While family philanthropy is frequently created as a vehicle to ensure the perpetuity of funding charitable causes, one should not think this means that a foundation never changes. Family philanthropy is ever-evolving. The foundation you knew a decade ago has shifted in the intervening years. In some cases, the foundation you knew even last year has also shifted significantly. Creative … Read More
Introducing the Stronger Philanthropy Community App
Click through for a video demo of the app.
Announcing Stronger Philanthropy’s virtual community!
One of the benefits coming out of the pandemic is the time and space to reassess the status quo, and reimagine a better way to achieve one’s mission. At Stronger Philanthropy, we continue to do just that. Our mission is to empower generous families in smart giving for strategic projects aligned to their passions. Generous families need effective, healthy charities … Read More
Giving Done Right podcast launches season 2
The Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP)’s President Phil Buchanan and Vice President, Programming and External Relations, Grace Nicolette are back to host season 2 of the Giving Done Right podcast! In the season’s debut episode, Phil and Grace are joined by Cathy Moore, executive director of Epiphany Community Health Outreach Services (ECHOS) in Houston, TX. Tune in as Moore discusses her experience … Read More
Family dynamics in foundations
In my research on succession in family foundations, I came across an excellent resource by Kelin Gersick called Generations of Giving: Leadership and Continuity in Family Foundations. This 2006 work was commissioned by the National Center for Family Philanthropy as the first-ever social science study of the organizational life and development of family foundations. The study focused on thirty family foundations … Read More
Website refresh with new FAQ page and more…
We’ve spent some time with our website this month to bring greater clarity and focus to how we communicate. Included in the refresh are the following: Redesigned menu bar with sections for Charities, Clients, and Resources New summary of our granting process for charities New FAQ page for charities where we respond to questions like: Can I tell you about … Read More
MacKenzie Scott blazes a new path
Articles that claim there’s a new way to do philanthropy merit some examination since traditional models aren’t perfect. So I was drawn to The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s recent cover spread on MacKenzie Scott whose divorce from Amazon’s Jeff Bezos suddenly put her in the driver’s seat of a $60 billion settlement. In 2020 she gave $5.7 billion in unrestricted, one-time … Read More
Leverage the privilege
A recent article by Elise Westhoff in the National Review highlights how philanthropy is increasingly fueling division as capitalism and its fruits are under attack. With heavy media attention on Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg and their obscene wealth and power, all of capitalism becomes suspect. But let’s not throw the baby out with the bathwater. Many philanthropy leaders now insist, … Read More
Podcast with Ben Johnson
Mark Petersen recently had the opportunity to chat with colleague Ben Johnson, CEO of Frontier Marketing, on his podcast. Mark and Ben discuss shared interests in major donors, fundraising, innovation, and more in Episode 18 of Ben’s podcast. In the podcast you will hear about a unique challenge grant we co-created several years ago where we successfully quadrupled major donor … Read More