Philanthropy News

Global development funders pour millions of dollars every year into various forms of learning — from disseminating insights and lessons learned to reflecting and acting on program outcomes to using knowledge to improve decision-making. But, based on what we’ve seen, many of the smartest, most creative, and most successful organizations in the social impact space are hindered by poor learning systems. This means that they are failing to reach their potential in terms of performance and impact, and that they are limited in their ability to evolve or pivot in response to challenges they face.

Lawmakers came to an agreement yesterday on a tax bill that includes the simplification of the private foundation excise tax. The provision is from the Private Foundation Excise Tax Simplification Act, H.R. 4953.

Housing advocates in Michigan continue to raise concerns over a federal affordable housing program. These concerns echo similar sentiments across the country as municipalities continue to struggle to meet the demand for quality affordable housing.

A lot of people today talk about how philanthropy needs to be more business-like, about how we need to incorporate principles from the for-profit business sector into the nonprofit and traditional grantmaking sector. I think that is a big mistake, and I urge you to take care before doing it.