Open hands

Brent and I spent the day (Friday) strategizing for the future.  We both love days like that, so it was awesome to brainstorm, plan together, and be able to focus.  He introduced me to a document on foundation strategic planning that was just released by the Center for Effective Philanthropy.  The 28-page report, “Beyond the Rhetoric: Foundation Strategy,” is available free on a new website the center has made for the report.

The same day I received an e-newsletter that pointed me to Ian Wilhelm at the Chronicle of Philanthropy who also made reference to the same report.  He observes a discrepancy between foundation talk and action, and writes in the latest issue that while many foundations say they have a strategy for their giving, a new report suggests only a small number of grant makers actually do.

After interviewing 42 chief executives and program officers at two dozen large philanthropies, a report identifies 11 staff members who could articulate a coherent plan for their fund’s efforts. While almost all the respondents said they believe in the value of having a strategy, few backed up their words with action, according to the Center for Effective Philanthropy, a research group in Cambridge, Mass., that produced the study.

“There’s this huge chasm between rhetoric — ‘We believe in strategy’ — and reality,” said Phil Buchanan, the center’s president. “People tend to think they are more strategic than they are.”

 

Tomorrow Brent and I are spending the day talking turkey (post-Thanksgiving, can you tell?) about strategy, especially in consideration of our plans for 2008 and beyond.  Where do we as a foundation position ourselves for greatest potential impact and leverage?  The Center for Effective Philanthropy was behind the production of this piece - Beyond the Rhetoric: Foundation Strategy.