By Stephen Alexander, Exponent Philanthropy
Evidence indicates many Exponent Philanthropy members have become increasingly adept foundation managers over the past decade. We pulled three indicators from our 2016 Foundation Operations and Management Report, of which you’ll find many more in the full report.
Purchase your copy of the report, with 60+ pages of current data and trends on boards, grantmaking, investments, compensation, and more >> (complimentary to Exponent Philanthropy members in PDF)
Here is just some of what we see:
1. Member foundations are adopting more written policies and other mission-related documents.
Over the past decade, members have increasingly formalized foundation operations, management, and governance by putting their practices into writing.
“All foundations, regardless of size, should have clearly articulated mission, goals, and grantmaking procedures,” writes George Thorn, Senior Vice President, Corporate Social Responsibility Philanthropy Manager, Bank of America Charitable Foundation.
These documents and others equip foundation managers—both board members and staff—with guidelines and guardrails for healthy foundation management and governance.
2. Member foundations are planning ahead by creating succession plans for their boards and staff.
I was once told that failing to plan was planning to fail. (Thank you, Glen O’Gilvie and Don Tebbe; the phrase stuck.)
Fortunately, we’re witnessing an uptick in interest in succession planning among member foundations. One in three now has a succession plan for their board of directors, and one in four has a succession plan for staff.
According to BoardSource’s findings in Leading with Intent, 34% of nonprofit boards nationwide have a written CEO succession plan, which means members are trailing behind the national average in planning for staff transitions.
See the post “Start Planning for Leadership Succession Now” >>
3. Many member foundations exhibit signs of a learning culture.
Thorn, like Exponent Philanthropy, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, Community Wealth Partners, and others, sees tremendous value in a learning culture at foundations:
“Philanthropy is not ideally set up for learning and the sharing of information,” writes Thorn. “Because foundations are inherently independent, learning often occurs in isolation and is largely based on secondhand information from grantees. If philanthropy is to achieve the results needed, foundations need to embrace a culture of learning.”
A learning culture also is critical for effective foundation management because it encourages foundation managers to ask tough questions, address conflict directly, and be open and honest.
Survey data indicate that many member foundations are eager to learn. Members perennially ask to learn about important topics such as creating succession plans, engaging the next generation, gathering feedback from grantees, impact investing, making program-related investments, convening grantees, and streamlining grant processes. More than half also report having implemented various strategies for board learning.
See the post “Why We Focus on Learning” >>
To see more data and dive deeper into how small-staffed foundations do their work, be sure to check out our 2016 Foundation Operations and Management Report, with benchmarking data on expense ratios, grantmaking strategies, investment returns, and much more.
Exponent Philanthropy members: This year’s Operations and Management Survey is now fielding! Please share your data to help create the next Foundation Operations and Management Report. The survey takes just 20-30 minutes to complete.
Like how data were presented in this post? A big thanks to Stephanie Evergreen for her tutorial on Dumbbell Plots.
Program Manager Stephen Alexander designs sessions for our educational programs and creates content. Before coming to Exponent Philanthropy, Stephen worked with Thomson Reuters, Jones Lang LaSalle, and two small nonprofits in Washington, DC. He currently serves on the board of the Young Nonprofit Professionals Network’s DC chapter. Follow Stephen on Twitter @StephenALXdc and Exponent Philanthropy @exponentphil.
