Candid insights
The big picture of the social sector, backed by data and expertise
Remembering Franklin Thomas
In a difficult year, in which the world struggled to break free from the grip of Covid-19, only to be set back by a new variant, the news of Franklin Thomas’ death came like a sock to the gut. Many…
December 23, 2021
Top 10 blogs of 2021
As COVID-19 continued to dominate world headlines in 2021, Candid’s blog readers looked to us for guidance on fundraising in a largely digital world, along with related news and trends in the social sector. Here we share the most-read blogs…
December 14, 2021
Participatory Philanthropy for Individual Donors
Participatory philanthropy is not a new practice in philanthropy and participatory processes have an even longer history dating back centuries, yet contemporary interest in participatory philanthropy has grown significantly over the last few years. As we, at the Effective Philanthropy…
December 8, 2021
Building Trust, Making Moonshot Bets
According to Andy Bryant, Executive Director of the Segal Family Foundation, the ability to take risks as a philanthropy organization comes down to one thing: trust. More than a decade ago the staff of the foundation approached the board with…
December 1, 2021
Lessons from 2019 to maximize future disaster giving decisions
Earlier this month, Candid and the Center for Disaster Philanthropy (CDP) released the eighth edition of our annual Measuring the State of Disaster Philanthropy report. In it, we examined available 2019 data on global disaster-related philanthropy and disaster giving, analyzing funding from foundations, bilateral and multilateral donors, the U.S. federal government,…
November 30, 2021
Diversify your fundraising portfolio with government grants
It’s not uncommon to hear that your community-based nonprofit is not government funded and you didn’t take advantage of the influx in relief funding made available within the last 18 months. Government grants have often carried the reputation of being…
November 24, 2021
Grow your individual giving through masterful copywriting
Storytelling is one of the most important tools in an individual giving fundraiser’s toolkit. However, for as much time as fundraisers spend thinking about what stories to tell their donor community, they often don’t pay the same attention to how…
November 22, 2021
3 tips for incorporating great visuals into your website
Your website’s visual elements define your organization, helping to draw visitors in and explain your nonprofit’s mission before they read a single word. This is why a strong visual brand matters: the first visuals visitors see shape their impression of…
November 22, 2021
‘Together we’re better’: Building a Candid partnership in Northern California’s Tri-Valley area
At the eastern edge of the San Francisco Bay Area lies the Tri-Valley, composed of the San Ramon, Livermore, and Amador valleys, and home to Las Positas College. Las Positas College has been a partner of Candid’s Funding Information Network since 2009, providing area nonprofits with access to Foundation Directory and other Candid resources.…
November 18, 2021
Stating Your Risk Appetite
When taking on the issue of risk in your foundation, one of the things you should do is develop a risk appetite statement, but how do you begin? Here, Jocelyn Mackie, Co-Chief Executive Officer of Grand Challenges Canada, discusses their…
November 18, 2021
We’re 39 percent similar; how can we be exponentially better?
Self-examination was the zeitgeist of philanthropy in 2021. We reflected. We adapted. We listened to the "rising voices of the people we serve" as a foundation staffer framed it recently. At times those voices were passionately personal, at others they…
November 17, 2021
How to find free things: nonprofit students edition
As a nonprofit management student, preparing to enter this field can be challenging because it’s still developing. The University of San Francisco was the first school to offer a Master’s in Nonprofit Administration less than 40 years ago, and the…
November 16, 2021