How Philanthropy Can Support Systems-Change Leaders

For those interested in the possibilities ahead for big picture philanthropy, I recommend this report from The Bridgespan Group and this one as well: “Field Building for Population-Level Change: How funders and practitioners can increase the odds of success.” 

The reports attempt to address the “lack of shared understanding about what it takes to advance fields and mismatches between fields needs and common philanthropic practices.” Both contain valuable insights at a time when many foundations are deep in new strategic planning processes and so many organizations are striving to increase their impact.

Giving: my renewable resource

treeEach year at this time, I like to share a few thoughts on giving. But these are tough times and this year, finding things to say about my brand of generosity (which is steady but incremental) was not easy. Nonetheless, I tried. My 2015 piece on giving is now available at the online blog Medium. I hope you will take three minutes to read it. Even more, I hope you will share it with those you know who might also need a kind of a pep talk to stay hopeful in spite of all evidence to the contrary.