprofits surveyed have between $100 thousand and $100 million in annual expenses and receive funding from foundations giving at least $5 million annually. The authors present four key findings on their learning and evaluation practices.

The Center for High Impact Philanthropy. Beyond compliance.
This report was developed in collaboration with the Wharton Social Impact Initiative and distinguishes between (nonprofit) performance measurement and impact assessment.

Fitzsimmons, K. (2015). Getting the most out of evaluation. Nonprofit Quarterly.
This article presents lessons learned by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation (EMCF) on building an evidence base and “extracting the maximum benefit from evaluation.” All of EMCF’s 19 grantees were undergoing or have completed evaluation. The author states that regarding evaluation, “one size does not fit all,” given that every organization or program is unique.

Fort, M., & Yazbak, K. (2012). Building capacity to measure and manage performance. The Bridgespan Group.
This article is aimed for nonprofits and funders who are ready to start the learning and improvement journey. The authors believe that nonprofits are woefully underfunded for measurement and that nonprofits believe measurement is more for external stakeholders than their own leadership, staff, and constituents. Their findings are informed by interviews with dozens of nonprofit CEOs and EDs, and measurement directors.

ORS Impact on behalf of the Impact-Driven Philanthropy Collaborative. (2020). Landscape of organizations educating and organizing donors.
This report serves as a reference to donor education organizations, funders of donor education/organizing, and organizations in other segments of the donor support ecosystem, to understand their unique positioning and what they might do differently (or in collaboration with others) to help donors transform their philanthropy and advance more just outcomes from their giving.

Parker, S. (2019). When opportunity knocks, open the door: Evaluation amidst transition at the Colorado Health Foundation. Evaluation Roundtable.
This detailed case example focuses on how evaluation leaders, either within or with foundations, can play a role in proactively managing these transitions. Themes in the article include strategy design, introducing theories of change, role confusion and change, and challenges CHF faced during this transition.

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. (n.d.). Your philanthropy roadmap.
This guide is intended for donors (individuals, couples, families, or groups) and offers questions to consider (with your advisors and/or families) as “they create their own giving strategies.” It lists and describe five milestones in a donor’s philanthropic journey: 1) Why are you giving; 2) What do you want to achieve; 3) How do you think change will happen; 4) How will you assess your progress; and 5) Who will join you.

Stanford PACS. (n.d.). The philanthropy toolkit.
The toolkit is a practical step-by-step resource designed to help you, your family, and your advisors engage in thoughtful conversations, be effective in your charitable giving, and anchor your philanthropy around what most deeply inspires you.

Tuan, M. (2016). Measuring the results of your philanthropy: An overview for donors. Goldman Sachs & Co.
This report helps donors measure the results of a grant to a nonprofit and/or their overall philanthropy. It focuses on helping donors think through five key questions in order to accomplish this. It also contains an extensive bibliography of resources to further assist donors.

Organizations

American Evaluation Association. https://www.eval.org/
The American Evaluation Association (AEA) is a professional association for evaluators. AEA consists of approximately 6,000 members nationally and globally. It provides members with online courses, events, publications, and opportunities to connect with one another.

Center for Effective Philanthropy. https://cep.org/
Founded in 2001, CEP is a nonprofit organization focused on the development of data and insight to enable higher-performing funders. CEP’s mission is to provide data and create insight for philanthropic funders so they can create greater impact.

Center for Evaluation Innovation. https://www.evaluationinnovation.org/
CEI is a nonprofit that works with foundation leaders and evaluators. It provides resources, coaching, events, and develops its own research to advance evaluation and learning practice in philanthropy. CEI also coordinates the Evaluation Roundtable, a network of evaluation and learning leaders from over 130 foundations.

Center for High Impact Philanthropy. https://www.impact.upenn.edu
The Center for High Impact Philanthropy (CHIP) is a trusted source of knowledge and education to help donors around the world do more good. Founded in 2006 as a collaboration between the School of Social Policy & Practice and alumni of the Wharton School, it is a university-based center focused on philanthropy for social impact.

Equitable Evaluation Initiative. https://www.equitableeval.org/
The five-year Equitable Evaluation Initiative seeks to shift the evaluation paradigm. The EEI works with institutions that have already embraced equity as core to their work and equitable evaluation as an important next step to deepen their impact.

Fund for Shared Insight. https://www.fundforsharedinsight.org/
Fund for Shared Insight is a national funder collaborative. It pools financial and other resources to connect foundations and nonprofits to produce community-building and collaborative relationships.

Good Measure. https://www.goodmeasuregroup.org/
Good Measure is an association of philanthropic organizations. It supports organizations to strategically use data and analysis to guide program and organizational improvement, equips funders to grant their partners’ evaluation work, and advocates for community data systems.

Keystone Accountability. https://keystoneaccountability.org/
Keystone Accountability helps organizations understand and improve their social performance by garnering feedback, especially from their beneficiaries. It provides methods, tools, and services that allow organizations to understand what it calls the “constituent voice.”

Project Evident. https://www.projectevident.org/
Project Evident was launched in 2017, incubated by the Edna McConnell Clark Foundation. It provides services to both practitioners and funders to improve practices and outcomes for the communities they wish to serve.

Stanford Social Innovation Review. https://ssir.org/topics/category/measurement_evaluation
SSIR provides a series of articles and resources on new ways to measure and evaluate your organization.

These resources include publications and organizations that can be useful as you consider how best to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion considerations into your philanthropic activities.

Publications

Anand, N. (2019). ‘Checkbox diversity’ must be left behind for DEI efforts to succeed. Stanford Social Innovation Review.
The author writes about the harms of checkbox diversity and tokenism and calls for strategies that celebrate people’s individual approaches and skills that are shaped by their lived experiences. They present three tactics to guide the work of dismantling inequitable systems.

Dorsey, D., Kim, P., Daniels, C., Sakaue, L., & Savage, B. (2020). Overcoming the racial bias philanthropic funding. Stanford Social Innovation Review.
This article explains how racial bias seeps into all parts of the philanthropic and grantmaking process. Ultimately, nonprofit organizations led by people of color receive less money than those led by white people, and philanthropy ends up reinforcing the very social harms it says it is trying to overcome.

Ferguson, K. (2018). The perils of liberal philanthropy. Jacobin.
The author discusses the history of the Black Power movement and how it offers many lessons about the warping effects and limits of liberal philanthropy’s powers.

Harris, K. (2019). Guardrails for relationships tilted by power: How to keep everyone on the road. Nonprofit Quarterly.
This article presents several agreements, or guardrails, to guide more power-balanced relationships within a foundation. 

Koenig, R. (2016). Foundations bet it all on advancing equity. The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
The author presents a case study on how the Meyer Memorial Trust shifted their purpose to advancing equity. Meyer is one of several grantmakers nationwide that are dramatically reshaping themselves to put issues of justice and equity across lines of race, gender, and class at the heart of their work. 

Morning, J., & Tansimore, A. (2010). Diversity must start at the top. The Chronicle of Philanthropy, 22 (17).
This commentary summarizes the lack of diversity in executive positions in American foundations.

Rendon, J. (2019). Diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts can be detrimental, say conference attendees. The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
The article reports pitfalls encountered in DEI efforts, including lack of training, clarity on goals of DEI initiatives, and lack of finding for initiatives.

Roberts, L. M., & Mayo, A. J. (2019). Toward a racially just workplace. Harvard Business Review.
With a backdrop of the history of workplace discrimination, the authors describe several ways that staff members can help create more equitable institutions and workplaces.

Theis, M. (2019). Research can perpetuate inequity: New guide shows how to change that. The Chronicle of Philanthropy.
The author calls for and presents a new guide for grantmakers, community-focused nonprofits, and the researchers who study their efforts in order to combat the power imbalance between grantmakers and the smaller organizations they support. 

Tuan, M. (2020). Amplified needs require amplifying voices. The Center for Effective Philanthropy.
This article highlights three key findings and reflections from CEP’s research report, Funder Support During the COVID-19 Pandemic. These findings are: the disproportionate, negative impacts of COVID-19 on marginalized communities; perceptions of foundation funders by nonprofit CEOs of color; and donors are less likely to have talked to nonprofits that are led by women.

DEI Frameworks and Resources

Center for Creative Leadership. 5 powerful ways to take real action on DEI.
This provides a framework for action on diversity, equity, and inclusion to shift mindsets, behaviors, and practices towards more equitable and inclusive leadership. They include: reveal relevant opportunities, elevate equity, activate diversity, and lead inclusively.

Justice Funders. Choir book: A framework for social justice philanthropy.
This framework is a guide to support donors and organizations in aligning grantmaking practice with social justice values. It defines core values, individual competencies, and actions that support values-aligned practice to create a comprehensive framework for effective social justice philanthropy.

Page, S. (n.d.). Diversity, inclusion and effective philanthropy. Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.
As part of the Philanthropy Roadmap series, this guide aims to explain how diversity and inclusion can be used as practical considerations for getting better results.

Raikes Foundation. Racial equity resources.
This list of resources has helped the Raikes Foundation to guide their equity work, both as individuals and as a team. They offer these resources, articles, and videos as a starting point to anyone who is interested in racial equity work.

Identity and Affinity Groups

Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy (AAPIP). https://aapip.org/who-we-are
AAPIP is a national membership organization dedicated to expanding and mobilizing philanthropic and community resources for underserved AAPI communities. 

Association of Black Foundation Executives. https://www.abfe.org/
ABFE is a membership-based philanthropic organization that advocates for responsive and transformative investments in Black communities. ABFE provides its members with professional development and technical assistance resources

CHANGE Philanthropy. https://changephilanthropy.org/
CHANGE Philanthropy (formerly known as Joint Affinity Groups) was founded in 1993. It is a coalition of philanthropic networks aiming to strengthen connections across funders and communities.

Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP). https://www.epip.org/
Emerging Practitioners in Philanthropy (EPIP), a project of Tides, is a national network of changemakers. EPIP’s mission is to empower emerging leaders and elevate philanthropic practice in order to build a more just, equitable, and sustainable world.

Funders for LGBTQ Issues. https://lgbtfunders.org/
Funders for LGBTQ Issues is a network of more than 75 foundations, corporations, and funding institutions that collectively award more than $1 billion annually, including approximately $100 million specifically devoted to LGBTQ issues.

Hispanics in Philanthropy. https://hiponline.org/
Hispanics in Philanthropy (HIP) aims to strengthen Latino leadership, influence, and equity by leveraging philanthropic resources. They are a global network of foundations, donors, and nonprofits who make investments in the Latinx communities and leaders.

National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). https://www.ncrp.org/
NCRP is a member organization for nonprofit organizations. It provides members with a variety of benefits, resources, and a community through which members can collaborate and partner. 

Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAP). https://nativephilanthropy.org/
The mission of Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAP) is to promote equitable and effective philanthropy and investments in Native communities. NAP does this by providing education and advocacy within the philanthropic sector.

Neighborhood Funders Group (NFG). https://www.nfg.org/
Neighborhood Funders Group (NFG) is a network of national and local grantmakers throughout the U.S. They provide resources, news, and events to members to learn and connect, with an intersectional and place-based focus.

NEXUS. https://nexusglobal.org/
NEXUS is a global community of over 6,000 members from 70 countries. Its focus is to bridge communities of wealth and social entrepreneurship. It provides events and conducts its own research to facilitate collaboration between their members.

Resource Generation. https://resourcegeneration.org/
Resource Generation organizes young people, age 18 to 35, who have wealth and class privilege in the U.S. to become leaders working towards the equitable distribution of wealth, land, and power.

Women Moving Millions. https://womenmovingmillions.org/
Women Moving Millions is a community of 340 individuals who each make a minimum $1M commitment to organizations and initiatives benefiting women and girls.

Organizations Focused on and Supporting DEI

Candid. https://candid.org/explore-issues/racial-equity
Candid shares continuously updated data as well as news, analysis, and perspectives on issues surround racial equity.

Color of Change. https://colorofchange.org/
Color of Change is the nation’s largest online racial justice organization. As a national online force driven by 7 million members, it leads campaigns that build power for Black communities.

Council on Foundations. https://www.cof.org/content/philanthropic-support-network#funder
The Council on Foundations provides a list of several different types of colleague and infrastructure organizations that serve philanthropy.

Equitable Evaluation Initiative. https://www.equitableeval.org/
The five-year Equitable Evaluation Initiative (EEI) seeks to shift the evaluation paradigm so that it becomes a tool for and of equity for those that have placed equity as core to their work. The EEI is focused on institutions that have already embraced equity as core to their work and equitable evaluation as an important next step to align their values and deepen their impact.

Equity in the Center. https://equityinthecenter.org/who-we-are/
Equity in the Center envisions a future where nonprofit and philanthropic organizations adopt what they call a Race Equity Culture focused on proactive counteraction of social inequities. It supports the social sector by providing a variety of resources, including convening, tools, and frameworks.

Keecha Harris and Associates (KHA). https://khandassociates.com/
KHA works with philanthropy, corporations, and NGOs to help them understand the impact and capacity of their social investments at the community level and beyond.

Justice Funders. http://justicefunders.org/
Justice Funders is the former home of the Bay Area Justice Funders Networks. They are a partner and guide for philanthropy in re-imagining practices, such as redistribution. They provide services on professional development, coaching and consulting, and strategies with a focus on social justice.

National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). https://www.ncrp.org/
NCRP is a member organization for nonprofit organizations. It provides members with a variety of benefits, resources, and a community through which members can collaborate and partner.

Philanthropic Initiative for Racial Equity (PRE). https://racialequity.org/
Since January 2003, PRE has directly engaged hundreds of foundation representatives in discussions of racial equity and how they can advance the mission of achieving racial equity through their own organizations. PRE also conducts local and regional events well as a number of national events.

Trust-Based Philanthropy Project. https://trustbasedphilanthropy.org/
The Trust-Based Philanthropy Project is a five-year, peer-to-peer funder initiative to address the inherent power imbalances between foundations and nonprofits. It curates resources and puts on events to encourage grantmakers to embody a trust-based approach.

Books

These books were recommended by donors, advisors, and other key informants to this effort.

Giridharadas, A. (2018). Winners take all: The elite charade of changing the world. United States: Alfred A. Knopf.
The author takes a critical look at the “global elite’s efforts to ‘change the world.’” Giridharadas posits that global elites instead preserve the status quo and obscure their roles in causing the problems they later seek to solve. He poses tough questions such as “why should our gravest problems be solved by the unelected upper crust instead of the public institutions it erodes by lobbying and dodging taxes?”

Villanueva, E. Decolonizing wealth: Indigenous wisdom to heal divides and restore balance. Berrett-Koehler Publishers, Inc.
In this book, the author provides an analysis of what he describes to be the ‘dysfunctional colonial dynamics’ that have long influenced philanthropy and finance. Villanueva draws from the traditions of the Native way to offer solutions for systemic imbalances he describes.

Walker, D. (2019). From generosity to justice: A new gospel of wealth. Ford Foundation.
In this book, the author articulates his vision for the future of philanthropy joined by other thinkers, activists, and leaders from a diversity of fields, sectors, and walks of life. Walker seeks to ask and answer the question: “If there’s a continuum between generosity and justice, how do we push our work closer to the latter?”

These resources provide guidance on how to engage philanthropic advisors and consultants, examples of firms that other high-net-worth donors have used to borrow talent, and examples of intermediaries and pooled funds.

Buy

Publications

Fidelity Charitable. (n.d.). A guide to working with philanthropic advisors.
This resource was co-created by Fidelity Charitable and a group of philanthropic advisory firms to provide a resource for donors wanting to learn more about how to engage expert help to become more effective givers. Further, this resource provides guidance to common and important questions about the role that philanthropic advisors play in supporting charitable planning and giving, as well as factors to consider before engaging an advisor.

Organizations

Arabella Advisors. https://www.arabellaadvisors.com/
Founded in 2005, Arabella Advisors assists donors, corporations, and foundations with strategic guidance for effective philanthropy. Located in eight major cities, Arabella provides services on grants management, impact investing, evaluation, and more.

Dalberg. https://dalberg.com/
Dalberg Advisors is a strategic advisory firm that partners with and serves communities, government, and companies around the world. They provide advisory, data insights, design, implementation, media, and research services and consultancies.

FSG. https://www.fsg.org/
FSG is a global consulting firm for corporate, foundation, and nonprofit/NGO leaders. FSG has provided services in strategic planning, implementation, and evaluation since 2000.

Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors. https://www.rockpa.org/
Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) is a nonprofit that partners with individuals, families, and institutions and provides them with financial, advisory, and management services. Since 2002, they have facilitated more than $3 billion in grantmaking worldwide.

The Bridgespan Group. https://www.bridgespan.org/
The Bridgespan Group is a global nonprofit whose services include strategy consulting and advising, sourcing and diligence, and leadership team support. Its clients include individual donors, nonprofit and NGO leaders, and impact investors.

The Institute for Wise Philanthropy. https://wisephilanthropy.com/
Wise Philanthropy is a boutique consulting firm dedicated to helping individual philanthropists, families, and foundations make better decisions. It works with individual funders and both private and public foundations to help them make more impact with their giving. Its founder, Richard Marker, serves as a faculty co-director for the Center for High Impact Philanthropy’s donor education programs.

Build

Stevenson, A., Bockstette, V., Seneviratne, A., Cain, M., & Foster, T. (2018). Being the change: 12 ways foundations are transforming themselves to transform their impact.
FSG interviewed 114 practitioners representing 50 funders and eight philanthropic services organizations that have gone through or advised internal transformation. The objective of this report is to present their findings on internal practices to create impact at scale and to change systems. They organize their findings by four broad categories: Staffing philosophy; Structure and design; Skill Development; and Supportive culture.

Borrow

This section describes CHIP’s involvement with several philanthropic competitions at the University of Pennsylvania and MacArthur Foundation.

CHIP has directly been involved in several competitions, including two hosted by the University of Pennsylvania: the Lipman Family Prize, which recognizes leadership and innovation in the social sector with an emphasis on impact and transferability of practices, and the inaugural Beacon Awards, a follow-on award that recognizes previous Lipman Family Prize winners who have demonstrated success in scaling up their social impact efforts by collaborating and sharing knowledge across their sector. For the former, CHIP annually trains a cohort of Lipman Fellows in social impact analysis, and for the latter, CHIP supported the awards committee with independent analysis of applications.

Lever for Change began with the first 100&Change competition awarding $100 million to a single proposal with great potential to solve a social problem. Now the organization, a John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation affiliate, has created additional social impact competitions that include the Equality Can’t Wait Challenge to expand women’s power and influence in the U.S., the Economic Opportunity Challenge to improve the economic health of low-income families, and more regional and global competitions. CHIP has worked with Lever for Change on two projects, Bold Ideas for Change, where CHIP analyzed the top 92 applications for their potential to achieve greater social impact, and Choosing Change, which will develop a rubric — i.e., criteria and way for funders to assess proposals for their potential to address structural inequality. The rubric and lessons learned, which include talent implications for conducting competitions, will be made publicly available for use and adaptation by an individual donor or institutional funder interested in addressing structural inequality.

Another competition example is Grand Challenges Canada, a nonprofit organization funded by $225 million from the government of Canada, which identifies global Grand Challenges, funds researchers and organizations to address them, and supports the implementation of the solutions that emerge. Partners include the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

Books

Frumkin, P. (2014). Chapter 19: New forms of grantmaking. Competitions, prizes, and crowd sourcing. In New frontiers of philanthropy: A guide to the new tools and new actors that are reshaping global philanthropy and social investing.
The chapter describes the characteristics, limitations, and grantmaking management issues of prizes and competitions. Several case studies are provided.

These resources provide relevant benchmark data for compensation and salary.

Publications

Candid 2020 Nonprofit Compensation Report
This annual report provides compensation analysis for 14 executive leadership positions such as CEOs and CFOs. Its numbers are derived from Candid’s database of more than 113,000 nonprofit organizations for the fiscal year 2018.

Council on Foundations 2019 Grantmaker Salary and Benefits Report
This report provides salary, benefits, and diversity data for full-time staff at U.S. foundations to aid in budget planning and personnel practice benchmarking. Information is presented by grantmaker type, foundation type, asset size, and geographic location.

Exponent Philanthropy 2020 Foundation Operations and Management Report
This annual report contains salary and other benchmark statistics for foundations with few or no staff. Their numbers are derived from a survey completed by 466 foundation members of Exponent Philanthropy.