Successful change isn’t about technology alone—it’s about empowering people to work better, smarter, and more collaboratively. Whether you’re rolling out a new CRM or rethinking your grantmaking system or processes, the “Ps and Qs Framework” helps you manage change with intention and drive a deeper alignment between people, purpose, and process. Philanthropy technology, aka PhilTech, applications can ease and facilitate connections across the various participants in the philanthropic ecosystem, including donors, nonprofits and advisors.

To help grantmaking organizations prepare for change, we have created a simple framework to help them better understand their organizational context. When we reflect, align and plan before diving into technology implementation, we position ourselves for a better return on the investment of time and money and open the door for greater impact. Here’s how it works:

Start with the Ps: 5 Key Pillars of Change
Each “P” represents a core element of your change management strategy:

• Purpose – Why are you making this change? What is your vision for success?
• Problem – What specific issue or challenge are you solving for?
• People – Who will be impacted? Who needs to be engaged, heard, and supported?
• P-Essentials – What current workflows, rules, or routines will be affected? What tools, functions or technologies will enable the change?
• Partners – Who can you rely on to champion, implement, or support this change?

Now Ask the Qs: Clarifying Questions to Guide the Journey
Each “Q” aligns with a corresponding “P” to help you think through the change more intentionally:

1. What is your purpose?
   Define the “why” behind your change. It is important to anchor your change strategy in your mission, your values, and the outcomes you hope to achieve. This is your guiding north star. Stay focused on it.
2. What is the problem you want to solve?
   Avoid vague goals: knowing what you want to do and why will ensure your team is fully aligned. It is essential to articulate the challenge clearly and connect it to a specific pain point or new opportunity. If you’re looking to create new functionality, add services or address a need, consider completing the following sentence: “I need/want to [achieve something].” Connecting the challenge to the outcome will help you stay focused on what is important for the change to be impactful. This is also how you will “make the case” for change clear and compelling.
3. Who are the people involved, and what are their needs?
   Change doesn’t happen in a vacuum. Successful philanthropy involves collaboration across multiple people: givers, their advisors, nonprofits, their advisors, and so on. At the heart of it, your “change strategy” is essentially a “people strategy.” Map your stakeholders—internal and external—and consider how the change will affect them. Understanding their motivations and needs and knowing how they like to receive information will be key to your success.
4. What processes, policies, or procedures will be impacted? What functions do you need?
   Look at what needs to evolve. Start with mapping your current-state operational workflows and procedures. A shared awareness of where you are starting from and where you’re going will help you identify gaps.
   If there are policies related to the impacted processes, now is the time to review them. If you don’t have a policy but need one, TAG has numerous examples in its Knowledge Center from peers and other grantmaking organizations.
   Identify functional requirements tied to the problem you’re solving. Hint: when collecting your requirements, if you do so with the user and the function in mind you will have a head start on drafting your user stories: “As a [role], I want to [do something].”
5. Who will be your partners in supporting the change?
   In order for your change to stick, you need to consider how to support and reinforce that change. Identify internal champions, external experts, and trusted collaborators who can partner with you to build the conditions for success: the awareness, the desire and the ability to change.

The challenges and pitfalls organizations encounter when adopting new tech are rarely about the technology itself. Without creating a shared vision for success that addresses the needs of all the humans involved and what they need to understand to adapt to the change, grantmaking organizations will not and cannot be successful.

You can find additional resources from TAG’s website by visiting tagtech.org.

Want to contribute to our Outside Perspectives Series and share your philanthropic insights?
Write to us at marketing@foundationsource.com for a chance to be featured in an upcoming blog!

Want to learn more about the ways we support donors, nonprofits and advisors?
Our philanthropic specialists are here to help! To learn more, schedule a call with us or reach us at 800-839-0054. Together, let’s #begiving.

The Technology Association of Grantmakers is a nonprofit member organization that promotes the power of technology to advance the goals of the philanthropic sector.

About The Author
Jean Westrick is the Executive Director of the Technology Association of Grantmakers, a nonprofit organization that cultivates the strategic, equitable, and innovative use of technology in philanthropy. Westrick brings two decades of experience building communities, leveraging technology, and leading innovative and programmatic strategies. Prior to being named Executive Director of TAG, Westrick was the Director of IT Strategy and Communications at The Chicago Community Trust where she led change management efforts for the foundation’s $6M digital transformation initiative. Also, while at The Trust, Westrick directed On the Table, an award-winning engagement model designed to inspire resident action that was replicated in 30 cities nationwide. A longtime advocate for equity in STEM education, expanding technology access and increasing science literacy, Westrick holds a Bachelor of Arts from Michigan State University and a Master of Science from DePaul University.

The post The Ps and Qs Framework: How Your Grantmaking Organization Can Manage Change with Intention and Drive Deeper Alignment appeared first on Foundation Source.

Well-grounded
Inspired
Satisfying
Effective

At a time when philanthropy is evolving rapidly, many advisors, foundations, and nonprofits are struggling to keep pace with how today’s donors want to engage. Traditional fundraising often focuses on year-end appeals or transactional asks, missing the deeper conversations donors are eager to have about meaning and impact. Giving either doesn’t happen at all, or it falls far short of its potential.

That’s why WISEgenerosity’s new donor engagement platform is designed to reframe how givers connect with the causes they care about. Built from years of experience across financial advising, fundraising, and values-based planning, WISEgenerosity is not just a tool. It’s a mindset. A method. And, we hope, a movement.

WISEgenerosity empowers the three key parties of any transformational gift – donors, nonprofits, and professional advisors around a philosophy that begins with two essential life questions: Why are we here? and What do we do about it?

The answer, rooted in years of reflection and real-world experience, is generosity.

WISEgenerosity weaves together purpose and practice, helping individuals, families, fundraisers, and advisors approach giving not just as an isolated act, but as a collaborative way of living with meaning. At its core, WISEgenerosity is a previously missing bridge between inspiration and application when it comes to giving.

The Backstory
In addition to being the author and creator of WISEgenerosity, I have over 30 years of leadership in philanthropy and finance. I’ve sat in every seat around the giving table –as a donor, fundraiser, consultant, and professional advisor. The question, “what makes a life meaningful?”, sparked a personal journey. The result was WISEgenerosity – a donor engagement framework designed to help individuals, families, and institutions give with more clarity and joy, advisors to empower philanthropic clients more meaningfully, and nonprofits to create giving opportunities in direct alignment with the personal preferences and passions of the donor.

The Generosity Paradox
At the heart of this new approach is a paradox: when people give, they gain. Not just tax deductions or recognition—but happiness, enlightenment, and fulfillment.

WISEgenerosity helps to unlock what we call “a transformational program for living and giving.” This approach treats the sharing of time, talent, and treasure not as transactions, but as a powerful combination of considerate attitude and caring action.

Generosity, when done well, produces meaningful outcomes not only for the receiver, but for the giver and for everyone else around them. By helping advisors and nonprofits walk alongside donors as they explore their values, vision, and capacity to give, WISEgenerosity creates a more integrated and intentional generosity journey. When done wisely and well, generosity is one of the only human behaviors you just can’t have too much of.

From Inspiration to Application
WISEgenerosity empowers donors, nonprofits, and professional advisors with shared tools and frames of reference that position donors at the center of the giving process, making them the hero of the story. It then delivers generosity that is:

• Well-grounded – giving anchored in personal values, not just financial plans
•  Inspired – giving fueled by purpose and emotional clarity
• Satisfying – giving that is deeply rewarding, beyond metrics
• Effective – giving that also produces real, measurable impact

This approach generates purposeful, productive generosity that truly is W.I.S.E.

Transformational Generosity
WISEgenerosity is grounded in a vision of Transformational Generosity—a ripple effect that begins with the individual and expands outward.

Why It Matters Now

1. Donors seek more than basic giving outlets…they want meaning.
2. Advisors want to serve their clients more deeply.
3. Nonprofits need new tools to build lasting relationships in service to their vital work.

WISEgenerosity isn’t a fundraising script, a donor segmentation strategy, or a static client program. It’s a system for catalytic generosity—one that helps donors act not out of guilt or obligation, but from a place of alignment and abundance. It also is about shifting the giving timeline forward because generosity delayed is generosity diminished.

For professional advisors, WISEgenerosity opens the door to serving clients’ fundamental priorities and preferences – their “Why?” For nonprofits, it accelerates and amplifies donor relationships. For donors, it provides new self-awareness about what kind of generous they are called to be.

Looking Ahead
This article is the first in a four-part series exploring the principles, practices, and possibilities of WISEgenerosity. In the coming installments, we’ll dive deeper into how the system works, share examples of the process in action, provide simple yet empowering interactive tools (think “Myers Briggs for giving”), and offer practical ways to encourage communication, coordination and collaboration among the three key parties of giving: donors, advisors and nonprofits.

The new era of giving starts now.

You can learn more at wisegenerosity.com.

Want to contribute to our Outside Perspectives Series and share your philanthropic insights? Write to us at marketing@foundationsource.com for a chance to be featured in an upcoming blog!

Want to learn more about the ways we support donors, advisors and nonprofits?
Our philanthropic specialists are here to help! To learn more, schedule a call with us or reach us at 800-839-0054. Together, let’s #begiving.

About the Author
Chris Gabriel is a financial advisor at a major wealth management firm and the author of WISEgenerosity: A Guide to Purposeful and Productive Living and Giving. His practice serves individuals and families who prioritize giving and, on the other side of the generosity process, nonprofit organizations who want to be good stewards of their resources and to more meaningfully and effectively connect with their donors.

What began as a calling to align his spiritual, personal, and professional lives grew into a framework for helping others to give with clarity, confidence, and joy. Chris’s work invites donors, advisors, and nonprofits to see generosity as an essential virtue and as a path to personal, relational, and social transformation. More information is available at https://wisegenerosity.com.

The post Giving More Productively By Unlocking Purpose appeared first on Foundation Source.

Too Many Choices
A common barrier for all of us is too many choices. While our intuitions tell us that more choice is better, psychology research indicates that too much choice can prevent us from making any choice at all. A few factors make an array of choice in grantmaking even more difficult:

• There is a nearly endless quantity of issues and populations a philanthropic family could choose to fund. As our world grows more complex and issues become increasingly intersectional, the options for grantmaking focuses and approaches grow too.
• We find it challenging to make a choice when it is hard to compare our choices. In grantmaking, funders are rarely comparing “apples to apples” when deciding the best way to use their resources.
• We have a hard time making choices when we want to make the single best choice, rather than a very good or satisfactory choice. Donors frequently fund issues that are personally meaningful to them and have an even greater desire to make the perfect decision. Additionally, many of the problems donors seek to ameliorate are urgent and the pressure to make the very best decision becomes paralyzing.

Among the solutions behavioral science highlights is starting with one grant. Making a single grant, even an imperfect one, can help donors get unstuck and prompt them to consider what worked, what didn’t, and what type of grant they want to give next. Whether a donor is giving for the first time, scaling up, or diving into a new funding area, giving one grant with the openness to evolve and learn will beget more and more giving and allow the donor to hone their approach along the way.

Fear of Attention and Public Scrutiny
Particularly in our modern, interconnected world, fear of public judgment is a very valid concern for high-profile donors. Two psychological phenomena may heighten that fear.

1. Availability heuristic: We think there is a higher probability of something happening if we can more easily recall examples of it. And we more easily recall examples the more vivid they are in our minds. In philanthropy, a story about a grant that has failed is probably much more vivid and easier to recall than the many, many stories of successful grants. With that failure in mind, donors frequently overestimate the likelihood of public scrutiny.
2. Social norms: Just like in all aspects of our life, social norms are present in philanthropy and have a strong ability to influence the decisions we make. Because peer criticism—which informs what is socially acceptable—is uncomfortable, donors try to act in ways that are aligned with social norms. Increasingly, philanthropists are discussing not only what they fund, but the practices and approaches they employ as well. The fear of stepping outside social norms can not only hamper creativity and innovative solutions, but cause donors to stall out their giving efforts.

One way to overcome the availability heuristic is to share vivid success stories. Though dramatic negative stories are often what loom large, donors can share dramatic success stories and shift the narrative to focus on what is working, ultimately providing other donors with new, positive examples to draw from. Donors can mitigate the fear of public critique in two, somewhat opposite ways. One is to give anonymously through vehicles like donor-advised funds or pooled funds. The other is to be public about their giving, including plans, benchmarks, and the potential for failure. By publicizing their intentions donors can set the public’s expectations and by being transparent about successes and failure, they can own the narrative of their giving and reduce the effect of public scrutiny.

The Fear of Uncomfortable Family Dynamics
For families that practice philanthropy together, such as through a private foundation, the possibility of damaging family relationships in the process is often top of mind. To avoid conflict, they may put off decisions or maintain the status quo. In doing so, behavioral science tells us, they are regulating their emotions by disengaging. Disengagement can stop new ideas and perspectives from surfacing and prevent the family from building skills they need to navigate change in the future.

Families can think long term to overcome this barrier. In the here and now, it might feel best to avoid conflict. However, addressing conflict early can stop feelings of resentment from building over time. If a family has goals of generational continuity, considering the long-term philanthropic and family goals in conjunction with the family’s values can help cultivate connection and purpose to propel the family forward, even in the face of conflict.

Moving Forward One Step at a Time
While each barrier addressed in the report has a specific set of solutions, there are several cross-cutting ways for donors to find a path forward. The first is to act. Taking one small action will create momentum. Making a single grant or completing a small task can build confidence and set more giving in motion.

Read Overcoming Psychological Barriers to Giving to explore all 10 of the barriers and their solutions. Donors can use the publication and the accompanying diagnostic tool to assess and address the barriers that most often arise in their giving. We hope that an awareness of the barriers that are holding them back and the simple solutions available will help donors have an even greater impact and experience more joy along the way.

You can find additional resources at the National Center for Family Philanthropy at ncfp.org.

Want to contribute to our Outside Perspectives Series and share your philanthropic insights? Write to us at marketing@foundationsource.com for a chance to be featured in an upcoming blog!

Want to learn more about the ways we support private foundations?
Whether you are looking for support for your existing foundation or want to create a private foundation, our philanthropic specialists are here to help. To learn more, schedule a call with us or reach us at 800-839-0054. Together, let’s #begiving.

The National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP) is a network of philanthropic families committed to a world that is vibrant, equitable, and resilient. NCFP offers programs, resources, and community to support more effective family philanthropy.

The post Three Psychological Barriers that Hold Donors Back from Giving appeared first on Foundation Source.

1. Lay the groundwork
2. Complete effective onboarding
3. Continue to learn and grow together

Below, we offer our top tips for success at each phase.

1. Lay the Groundwork: Identify Guardrails and Open Gates
The managing generation is responsible for creating the conditions that will allow the next generation to succeed. Many of those conditions are predicated on careful reflection before extending a formal invitation. One critical component for the managing generation to reflect is to identify their guardrails and open gates. The managing generation needs to determine which pieces of the philanthropy are fixed, and which are flexible and to clearly communicate that to the next generation to avoid frustration and disappointment. For instance, we recommend that the managing generation considers the issues, geographies, and/or populations that they currently focus on and whether they are willing to adjust those priorities in the future.

2. Complete Effective Onboarding: Share a Clear Invitation
When you have laid the groundwork and are prepared to invite members of the next generation to join your philanthropy, we encourage you to do so by offering an explicit invitation, rather than to rely on unstated expectations or assumptions. A clear invitation includes information on the precise role, time commitment, and length of service as well as information about the philanthropy to date and what the managing generation hopes for the future. The managing generation should also note the expertise and experience they see in a next-generation individual and how those skills may contribute to their board service. Sharing a thorough and thoughtful invitation starts your philanthropic relationship off with a sense of respect for the next generation’s time, interest, and priorities, and allows room for negotiations and adjustments.

3. Continue to Learn and Grow Together: Practice (and Encourage) Humility
For the managing generation who have dedicated, often years, of time and energy to the philanthropy, welcoming individuals with new approaches and different life experiences can be a challenging change. While most next-generation leaders are open to learning and passionate about having an impact, they likely also want to make their own path. As the next generation brings their own ideas and perspectives to the table, it’s important that everyone practices humility. Doing so will strengthen relationships among family members and also help them recognize the privilege of stewardship and the knowledge and expertise within the communities they support.

Learn More
With a thoughtful process, all participants can bring skills and knowledge to the work, learn from each other, and support effective and impactful work. Learn more about the practices and considerations involved in each phase of engaging next-generation adults.

You can find additional resources at the National Center for Family Philanthropy at ncfp.org.

Want to contribute to our Outside Perspectives Series and share your philanthropic insights? Write to us at marketing@foundationsource.com for a chance to be featured in an upcoming blog!

Want to learn more about the ways we support private foundations?
Whether you are looking for support for your existing foundation or want to create a private foundation, our philanthropic specialists are here to help. To learn more, schedule a call with us or reach us at 800-839-0054. Together, let’s #begiving.

The National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP) is a network of philanthropic families committed to a world that is vibrant, equitable, and resilient. NCFP offers programs, resources, and community to support more effective family philanthropy.

The post Three Tips for Engaging Next-Generation Adults in Your Family’s Philanthropy appeared first on Foundation Source.

In this benefit case study, Cameron Marsh, senior consultant at Nucleus Research highlights how private foundations can benefit when services and technology are in lockstep.

“Our findings showed a reduction in third-party spending and a decrease in time spent completing manual, administrative work,” said Cameron.

To hear more about the findings get the full benefits case study>>

Want to talk to a philanthropic specialist about your philanthropic goals?
We’d love to connect! To learn more, schedule a call with us or reach us at 800-839-0054. Together, let’s #begiving.

The post When Services and Tech Are In Lockstep, Foundations Benefit appeared first on Foundation Source.

Of course, within a family or group of decision-makers, there is also often a range of viewpoints about all of the above, and specifically what creates impact or how to go about allocating philanthropic resources. Varying perspectives about the best path forward can lead to tension and disagreements, and can even prevent a family from making any decisions at all. Not only can this cause hard feelings, it can also impede impact.

To help navigate family decision making, it’s important to step back and consider how you are making those decisions. In group settings and family situations, people often default to familiar patterns, and wade through layers of implicit assumptions about whose voices hold more weight. Naming what decision is being made and how the decision process will happen can help break through unhelpful patterns and allow you to create new, more effective processes—ones that cause less friction and more impact.

Here are some questions to consider that can help you get started:

• Who will be involved in decision-making? Only family members? Are you including spouses? Children? Other advisors?
• How are you including the community that is impacted by this issue in your decision-making process?
• How will you make the decision? Will it have to be by consensus? Majority vote? Have you thought about other decision-making strategies?
• How long will you allocate for discussion?
• Do you have a back-up decision-making strategy? For example, if you select consensus as your desired approach for coming to agreement, but you can’t reach a consensus, will you fall back to a majority vote?
• What process will you have in place to handle conflict in the process?
• Who will facilitate the discussion? This may be a family member or sometimes a neutral facilitator is helpful.

Creating clarity about the decision-making process can go a long way toward taking the stress out of what can and should be a joyful process of making philanthropic gifts, in this and every season.

Resources

• National Center for Family Philanthropy’s guide to Demystifying Decision-Making in Family Philanthropy offers an overview of decision-making strategies.
• Fist to five is a voting process that can be useful.

You can find additional resources at the National Center for Family Philanthropy at ncfp.org.

Want to contribute to our Outside Perspectives Series and share your philanthropic insights? Write to us at marketing@foundationsource.com for a chance to be featured in an upcoming blog!

Want to learn more about the ways we support private foundations?
Whether you are looking for support for your existing foundation or want to create a private foundation, our philanthropic specialists are here to help. To learn more, schedule a call with us or reach us at 800-839-0054. Together, let’s #begiving

NCFP
The National Center for Family Philanthropy (NCFP) helps families realize the purpose and potential of philanthropy for meaningful impact. We promote learning and action through our community, programs, and services. We build knowledge and expertise to support your philanthropic journey. More information can be found at NCFP.org

The post Deciding How to Decide: Supporting Impact Through Better Decision-Making Processes appeared first on Foundation Source.

The stages of the FGL are:

• Philanthropic Purpose: defining why you give and what inspires you
• Impact Vehicles & Structures: ensuring that form follows function and you have the vehicle(s) and structure(s) to best support your intended impact
• Governance: establishing your decision-making principles, policies and practices
• Impact Strategies & Tools: deploying your resources to achieve your philanthropic purpose
• Assessment & Learning: creating a structured learning agenda and assessment plan
• Operations & Management: developing efficient and robust operations and management support for your philanthropic work
• Succession & Legacy: defining and building your legacy and preparing for transitions, including involving the next generation

While the framework provides an excellent starting point for new donors, it’s important to note that these are not “one and done” stages, but rather this is a true cycle. Families should continually revisit the questions raised in each of these stages to see if the decisions made in previous years (or by previous generations) still fit present circumstances as families and communities are in constant evolution.

For example, many family foundations are created by a founding generation, typically those who made the wealth that is the source of funds for the philanthropy. Those founders will often start out with a specific vision for the foundation, perhaps rooted around helping support people and organizations in the geographic area where the family lives. As new generations join the foundation’s board, it’s crucial that the family step back and reexamine their mission and vision statements, so that all the generations can weigh in and be part of affirming and/or refining the vision of the foundation and feel fully bought in. In addition, as new generations and voices join the governing structures of a foundation’s philanthropy, it’s important to look at policies and practices from the abstract (e.g., what is the culture of our board?) to the concrete (e.g., is the time of day/day of the week we meet still a good fit for these new board members?).

The FGL toolkit includes short overview videos, a glossary of terms used throughout the materials, primers with descriptions of fundamental topics in each of the lifecycle stages, as well as worksheets to guide donors and families through key questions and decisions.

The National Center for Family Philanthropy makes the FGL resources available to the field free of charge and we welcome you to use them in your philanthropic work. For further information or questions, please contact ncfp@ncfp.org or visit their website at www.ncfp.org.

Want to contribute to our Outside Perspectives Series and share your philanthropic insights? Write to us at marketing@foundationsource.com for a chance to be featured in an upcoming blog!

Want to learn more about the ways we support private foundations?
Whether you are looking for support for your existing foundation or want to create a private foundation, our philanthropic specialists are here to help. To learn more, schedule a call with us or reach us at 800-839-0054. Together, let’s #begiving.

The post The Family Giving Lifecycle: Tools and Resources for Effectiveness appeared first on Foundation Source.

Foundation staff have long grappled with how to address the myriad of organizational needs of their nonprofit community partners, and our platform has served as a guide in unlocking multi-direction responses for sustained capacity building. Rather than granting a transactional single project award to nonprofit organizations, we equip these organizations with the additional tools, resources, and expertise they need to achieve their goals.

Catchafire access includes everything from strategic planning and marketing to website design and financial management. Through this capacity-building model, foundations are creating a more sustainable and effective nonprofit sector. We’re here to support nonprofits so that they are better equipped to achieve their mission and create positive change in their communities.

Through our partnership, the Pincus Family Foundation has been able to provide valuable capacity building support to a wide range of nonprofit organizations aligned with their mission.

“We believe Catchafire is a powerful resource that can help nonprofits address any number of short-term capacity-building projects,” said Danielle Scott, executive director of the Pincus Family Foundation. “Although some grantees are still ascertaining how best to use this tool, others have received over 850 professional-donated hours, translating to over $166K they didn’t have to spend. We also make this resource available for non-funded applicants to help them prepare for future grant opportunities.”

love.futbol a Pincus Family Foundation grantee and nonprofit that partners with communities worldwide to create, reclaim, and redefine sport spaces as lasting platforms for social impact, connected with a user experience expert on our platform who helped them update their website in an intentional and impactful manner—saving them $4,762 in consulting fees. In the months since joining Catchafire, love.futbol has saved a total of $22,002 through 5 projects and they are just getting started.

“Our partnership with love.futbol reflects our ethos of building trust and maintaining valued relationships,” says Scott.

Since 2018, the Pincus Family Foundation has strategically collaborated with love.futbol to expand their impact from the Dominican Republic and Mexico to the United States, fostering growth and extending their reach across borders.

“We love that they’ve continued to evolve and grow to not just serve more communities but to serve them better—giving them the microphone to advocate for themselves rather than speaking for them,” expressed Scott.

Catchafire’s community of skilled volunteers are available to support nonprofit organizations across a wide range of areas. By tapping into this community, foundations like the Pincus Family Foundation are able to leverage the expertise of skilled professionals who are passionate about making a difference in their communities.

Teens of Color Abroad (TOCA), a nonprofit and NextGEN Pincus grantee that provides high school students of color with global language learning opportunities, has saved over $7,200 working with our volunteers on a social media calendar and case study.

“We’re looking to grow our social media reach this year,” said Lamar Shambley, executive director of TOCA. “Having regular support with creating content for our channels is incredibly helpful. Also, as we look to expand our impact in 2023, this case study will help us present to donors.”

We are helping to create a more collaborative and connected philanthropic sector. Through our platform, we’re able to connect foundations, corporations, nonprofit organizations, and volunteers in a way that facilitates knowledge sharing and collaboration.

Foundations today are focused on making strategic and efficient use of the resources they are entrusted with, in order to achieve the greatest impact possible. This involves carefully considering and selecting the most promising investments, as well as partnering with innovative organizations like ours to support the growth and impact of their grantees. With over 170 foundation partners, it’s clear that our approach is helping drive positive change in a wide range of areas, from education and healthcare to social justice and the environment. By working together, we can ensure that foundation resources are being used in the most effective and impactful way possible, for the benefit of communities and society as a whole.

Want to contribute to our Outside Perspectives Series and share your philanthropic insights? Write to us at marketing@foundationsource.com for a chance to be featured in an upcoming blog!

Want to learn more about the ways we support private foundations?
Whether you are looking for support for your existing foundation or want to create a private foundation, our philanthropic specialists are here to help. To learn more, schedule a call with us or reach us at 800-839-0054. Together, let’s #begiving.

The post How Foundations Are Creating a More Sustainable and Effective Nonprofit Sector with Capacity Building appeared first on Foundation Source.

In new research from the National Center for Family Philanthropy, authors Ashley Blanchard and Wendy Ulaszek explore the factors that support a “successful” family philanthropy for those who aspire to have generational continuity in their giving (with success defined as philanthropy that is impactful, strengthens their relationships, and provides a rewarding experience for participants). They found that successful family philanthropy requires the creation of a robust charitable giving “system” to provide outlets for families’ increasingly diverse philanthropic interests. The families that most successfully perpetuated a collective family foundation over generations established different vehicles for different purposes and had firm boundaries around those earmarked for collaborative giving and those for individual giving. Conversely, the families that struggled had less clearly defined purposes for their philanthropic vehicles–and that ambiguity grew into a source of significant tension over time.

Additional findings include:

• Collaborative family foundations provide a more rewarding experience for participants. While the vast majority of participants enjoyed their experience participating in the family foundation, believing that it increased their personal giving, and felt closer to their family as a result, participants from more collaborative family foundations had a more positive experience.
• Individuated family foundations have limited life spans. Family foundations predicated on supporting individual members’ interests do not have sufficient gravitational pull to meaningfully engage family members over time. At best, it is simply not worth members’ effort to take part; at worst, it creates a contentious environment that worsens family relationships.
• Satisfaction with the family foundation is not dependent on it reflecting personal interests or geography. A common assumption is that to engage family members, family foundations must adapt to reflect their expanding interests and locations. Our research indicates that is not the case: family members were just as satisfied with their experience when the philanthropy reflected their personal interests as when it did not. And participants from place-based family foundations generally had more favorable experiences than their geographically-dispersed peers—regardless of whether they lived where the foundation focused its funding. What engaged and excited these participants was not the ability to fund their personal interests, but rather coming together with their family members to learn and engage in meaningful work.
• Families can work together in their philanthropy despite ideological differences. The growing ideological divisions felt throughout society were experienced by the families in our sample. That said, a number of families in our sample with ideologically diverse members were able to collaborate in their family foundation by being intentional about design and management, seeking out areas of common ground and relying on venues outside of the family foundation to address giving that was likely to be divisive.

For additional findings and details, the executive summary and full report can be accessed here. If you have any questions about how to put these findings to work in your philanthropy, please contact NCFP.

Want to contribute to our Outside Perspectives Series and share your philanthropic insights? Write to us at marketing@foundationsource.com for a chance to be featured in an upcoming blog!

Want to learn more about the ways we support private foundations?
Whether you are looking for support for your existing foundation or want to create a private foundation, our philanthropic specialists are here to help. To learn more, schedule a call with us or reach us at 800-839-0054. Together, let’s #begiving.

The post New Research: Balancing Collective and Individual Interests in Family Philanthropy appeared first on Foundation Source.