Links

• A Funders Guide to Supporting Nonprofit Technology: 10 Ways to Build Your Grantees' Technical Savvy
  April 2013
  Working with partners at several major foundations, Idealware created this guide to promote technology capacity building as a powerful way to have a broad-reaching positive impact throughout a nonprofit organization. It includes 10 clear ways foundations can support the technology capacity of their grantees and case studies of foundations that have seen success implementing these tactics.
• Making the Case for Intervention
  April 25, 2013
  In this blog post for the Stanford Social Innovation Review, Alisa Helbitz & Emily Bolton of the UK’s Social Finance describe how and why their organization developed the Social Impact Bond model.
• Opportunity by Design: New High School Models for Student Success
  Published by the Carnegie Corporation of New York, March 2013
  This new report calls for an integrated, comprehensive approach to rethinking school design to meet the demands of the Common Core State Standards and Next Generation Science Standards.
• The Economic Security and Well-Being Index for Women in New York City
  Published by the New York Women’s Foundation, April 2013
  This new report provides an in-depth analysis of the economic security, health and safety, and well-being of women in 59 community districts in order to provide baseline information and data on the status of women and girls living throughout the five boroughs.
• Consider the Source
  Published by Center for Public Integrity (CPI), March 2013
  CPI has published a comprehensive digital newsbook about the drastic change in campaign financing during the 2012 elections, as a result of the Supreme Court's February 2010 Citizens United ruling. The Consider the Source project receives general support from the Rockefeller Brothers Fund’s Democratic Practice program.
• Drilling Deeper: Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing and Related Grantmaking Strategies
  Published by the Health and Environmental Funders Network, March 2013
  This summary of HEFN’s "Drilling Deeper" report discusses the health, environmental, and community impacts of fracking, as well as strategies grantmakers are considering or implementing.
• Fracking Survey 2012: Report on NGO and Philanthropic Efforts to Address Impacts of Hydraulic Fracturing
  Published by the Health and Environmental Funders Network, February 2013
  This HEFN report summarizes results and findings from a 2012 HEFN survey of NGOs and philanthropic foundations addressing public health, environmental and community impacts of hydraulic fracturing in the U.S.
• U.S. Giving for Japan Disaster Exceeds $710 Million
  March 2013
  This report by the Japan Center for International Exchange estimates that, in the two years since the March 11, 2011, earthquake, tsunami and nuclear crisis in Japan, Americans have donated at least $712.6 million for disaster relief and recovery efforts, the largest in U.S. history for a disaster in another developed country and the third largest ever for any overseas disaster.
• Voluntary Support of Education Survey
  February 2013
  The Council for Aid to Education's most recent annual survey found that private contributions to American colleges and universities increased 2.3 percent, to $31 billion — below 2008’s historical high of $31.6 billion and virtually unchanged when adjusting for inflation.
• Did Democracy Win in 2012?
  February 2013
  In a special report supported by the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, American Prospect Executive Editor Bob Moser argues that the enormous influence and amount of money spent on 2012's election campaigns, along with attempts to disenfranchise voters across the country, contributed to the failure of American democracy.
• Volunteering in the United States, 2012
  February 22, 2013
  The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported on the rates of U.S. volunteering for the year ending September 2012 in a research supplement sponsored by the Corporation for National and Community Service, finding that U.S. volunteerism declined by 0.3 percent, to 26.5 percent , and that nearly 64.5 million people volunteered through or for an organization at least once during the year.
• Re-Envisioning the New York City Workforce System
  Published by the New York City Workforce Strategy Group and The Clark Foundation, February 2013
  This report presents the “design principles” and recommendations of the independent Strategy Group created by the New York City Workforce Funders to articulate a vision of a new labor-market driven workforce system that meets the needs of both jobseekers and employers.
• Maximizing Health Care Reform for New York's Immigrants
  Published by the New York State Health Foundation, February 2013
  This report, written by the New York Immigration Coalition in conjunction with the Empire Justice Center, highlights key opportunities to expand immigrants' access to health care and coverage as New York State works to implement health reform.
• Rebound: Building a More Resilient World
  Published by the Rockefeller Foundation, January 2013
  Leaders from various disciplines share their lessons of what resilience means and what it requires of us. Through the lens of their own experiences, readers can begin to explore some of the ways we can help prepare for, withstand and emerge stronger from the acute shocks and chronic stresses of the 21st century.
• Volunteering and Civic Life in America
  A new interactive report from the Corporation for National and Community Service and the National Conference on Citizenship finds that American volunteering and civic engagement reached a five-year high in 2011. Overall, 64.3 million Americans (more than one in four adults) volunteered through a formal organization in 2011, an increase of 1.5 million from 2010. The 7.9 billion hours these individuals volunteered is valued at $171 billion.
• Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Queer Grantmaking by U.S. Foundations 2011 (PDF)
  Published by Funders for LGBTQ Issues, January 2013
  Foundation support for LGBTQ communities grew by 27 percent, to $123 million, in 2011. The growth in giving to LGBTQ communities outpaced the 2.2 percent increase in overall foundation grant dollars and pushed LGBTQ funding to more than 0.25 percent of all U.S. foundation dollars for the first time in history.
• UnderDeveloped: A National Study of Challenges Facing Nonprofit Fundraising
  Published by CompassPoint Nonprofit Services and the Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund, January 2013
  CompassPoint surveyed more than 2,700 executive directors and development directors across the country to examine the fundraising challenges nonprofits face.
• The History of The Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation
  November 2012
  To help people understand how the Josiah Macy Jr. Foundation has worked to improve health in the United States over the last 82 years, the foundation has published a chronicle of their evolution under the leadership and innovation of eight presidents which also spotlights important milestones shaping the course of health professions education in the United States.
• The S&I 100 Index
  The Social Impact Exchange’s S&I 100 Index consists of high-impact nonprofits in the fields of education, poverty, health and youth that have been carefully vetted through a comprehensive selection process by more than 150 experts in a cross-sector collaborative effort.
• Critical Conversations: A School Leadership Initiative
  November 15, 2012
  This event, held at the High School of Art and Design, hosted by WNET and sponsored by The Wallace Foundation, highlighted New York City's effort to develop a "principal pipeline," or sufficient number of highly effective school principals to meet the needs of the city's schools and students. The conversation focused on components of The Wallace Foundation's $75 million principal pipeline initiative, was moderated by Beth Fertig, education reporter and Editor for WNYC Radio and www.schoolbook.org, and its panelists included Dennis M. Walcott, Chancellor of the New York City Department of Education; Will Miller, President of The Wallace Foundation; and Shael Polakow-Suransky, Chief Academic Officer of the New York City Department of Education.
• Diversity, Inclusion and Effective Philanthropy
  Published by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, November 2012
  PDF, 450 KB
  Part of the Philanthropy Roadmap series, this guide aims to explain how diversity and inclusion can be used as practical considerations for getting better and more impactful results in philanthropic giving.
• U.S. and European Philanthropic Support to Address HIV/AIDS in 2011
  November 2012
  This resource tracking report from Funders Concerned About AIDS and the European HIV/AIDS Funders Group finds that combined funding to address HIV/AIDS from both U.S. and European private philanthropic institutions totaled $644 million in 2011, a 5 percent increase from 2010, with predictions that funding would stay relatively flat over the next year.
• IssueLab
  November 2012
  The Foundation Center has launched the next generation of IssueLab, a website that provides free and open access to resources that analyze the world's most pressing social, economic and environmental challenges and their potential solutions. The platform contains more than 11,000 documents and represents one of the largest collections of social sector knowledge, spanning 40 issues areas, from agriculture to immigration to welfare.
• Beyond the Cause: The Art and Science of Advocacy
  Published by Independent Sector, October 2012
  This comprehensive study, based on over 100 interviews, three surveys, three case studies and more, identifies five essential approaches to successful advocacy and analyzes the effectiveness of advocacy on issues facing the entire nonprofit and philanthropic sector.
• Where Do We Go From Here? Philanthropic Support for Black Men and Boys
  Published by the Open Society Foundations and the Foundation Center, October 2012
  PDF, 2.05 MB
  This report examines U.S. foundation giving explicitly in support of black males by issue area, type of support and geographic area served. The analyses explore patterns of giving by larger U.S. foundations over the past eight years, with a focus on giving from 2008 to 2010.
• Human Wellbeing in the 21st Century: Meeting Challenges, Seizing Opportunities
  Published by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS), the Resource Alliance and the Rockefeller Foundation, September 2012
  PDF, 2.2MB
  This final report from the Bellagio Initiative recommends that more inclusivity, connectedness and greater levels of transparency and accountability are needed from philanthropic organizations and development agencies in relation to the communities they support. The report is the culmination of a Rockefeller Foundation-funded global initiative to explore how philanthropic and international development organizations might work together to better protect and promote human wellbeing.
• Susan Solomon TED Talk: Realizing the Promise of Stem Cell Research
  At TEDGlobal 2012 in Edinburgh, Scotland, New York Stem Cell Foundation CEO and Co-Founder Susan Solomon unveiled a breakthrough development from NYSCF Research Institute scientists that could help revolutionize how disease is treated.
• How America Gives
  This Chronicle of Philanthropy special report is based on a comprehensive study of giving data by ZIP code and by income level in every city and town in the United States. The study is based on exact dollar amounts released by the Internal Revenue Service showing the value of charitable deductions claimed by American taxpayers.
• Six Guidelines for Smarter Political Giving
  Published by Arabella Advisors, August 2012
  Arabella Advisors has compiled six best practices for making the most of political contributions, along with a chart to help navigate giving options and a webinar discussing the many different ways political contributions can be used to advance one’s philanthropic strategy.
• Sex Trafficking of Minors in New York: Increasing Prevention and Collective Action
  Published by The New York Women's Foundation, July 2012
  PDF, 358 KB
  Driven by its ongoing commitment to the area of Anti-Violence and Safety for New York City’s women and families, this report is the culmination of a two-year assessment by the foundation to determine its response to the sex trafficking of minors—not as an issue occurring far away but one that happens right here, daily, in New York.
• The Uses of Research in Policy and Practice: Social Policy Report
  Published by the Society for Research in Child Development, June 2012
  PDF, 478 KB
  William T. Grant Foundation Vice President for Program Vivian Tseng suggests a framework for understanding how and when research is used in policy and practice. She argues for more strategic identification of the intended users of research and increased knowledge of the ways they acquire, interpret and use research evidence—as well as a more reciprocal relationship between research and practice/policy.
• Generating Impact and Returns
  Published by Arabella Advisors, June 2012
  Across the country, foundation executives and trustees, philanthropy collaboratives and individuals are harnessing the power of impact investing to generate financial returns together with social and environmental benefits. These four briefs describe examples of impact investing in Chicago, New York, San Francisco and Washington, DC.
• Funding for Inclusion: Women and Girls in the Equation
  Published by GrantCraft, June 2012
  This guide reflects on how gender considerations are being addressed in European foundation programs, processes and procedures, and provides a wealth of practical examples and recommendations to inspire other foundations to do so.
• Jonas Center - Gen. William Bester - Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program
  May 22, 2012
  Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence Senior Advisor Brigadier General (Ret.) William Bester discusses the importance of veterans' healthcare and the Jonas Veterans Healthcare Program on the "Talk of the Town" radio program with Larry Rifkin on WATR 1320-AM.
• Social Mobility and Education Gaps in the Four Major Anglophone Countries: Research Findings for the Social Mobility Summit
  Published by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the Sutton Trust,
  May 2012
  PDF, 772 KB
  Children from poorer families in Australia and Canada have a much greater chance of doing well in school, getting into college, and earning more in later life than children in the United States and the United Kingdom, despite the fact that Australia and Canada (alongside the UK and the US) are among the countries with the biggest income gaps between the rich and poor. These research findings, compiled for a two-day summit on social mobility in London organized by the Sutton Trust and the Carnegie Corporation, are the first to compare and contrast education and social mobility levels in the four major English-speaking countries.
• Arts & Economic Prosperity IV
  Published by Americans for the Arts, May 2012
  PDF, 9MB
  This economic impact study indicates that nonprofit arts and culture organizations and their audiences across the 50 states and the District of Columbia generated $135.2 billion dollars of economic activity in 2010, which had a significant impact on the nation's economy, supporting 4.1 million full-time equivalent jobs and generating $22.3 billion in revenue to local, state and federal governments.
• A Rotting Apple: Education Redlining in New York City
  Published by the Schott Foundation for Public Education, April 2012
  According to this report, in New York City public schools, a student’s educational outcomes and opportunity to learn are statistically more determined by where he or she lives than their abilities. Education Redlining bases its findings on an “Opportunity to Learn” Index that examines 500 NYC middle schools across the city’s 32 Community School Districts. The report identifies a series of inequalities, between and within districts, that largely correlate to race and poverty level.
• Building Arts Organizations That Build Audiences
  Published by The Wallace Foundation, March 2012
  PDF, 3.6 MB
  This report, documenting a June 2011 Wallace conference of foundation-supported arts groups, researchers and others, provides some potential answers about what works—and what doesn’t—in developing audiences for and building participation in the arts.
• What the Supreme Court Could Do to Health Reform: A Conversation with Abbe Gluck
  On March 15, 2012, the New York State Health Foundation hosted a conversation with Abbe Gluck, Associate Professor of Law and Milton Handler Fellow at Columbia Law School, who reviewed the main issues in the landmark Supreme Court case on the Affordable Care Act (ACA); previewed what could be expected during oral arguments; and provided her perspective on the factors that could influence the Court and what it may ultimately decide.
• MetLife Survey of the American Teacher: Teachers, Parents and the Economy
  Published by MetLife, March 2012
  PDF, 4.7 MB
  According to this survey, the twenty-eighth in a series sponsored annually by MetLife since 1984 to give voice to those closest to the classroom, teachers are less satisfied with their jobs than they have been in decades, but parent engagement with schools has increased. The survey examines the views of teachers, parents, and students about the teaching profession, parent and community engagement, and the effects of the current economy on families and schools.
• New Opportunities for Integrating and Improving Health Care for Women, Children, and Their Families
  Published by The Commonwealth Fund, February 2012
  The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act gives states new tools and funding to integrate public and private delivery of healthcare services. This issue brief highlights the efforts of Colorado, Florida, Ohio, and Vermont to integrate healthcare services for low-income women and children to improve outcomes and reduce costs, especially through state Title V maternal and child health programs.
• Forty Years of LGBTQ Philanthropy: 1970-2010
  Published by Funders for LGBTQ Issues, January 2012
  PDF, 1.17 MB
  Published on the occasion of Funders for LGBTQ Issues' 30th anniversary, this report documents the first 40 years of U.S. foundation support to lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer communities. Among the report's findings: in total, 799 U.S. foundations have invested more than $771 million and nearly 36,000 grants in LGBTQ issues from 1970 to 2010, with the Arcus Foundation as the largest single foundation donor by dollar amount (the Ford and Tides foundations are also in the top ten).
• Peter G. Peterson Foundation: Issues to watch for in the 2012 elections
  Throughout the 2012 election cycle, the foundation will provide videos, charts, articles, and interactive ways to get engaged and stay informed on its Facebook page.
• Investing in Public Programs Matters: How State Policies Impact Children's Lives
  Published by the Foundation for Child Development, January 2012
  This report focuses on the results of the 2012 State Child Well-Being Index (CWI)—a state-level index modeled after FCD's National CWI. The State CWI draws from a comprehensive set of data, ranks and compares children's well-being by state, and identifies public investments that matter.
• The Brooklyn Neighborhood Reports
  Published January 2012
  The Brooklyn Community Foundation and its research partner, the Center for the Study of Brooklyn at Brooklyn College, have issued the first official publications of their Brooklyn Trends information initiative. The more than 600 pages of the Brooklyn Neighborhood Reports present civic data profiles of Brooklyn’s 18 Community Districts, as well a Brooklyn-wide report. With critical information from the U.S. Census and other sources, each report covers nine theme areas and explores over 90 indicators of civic health with concise, easy-to-read graphs and maps of neighborhood-level data as well as accompanying tables and notes providing greater detail.
• Leveraging Limited Dollars: How Grantmakers Achieve Tangible Benefits by Funding Policy and Community Engagement
  Published by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), January 2012
  PDF, 578 KB
  Advocacy by 110 nonprofits over a five-year period has brought more than $26.6 billion in benefits to marginalized groups, according to this NCRP study. The report also found that every dollar grantmakers and other donors invested in policy and civic engagement provided a return of $115 in benefits, and it offers suggestions about how to begin funding advocacy to funders who want to start leveraging their grant dollars for maximum results.
• Cultures of Giving: Energizing and Expanding Philanthropy by and for Communities of Color
  Published by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, with support from Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, January 2012
  This report explores current shifts within the philanthropic sector, with some of the most significant growth stemming from identity-based philanthropy—a growing movement to spark philanthropic giving from a community on behalf of a community, where “community” is defined by race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. It showcases key learnings, best practices, and successful models to promote and enhance philanthropy and giving among communities of color, and also reveals how communities of color have intensified their charitable giving.
• The School Principal as Leader: Guiding Schools to Better Teaching and Learning
  Published by the Wallace Foundation, January 2012
  PDF, 1.7 MB
  This Perspective distills lessons from school leadership projects and major research studies supported by the foundation since 2000 and details five practices that are central to effective principal leadership. It also notes that school leaders cannot transform failing schools by themselves, but that without effective principals, there is little likelihood that these schools can be turned around.
• Foundation Funding for Hispanics/Latinos in the United States and for Latin America
  Published by the Foundation Center and Hispanics in Philanthropy,
  December 2011
  PDF, 2.4 MB
  According to this report, which documents trends in giving based on grants awarded by over 1,000 of the largest U.S. foundations, over the past decade, U.S. foundation support benefiting Hispanics and Latinos has held steady, comprising about one percent of total foundation funding, even as the Hispanic population in the U.S. has grown significantly over the same period.
• 2011 Child Well-Being Index (CWI)
  Published by the Foundation for Child Development, December 2011
  The Child Well-Being Index (CWI) is a national, research-based composite measure updated annually that describes how young people in the United States have fared since 1975. The 2011 annual release of the CWI paints a stark picture of the reality of American families and their children, finding that their well-being has trailed far behind our country’s economic growth over the past 35 years and that things are only poised to get worse.
• Benchmarking 2011: Trends in Education Philanthropy
  Published by Grantmakers for Education (with support from Target),
  December 2011
  PDF, 3.4 MB
  GFE's annual benchmarking report assessed 2011 trends and changes in education funding based on survey responses from 184 members varying in size and type and found that philanthropies maintained consistent funding levels for education during 2011, on average, but were more strategic and deliberate with their dollars.
• Diminishing Dollars: The Impact of the 2008 Financial Crisis on the Field of Social Justice Philanthropy
  Published by the Foundation Center, with funding from the Cricket Island Foundation, the Ford Foundation, and the Edward W. Hazen Foundation, November 2011
  PDF, 1.8 MB
  This report, written by Sara K. Gould, Atlantic Philanthropies Senior Fellow at the Foundation Center, both identifies the major immediate impacts of the 2008 financial crisis on social justice philanthropy and takes a look into the future. It aims to provide new and useful information to both funders and nonprofit organizations seeking funds.
• State Trends in Premiums and Deductibles, 2003–2010: The Need for Action to Address Rising Costs
  Published by The Commonwealth Fund, November 2011
  Rapidly rising health insurance costs continue to strain the budgets of U.S. families and employers. This issue brief analyzes changes in private employer-based health premiums and deductibles for all states from 2003 to 2010, and finds total premiums for family coverage increased 50 percent across states and employees' annual share of premiums increased by 63 percent over those seven years.
• Key Facts on Mission Investing
  Published by the Foundation Center, October 2011
  PDF, 318 KB
  The number of charitable foundations employing their investment portfolios to achieve a social benefit is on the rise, according to this report. Key Facts on Mission Investing finds that one in seven surveyed foundations are directing their assets to market-rate mission-related investments and/or below-market-rate program-related investments. By investing endowment dollars to further their charitable missions, these grantmakers—which hold 20 percent of all U.S. foundation assets—are extending the public benefit of their resources. The report also offers perspective from Stephen Viederman, former President of the Jessie Smith Noyes Foundation and a proponent of mission investing.
• Staten Island Foundation: Biennial Report 2010 and 2011
  Published by the Staten Island Foundation, October 2011
  PDF, 1.4 MB
  The foundation's Biennial Report for 2010 and 2011 is focused around the theme of "Let’s Make a Difference" that has been at the heart of its work of the past two years in local health, local education, community capacity, and the arts.
• Highlights of Foundation Giving Trends (2011 Edition)
  Published by the Foundation Center, September 2011
  PDF, 620 KB
  Among the major areas of activity, education, health, human services, and public affairs/society benefit captured the largest shares of grant dollars awarded by sampled foundations in 2009, according to the latest in this series of reports. Among specific populations, the economically disadvantaged benefited from the largest share of grant dollars (29 percent) and grants (25 percent), and support for ethnic or racial minorities increased 20 percent in 2009 for a matched set of grantmakers. (The full version of the report can be purchased here.)
• Opportunity in Motion: Corporate Social Responsibility Report 2010
  Published by Bank Of America, July 2011
  Bank of America has released its first Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Report, which outlines activities undertaken in 2010 and highlights the company’s efforts to promote fairness and transparency in its products and services; lending and investing activities in low-income and underserved communities; community-focused philanthropic investments; and company and customer-focused environmental initiatives.
• Doing Good Right Here: Brooklyn Grants Report 2010
  Published by the Brooklyn Community Foundation (BCF), June 2011
  PDF, 1 MB
  In 2010, BCF awarded more than $5.1 million in grants to over 200 nonprofits serving the borough. This report on their inaugural grantmaking year as Brooklyn's first community foundation highlights organizations that received grants from BCF's five Field of Interest Funds as well as special initiatives like the Haitian Community Hope & Healing Fund, Brooklyn Greens, and the Central Brooklyn STEM Initiative.
• Foundation Funding for Native American Issues and Peoples
  Published by the Foundation Center, April 2011
  PDF, 2.3 MB
  According to this report from Native Americans in Philanthropy (NAP) and the Foundation Center, over the past decade U.S. foundation support explicitly benefiting Native Americans declined from 0.5 percent to 0.3 percent of total foundation giving, and total grant dollars targeting Native Americans dropped 30.8 percent in the latest year, compared to a 12.4 percent overall downturn in foundation giving.
• A Harder Struggle, Fewer Opportunities: The Impact of the Governor's Proposed Budget on Women, Children and Families
  Published by The New York Women’s Foundation, in partnership with the Fiscal Policy Institute, March 2011
  PDF, 362 KB
  This new gender budget analysis report reveals that low-income women across racial lines—already vulnerable to the continuing effects of the economic recession—bear a disproportionate burden of cuts in Governor Cuomo’s proposed budget and are placed at even greater risk of poverty and other factors that contribute to long-term economic stagnation.
• Disaster Relief 2.0: The Future of Information Sharing in Humanitarian Emergencies
  Published by the United Nations Foundation & Vodafone Foundation Technology Partnership, March 2011
  PDF, 5.7 MB
  This report analyzes how the humanitarian community and the emerging volunteer and technical communities worked together in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and recommends ways to improve coordination and strengthen collaboration between the humanitarian and technology communities during future emergencies.
• Beyond the Mountain: NYC Hope and Healing Fund Report of the First Year
  Published by the Brooklyn Community Foundation, February 2011
  PDF, 981 KB
  The NYC Haitian Community Hope & Healing Fund was established by the Brooklyn Community Foundation and the United Way of New York City to address the short- and long-term needs of individuals, families, and communities in the New York City area affected by the January 12, 2010 earthquake in Haiti. This report is an attempt to tell two stories: the story of the Fund and its establishment, and the story of a community still in the early stages of mounting an effective response.
• Grantmaking to Communities of Color in Oregon
  Published by the Foundation Center, December 2010
  PDF, 4.4 MB
  This groundbreaking report, prepared by the Foundation Center for the regional association Grantmakers of Oregon and Southwest Washington, uses the most comprehensive database ever assembled on Oregon foundation giving. It examines the extent to which grantmaking by Oregon's 779 foundations reached the state's communities of color in 2008, providing important baseline data about foundation giving in the context of the state's changing demographics.
• We Dream a World: The 2025 Vision for Black Men and Boys
  Published by the Twenty-First Century Foundation, December 2010
  PDF, 3.9 MB
  This report examines the 2025 Campaign for Black Men and Boys and sets forth a strategy to raise awareness, create local impact, and advance better policies to achieve its goals. The 2025 Campaign for Black Men and Boys is a national effort of several organizations and individuals to collaboratively develop and implement an initiative for the educational, social, emotional, physical, spiritual, political, and economic development and empowerment of black men and boys in the United States.
• Standing on Shaky Ground: Americans' Experiences with Economic Insecurity
  Published by the Rockefeller Foundation, December 2010
  PDF, 5.3 MB
  Ninety-three percent of American households suffered at least one "substantial economic shock" in the 18-month period from March 2008 to September 2009, according to this report from the Rockefeller Foundation and Yale University. It draws on two surveys fielded in the spring and fall of 2009 and its results are a companion to the national Economic Security Index, which has shown that economic insecurity has worsened since the mid-1980s.
• International Grantmaking Update: A Snapshot of U.S. Foundation Trends
  Published by the Foundation Center, December 2010
  PDF, 542 KB
  This latest update of the Foundation Center’s benchmark series on international grantmaking (prepared in cooperation with the Council on Foundations) examines changes in overall giving through 2009 based on a survey of leading funders. It also documents trends in giving through 2008 based on actual grants awarded by over 1,000 of the largest U.S. foundations.
• (Findings from) Leadership Development and Beyond: Building the Power of Young Women, Transgender and Gender Non-Conforming Leaders of Color
  Published October 2010
  PDF, 1.16 MB
  In October 2009, the Ms. Foundation for Women led a collaborative 2-day symposium (with the Astraea Lesbian Foundation for Justice, the New York Women’s Foundation, the Third Wave Foundation, and the Women of Color Policy Network at New York University) focused on how to most effectively advance the leadership of young women of color and transgender and gender non-conforming (TGNC) people of color in movements for social justice. The conference brought together 75 members of the philanthropic community and leaders from social justice nonprofits to identify the most strategic interventions that could be made to overcome the barriers to power facing young women leaders and TGNC leaders of color.
• Yes We Can: The 2010 Schott 50 State Report on Black Males in Public Education
  This website from The Schott Foundation for Public Education is a data portal that provides parents, educators, media, policymakers, and elected officials with direct access to important data on the reality of education for Black males across all 50 states. It includes links to the Foundation's national research summary as well as an interactive map with state-by-state statistics and individual state report cards.
• Tools and Resources for Assessing Social Impact (TRASI)
  This online database from the Foundation Center contains proven approaches to measuring and analyzing the impact of social investments. TRASI's resources range from off-the-shelf tools and concrete methodologies to generalized best practices; are complemented by multimedia features and social networking tools; and place a premium on evidence and metrics in tracking progress.
• Climate Change: Addressing the Major Skeptic Arguments
  Published by DB Climate Change Advisors, September 2010
  PDF, 332 KB
  This report, authored by researchers at Columbia University's Earth Institute and commissioned by the German research branch of Deutsche Bank, examines the many claims and counter-claims being made in the public debate about climate change science.
• Realizing Health Reform's Potential: Women and the Affordable Care Act of 2010
  Published by The Commonwealth Fund, July 2010
  PDF, 300 KB
  The first in a series of reports examining how healthcare reform is expected to affect various populations, this issue brief analyzes how, over the next decade, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is likely to stabilize and reverse women's growing exposure to healthcare costs. Up to 15 million women who now are uninsured could gain subsidized coverage under the law; in addition, 14.5 million insured women will benefit from provisions that improve coverage or reduce premiums.
• Fund Palcare & the Palliative Care Grantmaking Snapshot Report
  In an effort to secure increased funding for the field of palliative care, several foundations (including the Altman Foundation, the Emily Davie & Joseph S. Kornfeld Foundation, The Mayday Fund, the Open Society Institute, and the Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation) created the Collaborative to Advance Funding for Palliative Care (CAFPAC). CAFPAC has produced a survey of the field, the Palliative Care Grantmaking Snapshot Report, as well as this companion website, which includes an online version of the Snapshot Report, an extensive listing of resources, and a Toolkit providing information about establishing a program in palliative care grantmaking.
• Bending the Health Care Cost Curve in New York State: Options for Saving Money and Improving Care
  Published by the New York State Health Foundation, July 2010
  PDF, 1.8 MB
  This NYSHealth-funded study, conducted by The Lewin Group, outlines the estimated impact of 10 scenarios that could help to contain escalating healthcare costs in New York State over the next decade while also improving healthcare quality, and shows that billions of dollars in savings are possible.
• Race to the Top: What Grantmakers Can Learn from the First Round
  Published by the Foundation Center, June 2010
  PDF, 1.5 MB
  The nation's foundation community has provided critical financial and technical support to states applying for the first round of the U.S. Department of Education's "Race to the Top" education reform competition. Yet according to this issue brief from the Foundation Center, created from interviews conducted in March and April 2010 with foundation staff, education consultants, and government leaders who had guided the first-round application process in nine states, the success of future collaborations will depend on government including grantmakers in the development of new policies and grantmakers being engaged, long-term partners in the process.
• How Foundations Use Communications to Advance Their Public Policy Work
  Published by the Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy, May 2010
  PDF, 2.5 MB
  This study examines how foundations that wish to engage in public policy are using communications to expand the reach and impact of their work. It reveals that communications is at the very center of successful policy engagement for the foundations interviewed, which make use of ten distinctly different strategies to boost their policy engagement. Among the foundations included in the study are The Atlantic Philanthropies, the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Ford Foundation, and the Rockefeller Brothers Fund.
• Energy Democracy: Community Scale Green Energy Solutions
  Published by the Center for Social Inclusion, April 2010
  This report argues that addressing the question of race is key to building a stronger and "greener" American economy and concludes that community-owned or controlled renewable energy and small-scale electricity production strengthens communities of color and provides benefits to the nation at large. Energy Democracy outlines key inequities and solutions in U.S. energy policy, identifies policy areas that must be addressed to encourage innovation in local energy production, and provides a blueprint to explore a better way to secure energy needs while building equity and wealth community by community.
• The Power of Partnership
  Published by The Tow Foundation, February 2010
  PDF, 25 MB
  This publication provides in-depth information about The Tow Foundation's Juvenile Justice Initiative, including the innovative public/private partnerships and grantees funded and supported by the foundation.
• A Dynamic Framework for Understanding the Complex Work of Quality Out-of-School Time Programs
  Published by The Robert Bowne Foundation, January 2010
  PDF, 152 KB
  Supporting the development of quality OST programs has been The Robert Bowne Foundation’s main goal. In 2002, staff and consultants of the foundation engaged in a reflective inquiry process to answer the question, “What are the keys to developing quality out-of-school time programs?” Answering this question became a five-year research journey that yielded six very interesting findings. (The report's executive summary is also available.)
• The Nursing Workforce Challenge: Public Policy for a Dynamic and Complex Market
  Published by the Urban Institute and the Jonas Center for Nursing Excellence, August 2009
  PDF, 711 KB
  This new report sheds light on the continuing nursing shortage, from the economy’s impact on the workforce to the educational pipeline, with recommendations on policies and interventions needed to respond to this critical element of the healthcare crisis. A key recommendation from the report (which arrives as policymakers and healthcare systems look to nurses to help improve quality of and access to care while holding down costs) is that nurses must be constructively involved in shaping the future of healthcare.
• (Highlights from) Social Justice Grantmaking II
  Published by the Foundation Center (with support from the Ford Foundation)
  July 2009
  After a number of years of declining faith in the efficacy of social justice philanthropy, grantmakers and practitioners alike are showing renewed optimism, according to this benchmarking study by the Foundation Center that provides an in-depth look at current attitudes and giving patterns of social justice philanthropists. Grantmakers and practitioners interviewed cite a changed political environment, the success of community organizing in the recent election, and new ideas and energy in the field among a number of factors reinvigorating a commitment to social justice philanthropy. (The full report is available from the Foundation Center's marketplace.)
• (Highlights from) Accelerating Change for Women and Girls: The Role of Women's Funds
  Published by the Foundation Center and the Women's Funding Network
  (with support from the Wallace Foundation), June 2009
  This report, which charts the current landscape of philanthropy focused on women and girls, reveals that giving specifically meant to benefit women and girls has surpassed the rate of overall foundation giving in recent years. Although this growth is promising, the study notes that funding for women and girls still remains a small percentage of foundations' overall giving. (The full report is available at the Foundation Center's online marketplace.)
• The Role of Private Foundation Grants in Legislative Advocacy
  Source: Lawyers Alliance of New York, April 2009
  PDF, 33 KB
  At a time when nonprofits are taking an increasingly active role in advocating against government budget cuts, this brief summarizes the legal underpinnings of the regulations applicable to private foundation support for legislative advocacy.
• Foundations and Public Policy
  Published by the Foundation Center, March 2009
  This new book examines the choices that foundations face when engaging in public policy work. It explores the related issues and history and provides a framework for funders considering public policy engagement as a means of achieving their mission.
• Expanding Global Philanthropy to Support the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People
  Published by the Arcus Operating Foundation
  PDF, 279 KB
  In September 2008, Arcus organized a convening in Bellagio, Italy to strategize ways to increase global philanthropic resources to secure and expand human rights for LGBT people. This summary report from the convening is one of three new reports published as a direct result to help funders understand the issues facing LGBT people in the Global South and East and the challenges and opportunities in funding LGBT rights.
• Mobilizing Resources for the Human Rights of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People: Challenges and Opportunities
  Published by the Arcus Operating Foundation
  Written by FSG Social Impact Advisors
  PDF, 1.7 MB
  One of Arcus' three new reports published as a direct result of their September 2008 convening in Bellagio, Italy. It is intended to help mobilize additional funding for LGBT human rights work by identifying and exploring obstacles to increased funding and devising approaches to mitigate or overcome them.
• Giving Out Globally: A Resource Guide of Funding Mechanisms to Support Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Rights in the Global South and East
  Published by the Arcus Operating Foundation
  PDF, 672 KB
  One of Arcus' three new reports published as a direct result of their September 2008 convening in Bellagio, Italy. It is designed to help the reader understand more about the variety of funding mechanisms available to support the growing LGBT rights sector in Asia, Africa, Latin America, the Middle East, and Eastern Europe.
• What We've Learned: Lessons From A Communications Campaign For South Africa's Rural Poor
  Published by The Atlantic Philanthropies, November 2008
  PDF, 2.4 MB
  This second publication in the Atlantic Reports series focuses on using communications to advance human rights. It shares the lessons learned from an awareness-raising campaign to inform government officials, media, and the general public about the plight of unlawfully evicted farm dwellers in South Africa.
• Given Half a Chance: The Schott 50 State Report on Public Education for Black Males
  This website is a data portal for the Schott Foundation’s report on the performance of African-American males in public education systems across the nation. It includes executive and national summaries of the report, a state-by-state breakdown of data, the Schott Education Inequity Index (SEII), and other resources.
• City Limits Investigates: Katrina Anniversary Special Edition
  On the third anniversary of Hurricane Katrina’s landfall, City Limits has released an in-depth special edition of City Limits Investigates. Shifting Winds: New Orleans, Three Years Later looks at how city, state, and federal efforts are colliding with, empowering, or frustrating individual and community-based initiatives, and asks what forces and interests will determine the character of the “new” New Orleans.
• 2008 Child and Youth Well-Being Index
  Published by Foundation for Child Development, July 2008
  PDF, 198 KB
  The Foundation for Child Development Child and Youth Well-Being Index (CWI) Project at Duke University issues an annual comprehensive measure of how children are faring in the United States. The CWI is based on a composite of 28 Key Indicators of well-being that are grouped into seven Quality-of-Life Domains, including economic well-being, health, safety, educational attainment, and participation in schooling, economic, and political institutions. This year’s CWI is an updated measure of trends over the 31-year period from 1975 to 2006, with projections for 2007.
• The Economic Status of Women in New York State
  Published by The New York Women’s Foundation, June 2008
  PDF, 940 KB
  This report, produced in partnership with the Institute for Women’s Policy Research, provides current data on women’s poverty, earnings, the wage gap, educational attainment, and other important economic indicators for New York women’s well-being. It also examines how women in New York State fare in comparison with women in other states and nationally and with men in the state. It examines differences among the state’s women by race and ethnicity; highlights where New York State’s women have made economic progress and where their conditions have stagnated; identifies and measures remaining barriers to inequality; and provides baseline measures of, and a tool for, monitoring women’s progress in New York.
• The PK-3 Data Resource Center
  The PK-3 Data Resource Center is an online resource center designed to expand knowledge and provide tools for the access and handling of Prekindergarten through Third Grade longitudinal data. The goal of the project is to inform the Foundation for Child Development's PK-3 Initiative and aid in the analysis of a wide range of variables on children, families, schools, and neighborhoods.
• LGBTQ Grantmakers 2008 Report Card on Racial Equity
  Published by Funders for Lesbian and Gay Issues, June 2008
  PDF, 3.38MB
  LGBTQ Grantmakers surveyed nineteen LGBTQ foundations to determine if, and how, they incorporate issues of race into their work. Included in the report are ‘best practices’ examples for how foundations can better incorporate multiple areas of diversity in their grantmaking, governing documents, policies/practices, demographics/leadership, and strategic communications.
• Why Supporting Advocacy Makes Sense for Foundations
  Published by The Atlantic Philanthropies, May 2008
  PDF, 3 MB
  This first publication from The Atlantic Philanthropies explores the experiences of a growing number of funders around the world who are committed to supporting advocacy as a strategy to advance social change. It describes various forms of advocacy that a foundation can support, including commissioning research, policy development, community organizing, coalition work, legislative lobbying, litigation, mass campaigns, and more.
• Faith in Action: Taking Caregiving to Scale
  Published by Grantmakers In Health, May 19, 2008
  PDF, 240 KB
  This Views from the Field article explores the history of Faith in Action, a program that recruits and trains volunteers from congregations throughout the country to provide informal care to frail and disabled elderly individuals. Views from the Field is offered by GIH as a forum for health grantmakers to share insights and experiences.
• 2007 Funding Survey of Workforce Development Giving in New York City
  Published by New York City Workforce Development Funders Group
  PDF, 60 KB
  This is a survey of workforce development giving by participating funders in New York City over a four-year period (2004-2007). Overall giving in 2007, from the 24 funders that returned the survey, totaled over $40.3 million (an increase of 20.57% from 2006). The New York City Workforce Development Funders Group is a consortium of foundations and corporate philanthropies that have pooled their resources to address a range of workforce development issues.
• Health Policy Reform in the 2008 Election Season
  Published by The Commonwealth Fund
  With the 2008 presidential election rapidly approaching, The Commonwealth Fund has published several analyses and reports focusing on health care policy reform, a key issue for many Americans and an important part of the candidates’ platforms.