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Farewell to our President, Sara Brenner

I’m writing to share that our President Sara Brenner will be leaving Community Wealth Partners after more than 15 years. She has accepted a position to lead the creation of a new community foundation, the Jewish Community Foundation of Greater…

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Standing in Solidarity With Reproductive Justice Leaders

On the heels of last week’s Supreme Court ruling that rolls back access to safe and legal abortions, we stand in solidarity with nonprofits, movements, and funders who fight for gender equality and reproductive justice. We are committed to using…

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Moving to Action to Advance Racial Equity: Examples from Community Foundations

As private and family foundations consider how they can advance equity in their organizations, they could look to community foundations for guidance. Here's a sampling of actions we've seen community foundations take.

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Announcing our 2022 Community Foundation Cohort: Increasing Support to BIPOC Communities

To help more community foundations consider the role they can play in channeling more resources to BIPOC-led and BIPOC-serving organizations, Community Wealth Partners and ideas42 are forming a peer learning cohort for community foundation staff.

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Sharing Power With Community Members: Perspectives from Rochester-Area Funders, Nonprofits, and Parents

As foundations and nonprofits strive to center community members and look to them as experts, many struggle to engage with them in meaningful ways. The following videos share the perspectives of foundation staff, nonprofit staff, and parent leaders about why…

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Leadership Development Programs Need an Upgrade: Five Ways to Advance Racial Equity

Five actions that can have the biggest impact in supporting BIPOC leadership in nonprofits

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Insights from Community Foundations Who Are Talking to Donors About Racial Equity

As community foundations are increasingly playing a leadership role in their communities and centering racial equity in their programmatic work, many are considering how to engage donors as partners in their efforts to advance racial equity in communities. In a…

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In Conversation: Equitable Approaches to Capacity Building Webinar

In this webinar, two funders — Caroline Altman-Smith of The Kresge Foundation and Jennifer Wei of The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation — joined our senior director Idalia Fernandez to share their experiences striving to make their capacity-building offerings more…

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Three Frameworks for Shifting Power for Greater Equity and Impact

Power exists, whether we acknowledge it or not. Here are three frameworks to help you reflect on the power you hold.

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Leveraging Arts and Culture Practices to Advance Racial Justice: An Interview with Michelle Johnson from The Kresge Foundation

Sara Brenner interviewed Michelle Johnson, senior program officer with Kresge’s Arts & Culture Program, to discuss why Kresge invests in arts and culture organizations, how the foundation is supporting BIPOC leaders, and what other organizations can learn from arts and…

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No More Needs Assessments

How to move away from the deficit default and toward an approach that is more fair, honors nonprofits’ strengths and agency, and shares power with them.

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Making Capacity Building More Equitable

A new resource to help funders center equity in capacity building

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Q&A: COOs of Democracy Nonprofits Reflect on a Year Unlike Any Other

In this Q&A, COOs reflect on what they’ve learned about their role and the importance of investing in it.

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Investing in COOs: An Interview with Daniel Stid of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Hear about why the Hewlett Foundation decided to invest in COOs and what they learned from a COO cohort experience.

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Three Recommendations for COOs Navigating Change

If you’re a COO, the challenges of leadership may sometimes leave you feeling isolated, unsteady, or uncertain about how to chart a path forward. You’re not alone.

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Building a Culture of Equity and Inclusion in Collaboration

Culture can make or break collaboration. In this blog post, we reflect on our experiences designing and facilitating a community of practice. Even as we strive to build a culture of equity and inclusion, here are three aspects of white…

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Do No Harm: Three Tips for Engaging Communities in Your Strategies

Those closest to the issues are closest to the solutions. Our CEO Amy Celep shares how the nonprofit NAMI and the foundation Greater Rochester Health Foundation are engaging communities in shaping strategies that impact them. Read snapshots of their stories…

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Spectrum of Collaboration

Through our experience working with dozens of collaborative efforts, we have seen a spectrum of approaches to collaboration – from learning to coordination to integration – each of which brings positive benefit to the communities touched by these efforts, and…

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Changing the Trajectory

Changing the trajectory in this country will require involvement from every corner of society, working to dismantle oppressive systems, redistribute resources, and restore power for people historically denied it.

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What We Can Learn From the Pandemic To Close the Nutrition Gap

The Healthy Food Community of Practice celebrates successes in getting nutritious, culturally appropriate food and services to people who need it, and they call on policymakers and funders to take action to address food and nutrition insecurity for the long…

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Calls to support Asian American communities

We grieve, rage, and fight for a world where members of all Asian communities – particularly those that labor at the margins – can live fully and free.

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8 Ways to Advance Racial Justice Through Culture and Creative Practices

When community planning and development is done equitably, it embodies the culture and voices of the people who live in the community. During the Kresge Foundation's Racial Equity Exploration and Discovery (REED) convening, grantee partners who lead arts, culture and…

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Learning from Community Foundations’ Response to Crisis

Amid the dual crises of a global pandemic and a national reckoning with systemic racism, many community foundations are moving from talk to action when it comes to 1) adopting more equitable practices and 2) communicating a point of view…

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Doing Our Part for a Just Democracy

Yesterday’s attack on the U.S. Capitol by pro-Trump extremists was an attack on our democracy. Like many others, we call for Trump’s removal from office for the safety of our people and the sake of our democracy. Like others have…

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Community Foundations’ Steps Toward Equitable Funding Practices

As community foundations stretch in new ways to respond to community needs, many are thinking differently about their role, their value proposition to donors, and how they assess impact.

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Today We Celebrate, Tomorrow We Return to Work

Rest now, celebrate the wins that move us closer toward our vision of a world where all people have what they need to fully live into their potential, and get ready for the work ahead.

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Conversations with the Arizona Community Foundation

In this series of one-minute videos, you can hear some quick takes from Steve Seleznow (President and CEO of the Arizona Community Foundation) on community foundations' value proposition, impact measurement, their role during times of crisis, and equitable grantmaking amid…

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Supporting Leaders of Color

In this podcast episode, Nonprofit SnapCast interviewed Angela Romans, Idalia Fernandez, and Monisha Kapila about their work coaching and supporting nonprofit leaders of color, plus key patterns they see emerging as many historically white-led organizations appoint leaders of color for…

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Wealthy Donors Need to Go Outside Their Bubbles and Support Local Organizations Driving Social Change

Our new research found that wealthy donors are in a unique position to provide reliable and flexible funding for community-based organizations but are frequently stymied by ingrained, problematic philanthropic practices that lead them away from giving to these groups.

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Three Truths About Stakeholder Engagement

While the who, what, and how of engaging stakeholders varies in each context, we’ve consistently seen three things.

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Defining Impact and Responding to COVID-19: A Q&A with the Arizona Community Foundation

A conversation on how community foundations create impact, engage donors, respond to COVID-19, and more with Steve Seleznow, president and CEO of the Arizona Community Foundation).

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Failure Is Not an Option: How Nonprofit Boards Can Support Leaders of Color

For nonprofits hiring new executive leaders of color, here are some steps to take—and pitfalls to avoid—to ensure a successful leadership transition.

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Engaging Stakeholders in Developing Strategies

Strategies are stronger when we engage a diverse set of people in shaping solutions. This field guide can help you begin the strategy process with a clear understanding of which stakeholders you want to engage, why their input matters, and…

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Black Lives Matter

Let us be unequivocal: Black Lives Matter.

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Five Steps to Reimagine Your Organization’s Future Through Scenario Planning

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Engaging Communities in Developing Strategies

Strategies are stronger when they’re shaped by people who are closest to the issues and who will be most affected when strategies are implemented. The way you engage communities has the potential to heal old wounds and build collective power,…

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Podcast: The Impact of COVID-19 on the Sector

In a recent episode of the Business of Giving podcast, Amy Celep (CEO of Community Wealth Partners) talks with host Denver Frederick about what we’re hearing from the organizations we work with. The conversation explores many things including: How the…

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Three Things Nonprofits Should Prioritize in the Wake of COVID-19

Why organizations need to examine their social impact, economic viability, and capacity to deliver in order to remain relevant and viable both now and into the future.

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Stories of Earned Revenue

Considering earned revenue? Here are two resources that might help: a webinar with the nonprofit Per Scholas and a field guide with frameworks, guiding questions, and case studies on Center for Children’s Law and Policy, Communities In Schools, Food &…

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What’s Good on the Ship? Assessing team strengths and mission-critical needs in response to COVID-19

By identifying the assets you have right now, you can focus your energy on opportunities and innovative solutions. Here's a three-step organizational assessment process to ask yourself, "What's good on our ship?"

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What Does Virtual Leadership During COVID-19 Look Like?

It’s hard enough to lead an organization through a period of extreme societal and organizational disruption. It's even harder to do so virtually. This blog post shares reflections and practical suggestions for leaders navigating their role virtually right now.

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Finding Greater Financial Stability and Impact Through Earned Revenue

Earned revenue is one strategy that can give organizations more financial stability and help strengthen an organization’s impact. This field guide is for nonprofits considering earned-revenue opportunities and funders looking to support grantees in doing so.

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Self-Care During Challenging Times

What nonprofit leaders can do to ensure their organizations will be able to help others for the long haul

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What Foundations Are Learning About Supporting DEI Capacity

In December 2019, the Kresge Foundation hosted a convening to facilitate learning across the various approaches funders are taking to build diversity, equity, and inclusion capacity among grantees. Over 20 funders gathered to share their experiences and explore questions and…

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4 Emerging Practices to Build a Strong Capacity-Building Program Ecosystem

What would it look like to have a healthy capacity-building program ecosystem? How would our approach to capacity building be different? The Kresge Foundation’s Fostering Urban and Equitable Leadership program – made up of a group of courageous capacity builders…

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Guest Blog: Redefining How Our Community Foundation Creates Impact

The standard measures of a community foundation’s performance failed to capture the nuance of the Arizona Community Foundation's impact on donors, partner nonprofits, and community. A new model better articulates their impact through a culture of philanthropy.

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Building Capacity for Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion: Lessons from Two Years of Organizational Effectiveness Grants

How can nonprofits build stronger muscles in diversity, equity, and inclusion? While there are no easy answers, we can learn lessons from a new early-stage assessment from the Hewlett Foundation following two years of funding nonprofits to strengthen DEI in…

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Recommendations from the Field: 2019 Must-Reads

What is something you read, listened to, or watched this year that impacted the way you think about your work? We asked folks across the social sector for recommendations and were thrilled to see the incredible list they put together.…

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Four Questions to Sit With as You Learn to Let Communities Lead

Good things happen when funders shift power to communities. It’s “regenerative.” We “actually get outcomes that work” and “build a groundswell for change.” But it’s hard to “give up power and build trust,” to “learn about the things you got…

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Podcast: Making Change through Coalitions

In this two-part series, Community Wealth Partners’ president Sara Brenner talks with Vitalyst Health Foundation’s Spark podcast. In part one, she shares the four stages of the Social Transformation Lifecycle, as well as a story about a coalition. In the…

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Q&A: Network-Based Strategy

Many networks are looking for a more decentralized approach so that network members can learn from one another. How can you help network members better connect with each other?

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Making Organizational Culture More Intentional to Drive Community Change

As more grantmakers are considering how they can advance change through their grantmaking, many funders are also thinking about the need to strengthen their organizational cultures in order to work more effectively and have greater impact. Intentional cultural change work…

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October Must-Reads

Our favorite reads of the month on partnering with communities, equitable capacity building, our new strategy newsletter, and more.

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August Must-Reads

Here's what we've been reading this summer. What caught your attention?

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June Must-Reads

There’s reason for both disappointment and hope in two stories we came across this month: one about why the L.A. Kitchen shut down, and one about how communities in Canada have lifted more than 200,000 families out of poverty. Other…

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May Must-Reads

This month, we thought about roles we play in our organizations, on boards, and in the broader social change ecosystem. What caught your attention this month?

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Taking Down the Ivory Tower a Brick at a Time

Is philanthropy willing and able to change? Conversations and stories shared at the Center for Effective Philanthropy conference suggest there are places where philanthropy's ivory tower seems to be coming down, even if it’s one brick at a time.

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Bolder Goals, Bigger Breakthroughs

The past year has brought a chorus of cries challenging the status quo in the nonprofit and philanthropic sectors in pursuit of greater impact. Authors including Rob Reich and Edgar Villanueva challenged philanthropy to rethink power and privilege, while Leslie…

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April Must-Reads

This month, we saw several organizations share openly about their stories and struggles in shifting culture and pursuing racial equity, we read an example of what happens when collaboration becomes the norm, and we found practical advice for grantmakers in…

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March Must-Reads

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Now you can more easily find the content you need

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Building Advocacy Capacity, Catalyzing Collaboration

What does it take for foundations to be strong capacity-building partners to nonprofits? Over the past few months, we worked with GrantCraft to publish a series of case studies that provide an in-depth look at five foundations’ different approaches to supporting nonprofit…

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February Must-Reads

This month brought insight for nonprofits and grantmakers looking to better engage community members, think more concretely about power, and embed equity in their organizations and their evaluation practices. It also brought advice for grantmakers on tuning in to what…

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How Community Foundations Define and Communicate Their Value

Sometimes an old idea can bring new insights. Take, for example, the Arizona Community Foundation.

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Putting Your Organization’s Values Into Practice

For many organizations, inclusion and collaboration are core values that drive the work. In our field, we know that we can not do the work on our own – we are better when we have more perspectives and lived experiences at the table and…

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Staying Accountable to Our Community

I’ll never forget the day when, early in my career, a colleague asked me to do something that felt wrong. I was less than a year out of college and working as a television producer for a major network in…

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2018 Must-Reads

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Insights From Equity in the Center Summit

As we draw close to the end of this year, we have an opportunity to reflect on how we’ve grown in our work toward racial equity and recommit to it in the year to come. I reflected on our racial…

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Community-Led Change: A Capacity-Building Case Study

To make community change that sticks, the Wells Fargo Regional Foundation turns to those who know best what a neighborhood needs: community members themselves.

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November Must-Reads

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Gain Success With These Five Elements of Capacity Building

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October Must-Reads

This month, we were challenged to examine our silence by The Heinz Endowments’ Grant Oliphant. We were encouraged and equipped to put decision-making power in the hands of people affected by those decisions through GrantCraft’s new participatory grantmaking guide (which…

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September Must-Reads

This month, we read transparent accounts from the Ford Foundation’s Megan Morrison and Chris Cardona, who shared the foundation’s journey addressing its flawed approach to collecting grantee diversity data, and Laura Weidman Powers, who wrote about why and how she…

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To Go Further, Get Serious About Culture

This blog was originally posted on the Collective Impact Forum blog. See the original post here. We’ve all witnessed the importance of culture in organizations. Many leaders have seen their efforts fall apart because their team wasn’t aligned or power…

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August Must-Reads

Each month, we gather five new resources that can help us work smarter, think more deeply, and more effectively contribute to the change we seek. This month’s reads include initial results from the Ford Foundation’s BUILD initiative, how Democracy Fund…

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July Must-Reads

Each month, we gather five new resources that can help us work smarter, think more deeply and more effectively contribute to the change we seek. This month’s reads cover what went wrong in a global effort to reduce open-fire cooking,…

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June Must-Reads

Each month, we gather five new resources that can help us work smarter, think more deeply and more effectively create the change we want to see in this complex world. This month’s reads cover ways funders can support refugees and…

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May Must-Reads

Each month, we’ll be gathering five new resources that can help us work smarter, think more deeply, and create the change we want to see in this complex world. This month’s reads cover equitable grantmaking, impact evaluations, capacity building in…

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Strategies for Sustainability in Uncertain Times

In a year filled with uncertainty, many social sector organizations are asking how they might successfully sustain their impact in the coming years.

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In Collaboration, the Means Matter

How we collaborate matters greatly. A few years ago, I supported a national foundation in bringing together a group of state-based funders to address educational inequities in their state. Though the goal was clear, the national foundation’s intentions and agenda…

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Six Steps to Get Intentional About Your Partnerships

As the social sector increasingly recognizes the importance of addressing the root causes of systemic challenges, it is becoming more critical to form strong partnerships. Partnerships have myriad benefits for individual organizations—from boosting efficiency to growing their influence—but the true…

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4 Common Pitfalls of Implementing Strategy in Networks

Just like families, networks can simultaneously serve as a source of great strength and great challenges. For leaders working to develop and implement strategies within a networked structure, this can be especially true. How do you set goals across a…

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Putting Race, Equity, and Inclusion at the Center of Solving Social Problems: by Idalia Fernandez and Isabelle Moses

One of the things we love most about our work is hearing an audible gasp or “Huh, I never thought of it that way before.” These moments are the sound of disruption, when we know we’ve achieved a breakthrough. In…

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The State of Diversity in the Nonprofit Sector

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When Good is Not Good Enough

Today we issued a challenge to change agents across the social sector. The fall 2013 issue of the Stanford Social Innovation Review – released today – includes an article we co-authored with leaders from two clients and close allies of…

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5 Factors of Sustainability: This isn’t your grandmother’s sustainability framework.

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Why Competitive Advantage Matters. Even for Nonprofits.

The reality is, all nonprofits compete with each other for needed resources: donors, sponsors, clients and consumers, staff, volunteers, nearly anything and everything needed for success. Organizations that actually dedicate time and energy to truly understanding and internalizing their position…

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What the heck does Community Wealth really mean?

It’s funny how worlds sometimes collide, bringing a new lens to a familiar concept. Many of us who have read Bill Shore’s The Cathedral Within learned to think of Community Wealth as: Revenues generated to promote social change through non-traditional…

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5 Strategies for Effective Stakeholder Management

In his recent post, Bill Shore urges nonprofits to pay more attention to their stakeholders, because no nonprofit organization is capable of achieving the change it seeks all on its own. While most nonprofits understand the importance of keeping stakeholders…

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Learning

Announcing our 2022 Community Foundation Cohort: Increasing Support to BIPOC Communities

Leveraging Arts and Culture Practices to Advance Racial Justice: An Interview with Michelle Johnson from The Kresge Foundation

Making Capacity Building More Equitable

Failure Is Not an Option: How Nonprofit Boards Can Support Leaders of Color

Engaging Stakeholders in Developing Strategies

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Our resources

Farewell to our President, Sara Brenner

Farewell to our President, Sara Brenner

Standing in Solidarity With Reproductive Justice Leaders

Standing in Solidarity With Reproductive Justice Leaders

Moving to Action to Advance Racial Equity: Examples from Community Foundations

Moving to Action to Advance Racial Equity: Examples from Community Foundations

Announcing our 2022 Community Foundation Cohort: Increasing Support to BIPOC Communities

Announcing our 2022 Community Foundation Cohort: Increasing Support to BIPOC Communities

Sharing Power With Community Members: Perspectives from Rochester-Area Funders, Nonprofits, and Parents

Sharing Power With Community Members: Perspectives from Rochester-Area Funders, Nonprofits, and Parents

Leadership Development Programs Need an Upgrade: Five Ways to Advance Racial Equity

Leadership Development Programs Need an Upgrade: Five Ways to Advance Racial Equity

Insights from Community Foundations Who Are Talking to Donors About Racial Equity

Insights from Community Foundations Who Are Talking to Donors About Racial Equity

In Conversation: Equitable Approaches to Capacity Building Webinar

In Conversation: Equitable Approaches to Capacity Building Webinar

Three Frameworks for Shifting Power for Greater Equity and Impact

Three Frameworks for Shifting Power for Greater Equity and Impact

Leveraging Arts and Culture Practices to Advance Racial Justice: An Interview with Michelle Johnson from The Kresge Foundation

Leveraging Arts and Culture Practices to Advance Racial Justice: An Interview with Michelle Johnson from The Kresge Foundation

No More Needs Assessments

No More Needs Assessments

Making Capacity Building More Equitable

Making Capacity Building More Equitable

Q&A: COOs of Democracy Nonprofits Reflect on a Year Unlike Any Other

Q&A: COOs of Democracy Nonprofits Reflect on a Year Unlike Any Other

Investing in COOs: An Interview with Daniel Stid of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Investing in COOs: An Interview with Daniel Stid of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation

Three Recommendations for COOs Navigating Change

Three Recommendations for COOs Navigating Change

Building a Culture of Equity and Inclusion in Collaboration

Building a Culture of Equity and Inclusion in Collaboration

Do No Harm: Three Tips for Engaging Communities in Your Strategies

Do No Harm: Three Tips for Engaging Communities in Your Strategies

Spectrum of Collaboration

Spectrum of Collaboration

Changing the Trajectory

Changing the Trajectory

What We Can Learn From the Pandemic To Close the Nutrition Gap

What We Can Learn From the Pandemic To Close the Nutrition Gap

Calls to support Asian American communities

Calls to support Asian American communities

8 Ways to Advance Racial Justice Through Culture and Creative Practices

8 Ways to Advance Racial Justice Through Culture and Creative Practices

Learning from Community Foundations’ Response to Crisis

Learning from Community Foundations’ Response to Crisis

Doing Our Part for a Just Democracy

Doing Our Part for a Just Democracy

Community Foundations’ Steps Toward Equitable Funding Practices

Community Foundations’ Steps Toward Equitable Funding Practices

Today We Celebrate, Tomorrow We Return to Work

Today We Celebrate, Tomorrow We Return to Work

Conversations with the Arizona Community Foundation

Conversations with the Arizona Community Foundation

Supporting Leaders of Color

Supporting Leaders of Color

Wealthy Donors Need to Go Outside Their Bubbles and Support Local Organizations Driving Social Change

Wealthy Donors Need to Go Outside Their Bubbles and Support Local Organizations Driving Social Change

Three Truths About Stakeholder Engagement

Three Truths About Stakeholder Engagement

Defining Impact and Responding to COVID-19: A Q&A with the Arizona Community Foundation

Defining Impact and Responding to COVID-19: A Q&A with the Arizona Community Foundation

Failure Is Not an Option: How Nonprofit Boards Can Support Leaders of Color

Failure Is Not an Option: How Nonprofit Boards Can Support Leaders of Color

Engaging Stakeholders in Developing Strategies

Engaging Stakeholders in Developing Strategies

Black Lives Matter

Black Lives Matter