Candid insights
The big picture of the social sector, backed by data and expertise
4 Steps to Identifying Your Key Messages
I worked with a client recently on honing their messaging. This organization has a focused mission, a clearly articulated approach to its work, and specialized niche within its ecosystem of actors and stakeholders. They know their constituents and they can…
June 22, 2015
The Clinton Foundation Reveals Its Donors: Should You?
A fundraising foundation has two world famous founders, a global network of generous donors, and a track record of grantmaking success. One of the founders plans to run for higher office, and the foundation makes the decision to be highly…
June 1, 2015
Social Sector Knowledge Sharing: A Manifesto for 2015 and Beyond
Within the last six months, three of the world’s largest foundations—the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Ford Foundation—have all announced that they will require open licensing and knowledge sharing for all grant-funded products and content. In…
April 20, 2015
Where Can I Find a Nonprofit’s Form 1023?
Lately, I've been getting a lot of Ask Us visitors who want to see a specific nonprofit's Form 1023, also known as its exemption application. This question usually comes from would-be nonprofits that want to refer to Form 1023 samples…
March 6, 2015
Document Checklist for Grant Proposals: Part 3
Part 1 listed documents to collect during the prospect research stage; Part 2 listed those to collect when you submit your letter of inquiry or proposal. Part 3 will look at what to keep when you've been notified, and suggest…
December 29, 2014
Document Checklist for Grant Proposals: Part 2
Part 1 listed documents to collect during the prospect research stage. In Part 2, we'll continue our checklist with content to collect when you are submitting your letters of inquiry or grant proposals. Letter of inquiry. Grantmakers are increasingly asking…
December 17, 2014
Document Checklist for Grant Proposals: Part 1
A Foundation Center South visitor was trying to organize paperwork related to grant proposals and asked if we knew of a checklist that listed every document that might have something to do with a grant proposals. We couldn't find one,…
December 15, 2014
What Can I Do If a Nonprofit Isn’t Following Its Bylaws?
This is another question that visitors often have for our Ask Us team. Curiously, I've had a hard time finding a succinct answer to this seemingly simple question. Corporate attorney Paul Davis Fancher of Troutman Sanders presented a free webcast…
December 9, 2014
Top 5 Tips for Successful Grant Proposals
Crowd-sourced from Foundation Center trainers, here are our top five tips for developing successful grant proposals: Do your homework! Research, research, research. Conducting targeted research helps you find the right funders to partner with and support your organization's work. Sending…
October 30, 2014
How do you define a nonprofit’s size?
Visitors sometimes ask us if there are industry standards for"large", "medium", or "small" nonprofits. They often ask in the context of a funder's eligibility requirements or a released report. The simple answer: No standardized scale for "nonprofit's size" exists. However,…
October 27, 2014
Ants in the Kitchen: The Role of Data in Human Rights Funding
A professor at Vanderbilt University, Brooke Ackerly, once told me, “Numbers matter. If someone tells you there are ants in your kitchen, you will want to know whether there are two ants in your kitchen or whether there are TWO…
June 19, 2013
Sean Parker and the Perils of Stealth Philanthropy
I love weddings and I love philanthropy, so I have been following the fallout from Sean Parker’s wedding with growing interest over the last couple of weeks of unrelenting news coverage surrounding the big event. Mr. Parker is the co-founder…
June 17, 2013