At The Lemelson Foundation, we seek to foster inventions that will have social impact and improve lives. But our support for early-stage innovation could not succeed without a trusted network of grantees and partners.
Fund for Shared Insight is pooling the cash and convictions of 13 philanthropies to build the field of end-user feedback. Can its leaders become role models for the positive change they seek to create? Open access to this article is made possible by Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (Fund for Shared Insight).
Every year tens of millions of Americans sacrifice their personal time and resources to participate in civil society in some way. Why do they do it? The answers are varied and intertwined, but it might boil down to this: Civic-mindedness starts early, runs deep, and aims higher.
Leadership is often defined by lists of character qualities, values, or skills. But what if the best leaders are simply those who can willingly give up things they value?
Impact evaluations are an important tool for learning about effective solutions to social problems, but they are a good investment only in the right circumstances.
Large-scale social change requires broad cross-sector coordination, not the isolated intervention of individual organizations.
With an understanding of these 10 funding models, nonprofit leaders can use the for-profit world's valuable practice of engaging in succinct and clear conversations about long-term financial strategy.
By working closely with the clients and consumers, design thinking allows high-impact solutions to social problems to bubble up from below rather than being imposed from the top.
Fair Trade-certified coffee is growing in sales, but strict certification requirements are resulting in uneven economic advantages for coffee growers and lower quality coffee for consumers.
Our understanding of community can help funders and evaluators identify, understand, and strengthen the communities they work with.
