About the Community
GEO’s research shows that the vast majority of grantmakers— 86%—provide some kind of capacity-building support. The Capacity Building Champions is a community of GEO members who are passionate about ensuring that this essential support—in areas from leadership and fundraising to communications, evaluation and technology—truly helps nonprofits and communities thrive.
Who are the Capacity Building Champions?
GEO members who are passionate about nonprofit capacity building and are motivated to see change. Grounding our work in racial equity and cultural competency, champions have created a community of practice where we hold each other accountable, challenge ourselves and others to develop funder practices that truly center grantees and communities, and engage in shared and authentic learning.
The Capacity Building Champions self-organize around questions and topics of shared interest, communicating via a listserv and convening virtually and in person at GEO events to learn and share resources and plan outreach to other grantmakers. Sample activities include: virtual meetings about shared questions; group convenings for peer coaching on specific capacity-building topics; in-person meetings at GEO conferences for networking and relationship building; co-authored GEO Perspectives pieces; regional meetings of champions and other grantmakers on various topics; and planning conversations to chart the community’s work.
If you are interested in joining the Capacity Building Champions, please contact Allison Punch-Turner at punch-turner@geofunders.org.
Featured Events & News
Strategic Learners Network 2024 Q3 Call
Quarterly call for members of GEO’s Strategic Learners Network. A typical call…
- Webinar
Equitable, Meaningful, Valuable Boards: Transformation Within Reach
A conversation about how foundation governance can transform to meet the needs…
- Webinar
Change Leaders Community Quarterly Call
Quarterly virtual call for current and former Change Leaders in Philanthropy Fellows. Current…
- Peer Communities
- Webinar
Equitable Operations Peer Community Call
Connect with your peers who are looking to operationalize equity within their…
- Peer Communities
Workshop: Exploring Culture to Effectively Reach Your Mission
Join Grantmakers for Effective Organizations in partnership with North Carolina Network of…
- Workshop
New Member Orientation
Join our next member orientation to learn about community benefits and discover…
- Member Orientation
Change Leaders Community Quarterly Call
Quarterly virtual call for current and former Change Leaders in Philanthropy Fellows. Current…
- Peer Communities
Strategic Learners Network 2024 Q4 Call
Quarterly call for members of GEO’s Strategic Learners Network. A typical call…
- Peer Communities
Equitable Operations Peer Community Call
Connect with your peers who are looking to operationalize equity within their…
- Remote Learning Series
- Webinar
2025 Member Orientation
Join our next member orientation to learn about community benefits and discover…
- Member Orientation
2025 Member Orientation
Join our next member orientation to learn about community benefits and discover…
- Member Orientation
2025 Learning Conference
Save the Date for GEO’s 2025 Learning Conference, hosted in partnership with…
- Conferences
2025 Member Orientation
Join our next member orientation to learn about community benefits and discover…
- Member Orientation
2025 Member Orientation
Join our next member orientation to learn about community benefits and discover…
- Member Orientation
Centering Humanity in Philanthropy
"Seek to make your life long and its purpose in the service…
- Perspectives Piece
Learning Together: The Value in Community Convening
In philanthropy, transformational change does not happen in a vacuum. There’s inherent…
- Perspectives Piece
Harmonizing AI and Philanthropy: Running To or Running From a Brave New World
In the ever-evolving landscape of technological advancement, Artificial Intelligence (AI) stands out…
- Perspectives Piece
Reimagining Philanthropy with Humanity at the Core
Reflections from the 2024 GEO Conference
- Perspectives Piece
Taking COVID Lessons Forward
How can the lessons from COVID guide us in forging a future…
- Perspectives Piece
Reimagining Philanthropy: How Funders Can Advance the Movement for Social Justice
“Reevaluating Practice: Reimagining Philanthropy” captures recommendations of our grantees. They have taught…
- Perspectives Piece
Why Funders Should Invest in Flexible Cash Assistance
Funders have an opportunity to significantly invest in and advocate for one…
- Perspectives Piece
Living Into Shared Ways of Being that Advance Equity
Share GEO’s ways of being with the broader GEO community to highlight…
- Perspectives Piece
GEO’s New Strategic Direction
GEO is thrilled to be sharing our new strategic direction as we…
- Perspectives Piece
Bridging Differences to Advance Equity: Three Lessons Community Foundations Are Learning About Engaging Donors and Community
An exciting evolution is happening among community foundations in the United States.
- Perspectives Piece
Important Update on #GEO2024 National Conference Date and Location
We’re writing today with an important update regarding GEO’s 2024 National Conferences…
- News Alert
Crosspost: Lessons learned: Using demographic data to move from intention to action
At a recent webinar hosted by Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, Jennifer Chheang…
- Perspectives Piece
Keeping the Faith in Democracy: Why America’s Faith Communities Can’t be Overlooked
The following is adapted from a guide for funders on investing in…
- Perspectives Piece
A Funder’s Demographic Data Journey
GEO and Candid are partnering to bring you this conversation with two…
- Perspectives Piece
Crosspost: Centering lived experience: Unlocking the preconditions for equity-rooted evaluation
Kresge Strategic Learning and Evaluation Officer Arturo Garcia moderated a session at…
- Perspectives Piece
What makes collaboration effective? And what doesn’t?
CLIPF is a supportive community where grantmakers can identify best practices and…
- Perspectives Piece
Connecting Internal Culture and Practice Shifts to External Organizational Impact
GEO created the Change Leaders in Philanthropy Fellowship (CLIPF) to provide senior…
- Perspectives Piece
Using Organizational Strategy to Inform Philanthropic Effectiveness
Over the last 25 years, the GEO community has led the field…
- Perspectives Piece
No More Excuses: Child and Youth Participation is the Future of Philanthropy
How can philanthropy and civil society build the future world we want…
- Perspectives Piece
Philanthropy is a Leverage Point in the Systems We Seek to Shift
Philanthropy is beginning to understand that in order to get different results,…
- Perspectives Piece
Celebrating 25 Years of Exploring Effective Grantmaking Practices
Over the past 25 years, contributors to the GEO community have remained…
- Perspectives Piece
Together, We Can Co-Create a Meaningful Set of Possibilities for 2023
GEO's CEO and President Marcus Walton contemplates a meaningful set of possibilities…
- Perspectives Piece
GEO 2023 Learning Conference: Session Proposal Frequently Asked Questions
GEO is seeking session proposals for our 2023 Learning Conference: Courageous Unlearning,…
- Perspectives Piece
To Sustain Movements, Grantmakers Must Invest in Leadership
Leaders on the front lines need continued investment to continue the long-term…
- Perspectives Piece
Exploring GEO’s Approach to Equitable Conference Planning
GEO's Allison Beck and Allison Punch-Turner share insights and lessons learned on…
- Perspectives Piece
Community in Philanthropy: What it is, why we need it, and how we can build it
Dr. Albertina Lopez explores why community matters in philanthropy and explains how…
- Perspectives Piece
Meeting the Future with a New Approach to Readiness: Part II
The unpredictability of the future and overt inequities unmasked during the past…
- Perspectives Piece
Centering Equity through Flexible, Reliable Funding: Resourcing BIPOC Leaders
GEO’s new publication, Centering Equity through Flexible, Reliable Funding provides grantmakers with…
- Perspectives Piece
Change Leaders in Philanthropy: A Conversation with Rebecca Cisek of Bainum Family Foundation
GEO’s Change Leaders in Philanthropy Fellowship (CLIPF) launched in 2016 to offer…
- Perspectives Piece
Funding Movement Building is Critical to Criminal Justice Reform
A broad ecosystem of nonprofits, coalitions and leaders of color are working…
- Perspectives Piece
Conferences as Collective Capacity Building
Felisa Gonzales of The Colorado Trust, Laura Patterson of Metropolitan State University…
- Perspectives Piece
Facing a World without Roe: How Effective Grantmaking Combats Inequity
Here at GEO, we envision and are co-creating a community of courageous…
- Perspectives Piece
Change Leaders in Philanthropy: A Conversation with Marisa Magallenez of Albuquerque Community Foundation
GEO’s Change Leaders in Philanthropy Fellowship (CLIPF) launched in 2016 to offer…
- Perspectives Piece
Meeting the Future with a New Approach to Readiness
Today’s changing world requires an overhaul in how we think of readiness.…
- Perspectives Piece
GEO Welcomes Kristina Wertz as Vice President of External Affairs
We are excited to welcome Kristina Wertz to the team as GEO’s…
- News Alert
Change Leaders in Philanthropy: A Conversation with Sabrina Slade of John Rex Endowment
GEO’s Change Leaders in Philanthropy Fellowship (CLIPF) launched in 2016 to offer…
- Perspectives Piece
Meet the Newest Members of the GEO Team
For the last couple of years, Covid-19 has made social separation a…
- News Alert
Crosspost: In the Test Kitchen: Grantmaking Insights to Chew On
As a spend down foundation, how the Stupski Foundation shows up is…
- Perspectives Piece
Language is a Key to Reducing Health Disparities
Language is powerful. Using clear and direct language to describe the populations…
- Perspectives Piece
Humility, Listening and Connectedness: How to Build Partner Relationships Rooted in Equity
In this second, follow-up piece of Humility, Listening and Connectedness: Building Partner…
- Perspectives Piece
Creating a Race Equity Culture™ Together
Rebekah Gowler and Jaser Alsharhan explain that a crucial part of doing…
- Perspectives Piece
Equity in Event Planning: Lessons Learned in Creating an Access-Centered Virtual Environment
Allison Punch-Turner and Cassie Maxwell reflect on lessons they learned in creating…
- Perspectives Piece
Is Philanthropy Ready? End of Year Reflections from GEO President & CEO, Marcus Walton
GEO President & CEO Marcus Walton reflects on the past year and…
- Perspectives Piece
Philanthropy’s Next Stage Imperative: Meaningfully Moving Foundation Assets for the Common Good
Henry A. J. Ramos explores how grantmakers can meet the moment of…
- Perspectives Piece
New GEO Publication Examines Culture, Systems and Power in Capacity Building Practices
Strengthening nonprofit organizations is not just a nice-to-have but an essential part…
- Perspectives Piece
Five Principles to Advance Equity and Justice in Philanthropic Strategy
Anand Dholakia explores five principles that help grantmakers ensure their strategies and…
- Perspectives Piece
Seeing Philanthropy in a New Light
How might philanthropy change over the next ten years? The new Monitor…
- Perspectives Piece
In Search of the Unattainable – Why Setting Impossible Goals Isn’t Always a Bad Thing for Philanthropy
Strategies set out what we’ll achieve and how; if we’re not realistic,…
- Perspectives Piece
Giving While Learning: How Regrantors Enable Every Funder to Advance Racial Equity…Starting Now
In response to the converging social and public health pandemics last year,…
- Perspectives Piece
Humility, Listening and Connectedness: Building Partner Relationships that Drive Equitable Practice
Maria Azuri unpacks how humility, listening and connectedness are central to building…
- Perspectives Piece
Community-Centered Leadership: Values, Boundaries and Rituals
GEO program manager, Jaser Alsharhan, explains how principles of community-centered leadership can…
- Perspectives Piece
Transforming Funder and Evaluator Relationships for a More Equitable and Effective Field: A Field Conversation
This summer, the Funder and Evaluator Network (FEAN) partnered with GEO to…
- Perspectives Piece
Request for Proposals: Website Design and Development with Content and Customer Relationship Management System Integration
GEO is planning a major website redesign with content and customer relationship…
- Perspectives Piece
Changing the Face of Philanthropy
Denise Herrera, in her former role as Senior Capacity Building Officer at…
- Perspectives Piece
Addition by Subtraction: Part Two
In part two of his blog, Neel Hajra shares examples of how…
- Perspectives Piece
Addition by Subtraction: Part One
In part one of his blog, Neel Hajra reflects on adding through…
- Perspectives Piece
Great News for the GEO Community
GEO is thrilled to share we has been selected as one of…
- News Alert
Reflections on GEO’s 2021 Learning Conference
Nadege Souvenir reflects on GEO's 2021 Learning Conference, asking if philanthropy is…
- Perspectives Piece
Shifting Power through Co-Creation: Reflections from Empowerment Economics to Spark Dialogue
Jessica Santos, PhD reflects on the importance of shifting power in our…
- Perspectives Piece
Shifting Evaluation and Learning to Center Equity in Philanthropic Practice
Kara Carlisle and Anita Patel, co-chairs of GEO's 2021 Learning Conference, write…
- Perspectives Piece
Reinventing The Wheel No More: Actions every philanthropic professional can take to increase the impact of evaluation and learning
The Funder Evaluator Affinity Network (FEAN) shares actions grantmakers can take to…
- Perspectives Piece
Investing in Resilience: Continuous Quality Improvement for Adaptation in Uncertainty
When grantmakers invest in service quality and continuous improvement practices, it builds…
- Perspectives Piece
Toward More Useful Evaluations: Strategies and Examples from the Kansas Health Foundation
Nadine Long and LaShawn Glasgow unpack strategies from the Kansas Health Foundation…
- Perspectives Piece
Staff Reflections: Growing a Movement for Trans Liberation
Nicole Fernandes of Funders for LGBTQ Issues shares three takeaways on how…
- Perspectives Piece
GEO Sabbatical: Two Months of Open Space
On the blog, Kyle Rinne-Meyers reflects on his sabbatical experience and how…
- Perspectives Piece
Don’t Be A Stranger: Tips for Philanthropy on Distancing vs. Building Solidarity
Isabel Sousa-Rodriguez of the Edward W. Hazen Foundation shares important insights into…
- Perspectives Piece
Two Steps Forward
Suprotik Stotz-Ghosh reflects on how grantmakers can generate meaningful results in response…
- Perspectives Piece
Making the Case for the Equitable Evaluation Framework™
Funders Together, GEO, PEAK, and SCG are excited to co-host and launch…
- Perspectives Piece
Challenges and Strategies for Building Community-Driven Philanthropy
Jaser Alsharhan unpacks the challenges and strategies for building community-drive philanthropy from…
- Perspectives Piece
The Imperative of Foundation Board Diversity
Phil Buchanan, president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, unpacks the imperative…
- Perspectives Piece
GEO Statement on the Violence at the U.S. Capitol: Threats to Democracy Demand an Emphatic Philanthropic Response
This week, American democracy came under siege in full public view leaving…
- Perspectives Piece
Change Leaders in Philanthropy Fellowship: Transformative Leadership in Service of Thriving Communities
Having real conversations about where we want philanthropy to go is crucial…
- Perspectives Piece
What Next? Gearing Up for the Long Fight for an Inclusive, Equitable Democracy
2020 underscores what many of us in the social change field have…
- Perspectives Piece
Unmuted: What Works (and Doesn’t) When Working Together Online
Andy Goodman unpacks the challenges of working remotely, asking what works, what…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: Learning from Two Decades of Grantee Relationships
Decision-makers such as elected officials and institutional funders have historically ignored and…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: How to Discuss Merger Exploration with Grantees
In the COVID-19 world, funders may increasingly find themselves in discussions with…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: Rethinking Outcomes in a Crisis Context
In this critical time, and with a sense of urgency, many philanthropic…
- Perspectives Piece
Philanthropy’s Racial Funding Gap is an Urgent Crisis
The demand for racial justice erupting across a nation ravaged by a…
- Perspectives Piece
New Survey: How Online Work is Impacting Us All
Andy Goodman, director and co-founder of the Goodman Center, is launching a…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: We Need to End Structural Racism and Inequities. How can Data and Evidence Help?
In this cross-post, Project Evident discusses how data and evidence can help…
- Perspectives Piece
Hope is Not a Strategy for Change
Hear from GEO CEO, Marcus Walton, as he reflects on how hope…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: To turn a corner, trust social entrepreneurs
In this cross-post Ashoka argues the case for funding social entrepreneur-led organizations…
- Perspectives Piece
Four Upstream Questions to Support Next Steps
For the last two months, grantmaking organizations have focused on triage as…
- Perspectives Piece
Scaffolding and Support: How Senior Leaders Are Setting the Stage for Change
Like many other grantmakers, the CLIPF community mobilized quickly to support grantees…
- Perspectives Piece
The Obstacle is the Path
Hear from GEO CEO, Marcus Walton, as he reflects on the impact…
- Perspectives Piece
Adapting Capacity Building During COVID-19
GEO’s Capacity Building Champions, a community of GEO members who are passionate…
- Perspectives Piece
Smarter Grantmaking Practices During—and Beyond—COVID-19
As a community of grantmakers advocating for philanthropy to put nonprofits and…
- Perspectives Piece
Joint Statement Calling for Increased Giving In This Time of Crisis
Unprecedented times call for unprecedented actions. The challenges that we are collectively…
- Perspectives Piece
A New Role for Funders in Field Building Toward Social Change: Moving from Driving the Car to Filling the Tank
The Bridgespan Group shares key findings from their new report that examines…
- Perspectives Piece
Trust-Based Philanthropy is Trending. What Will It Take to Sustain It?
Last week, over 200 foundations signed a pledge calling upon philanthropy to…
- Perspectives Piece
A Note from GEO CEO, Marcus Walton, on COVID-19
The global COVID-19 outbreak being felt here and across the world is…
- Perspectives Piece
See the Forest and the Trees: 11 Trends in Philanthropy for 2020
In this post from the Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy, Tory…
- Perspectives Piece
Learning What Works: Practitioners Leading with Equity
Charles E. Carter of Project Evident shared reflections from his experience at…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: An eye towards the future: Trust-based funding
In this cross-post from the inaugural fellow at The Patterson Foundation, Hannah…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: Evaluation in the Hot Seat: Taking on Current Criticisms
At the GEO Learning Conference this year a group of 5 evaluators…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: How Grantmakers Can Better See What's Coming
In this post, which originally appeared in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Bess…
- Perspectives Piece
Making Organizational Culture More Intentional to Drive Community Change
As more grantmakers are considering how they can advance change through their…
- Perspectives Piece
Racial Equity and the Role of Foundations
The Consumer Health Foundation has long embedded racial equity in its programs,…
- Perspectives Piece
Five Foundations Advance Ways to End the Starvation Cycle
Five major foundations, all GEO members, have agreed to do more to…
- Perspectives Piece
Revolutionary Love — Our Secret Sauce
What if the philanthropic sector placed as much value on love and…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: Reflections on Un-Learning
The Associations Advancing Equitable Evaluation Practices (AAEEP) came together earlier this year…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: Two Years into Our Journey - Lessons in listening and humility
What started out two years ago as a simple “strategic plan refresh”…
- Perspectives Piece
My Journey to GEO
Throughout my career, I have committed myself to service. First, as a…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: How Do We Measure Success?
This is a cross-post of an article written by Scott Heimlich of…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: Are Search Firms Doing Their Best to Practice Racially-Equitable Nonprofit Searches?
This post originally appeared on Fund the People's website and discusses white…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: Candid Announces Inaugural #OpenForGood Award Winners
As part of the Grantmakers for Effective Organizations Learning Conference 2019, Candid…
- Perspectives Piece
Lessons Learned from a Multilevel Capacity-Building Approach to Center Race in Health Equity Advocacy in Colorado
The Colorado Trust recently released a learning paper on their cohort model…
- Perspectives Piece
Relationships Are Our Work: 3 Culture Building Practices to Engage Employees
To retain employees long-term, we need to create cultures where people feel…
- Perspectives Piece
Transition as an Opportunity for Transformational Change
Interim CEO J McCray shares an update on GEO's leadership transition and…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: The Audacity of Building Capacity
Healthcare Georgia Foundation supports and funds capacity building. Learn more about how…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: Engaging Boards and Trustees in Strategic Learning
"Engaging Boards and Trustees in Strategic Learning," a toolkit from FSG and…
- Perspectives Piece
Lessons from a Foundation’s Culture-Change Journey
Helios Foundation for Education shares their lessons learned from a cultural change…
- Perspectives Piece
A Farewell from Outgoing CEO Kathleen Enright
After 17 years with GEO, President and CEO Kathleen Enright is transitioning…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: Crafting Capacity-Building Support that Counts
When grantmakers consider providing capacity-building support for the first time or refining…
- Perspectives Piece
Findings from GEO’s Language Survey
In 2018 and 2019, GEO is developing a publication, workshop and conference…
- Perspectives Piece
Perspective Matters
After three years of working to expand the bench of evaluators, the…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: Are Nonprofits Getting the Support They Really Need?
The Center for Effective Philanthropy conducted a study to discover what support…
- Perspectives Piece
Get on the Balcony
In September 2018, Grantmakers for Effective Organizations released "Get on the Balcony:…
- Perspectives Piece
Complex Problems Require Collaborative Solutions
After 17 successful years of inspiring and nurturing people with innovative, grassroots…
- Perspectives Piece
Introducing The Sprout Fund Field Guide for Philanthropy & Civic Action
After 17 successful years of inspiring and nurturing people with innovative, grassroots…
- Perspectives Piece
Centering Our Website on Relationships, Accessibility and Transparency
The Maddox Charitable Fund's original website bespoke a transactional as opposed to…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: The Case for General Operating Support
The Claniel Foundation has shifted to providing 100 percent of its grants…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: Finding—and Using—the Right Tool for the Job
Organizational assessment tools can be used to gauge an organization’s strategic focus,…
- Perspectives Piece
Strengthening Relationships Language Poll
Help GEO decide on language to use when we talk about increasing…
- Perspectives Piece
Returning Learning to the System
The more frequently members of a system communicate with each other about…
- Perspectives Piece
Philanthropy's Debt to our Country's Biggest Region
The southeastern U.S. is heavy with history and layered with nuanced culture…
- Perspectives Piece
Listening to Beneficiary Needs and Respecting Grantees
Philanthropy and the nonprofit sector have seen several evolutionary changes over the…
- Perspectives Piece
Strengthening the Field of Philanthropic Evaluation: A Call to Action
One year ago, Engage R+D and Equal Measure launched an exploratory dialogue…
- Perspectives Piece
To Move Forward, Look Back
The longstanding saying tells us to stop and smell the roses. But…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: Advancing Equity by Undoing Nonprofit Power Dynamics
If we want our sector to be more effective in addressing the…
- Perspectives Piece
Reflections from the 2018 National Conference
We were so excited to welcome so many thought leaders to GEO’s…
- Perspectives Piece
Systems Change and Equity Go Hand-in-Hand
Complex, systemic challenges require sophisticated, long-term strategies to address them. The same…
- Perspectives Piece
Leaning Into Discomfort: A Reflection on GEO's 2018 National Conference
In this post-2018 National Conference reflection, Ellen Solowey, program officer at Virginia…
- Perspectives Piece
Is This 21st Century Philanthropy's Defining Moment?
This year, GEO welcomed back Nell Edgington, president of Social Velocity, to…
- Perspectives Piece
Social Velocity's 2018 National Conference Recap: Day 3
Welcome to the recap of Day 3 of GEO's 2018 National Conference!…
- Perspectives Piece
Social Velocity's 2018 National Conference Recap: Day 2
Welcome to the recap of Day 2 of GEO's 2018 National Conference!…
- Perspectives Piece
Social Velocity's 2018 National Conference Recap: Day 1
Welcome to the recap of Day 1 of GEO's 2018 National Conference!…
- Perspectives Piece
Reflecting on 20 Years of Progress at GEO's 2018 National Conference
At the beginning of the year, we kicked off our first post…
- Perspectives Piece
Reflections on GEO's 2018 National Conference: Matthew Henkes
As GEO's national conference approaches, our members share their hopes for our…
- Perspectives Piece
Philanthropy in Troubled Times - Blogging at the 2018 GEO Conference
This year, GEO welcomes back Nell Edgington, president of Social Velocity, to…
- Perspectives Piece
Dancing with Philathro-friends: Reflections on GEO's 2018 National Conference by Amarilis Pullen
As GEO’s national conference approaches, our members share their hopes for our…
- Perspectives Piece
What Would It Take to Align Foundation Mission and Evaluation Practice?
Equitable evaluation has created a critical space for reflective practice. As evaluators…
- Perspectives Piece
Knowledge Sharing to Strengthen Grantmaking
When foundations share knowledge generated through evaluation, strategy development and thought leadership,…
- Perspectives Piece
A New Guide from Philanthropy's Reflective Practices
Philanthropy's Reflective Practices released a guide exploring four reflective practices. Read more…
- Perspectives Piece
Reframing our Purpose to Be More Transformative for People and Families
As Root Cause began to question its purpose, it was critical that…
- Perspectives Piece
Revised Reporting: Are We Fooling Ourselves?
While there is a nearly universal belief that grant reports are necessary,…
- Perspectives Piece
Rapid Response Grantmaking: Responding to Concerns About Community Wellbeing
Post-presidential election, the William Caspar Graustein Memorial Fund noticed the increasing amount…
- Perspectives Piece
Improving Maternal and Infant Health Through Collaboration and Engagement
bi3 provided $3.2 million to launch StartStrong, a maternal and infant health…
- Perspectives Piece
Rapid Response Grantmaking: Standing with Immigrant and Refugee Neighbors
Solidarity MN is a coalition of Minnesota foundations inspired to act by…
- Perspectives Piece
Looking Forward and Looking Back: 20 Years of Community
This year, the GEO community celebrates 20 years of making meaningful progress…
- Perspectives Piece
Rapid Response Grantmaking: From Day 1 to 100, We Made it 100 Days of US
The Sprout Fund designs grassroots grantmaking programs that tap the ingenuity of…
- Perspectives Piece
Thank You for Influencing Our Future Direction
Thank you for engaging with us throughout 2017 and sharing your wisdom…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: 5 Concrete Steps Foundations Can Take to Advance Racial Equity
In December 2017, Lori Bartczak and Starsky Wilson co-authored an op ed…
- Perspectives Piece
The Story of the Blue Line Coalition
Beginning in 2012, Nexus and the Phillips Foundation partnered to fund and…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: What Does it Take to Build Strong Relationships?
On November 21, 2017, the Center for Effective Philanthropy posted this blog…
- Perspectives Piece
Look at Social Impact Projects for What They Are: Investment
When funding social impact projects, grantmakers have historically not provided contingency funds…
- Perspectives Piece
Increase Your Impact: Invest in Nonprofit Staff
In September, Fund the People announced the release of Fund the People…
- Perspectives Piece
Cross-post: The Search
After the 2017 Unity Summit, AAPIP (Asian Americans/Pacific Islanders in Philanthropy) invited…
- Perspectives Piece
We Are In This Together: A Letter to Philanthropy
Hear directly from 9 nonprofit leaders what you can be doing to…
- Perspectives Piece
Using Intermediaries for Social Change
On September 11, GEO hosted a member call to discuss the role…
- Perspectives Piece
A Statement of Values to Guide Philanthropic Collaboration
For the past two years, a number of the leading organizations supporting…
- Perspectives Piece
Capacity building, now more than ever
At this moment, many nonprofits are facing greater fiscal uncertainty than ever…
- Perspectives Piece
Investing in Collaborative Systems Change in Turbulent Times
Philanthropic funders have a unique role to play when leading in complexity…
- Perspectives Piece
From unrest to collaboration
The biggest win for us in going through these dialogues in and…
- Perspectives Piece
What we know for sure
Often unprecedented circumstances seem to necessitate bigger or radically different strategies. But…
- Perspectives Piece
Effective Engagement Starts and Ends with Respect
Even when we don’t mean to — and even when it runs…
- Perspectives Piece
Change Incubator Lessons Learned
Here are five key lessons learned from our pilot Change Incubator program,…
- Perspectives Piece
How can I bring a DEI lens to my organization?
The Race Matters Toolkit provides a comprehensive look at how race and…
- Perspectives Piece
Focus and Hope
Now is the opportunity for foundations to gain a clarity that has…
- Perspectives Piece
Grantmaking with a racial equity lens
A racial equity lens focuses on how race and ethnicity impact experiences…
- Perspectives Piece
Recognize privilege and confront it to do philanthropy well
We all have blind spots. Our blind spots may cause us to…
- Perspectives Piece
What is diversity, equity and inclusion?
The D5 coalition has created a series of tools to help grantmakers…
- Perspectives Piece
Protecting Progress in the Trump Era
What will the Trump Administration mean for the nonprofit organizations who serve…
- Perspectives Piece
Privilege is a blind spot that we need to recognize and confront to do philanthropy well
We all have blind spots. They impair our judgment in meaningful ways.…
- Perspectives Piece
Putting Grantees at the Center of Philanthropy
This series, produced in partnership with Grantmakers for Effective Organizations, tells the…
- Perspectives Piece
A Watershed Moment for Philanthropy Infrastructure
For far too long, the relationships between infrastructure organizations have been fraught…
- Perspectives Piece
Funders and nonprofit leaders need to get on the same side of the table…and share a beverage
Many trustees, program officers and nonprofit leaders are pretty terrible at having…
- Perspectives Piece
Embracing Discomfort
We need to face the structural and systemic causes of racial disparity…
- Perspectives Piece
Community thoughts from the 2016 National Conference
A number of 2016 National Conference participants have shared their thoughts about…
- Perspectives Piece
Placing big bets with the Change Incubator
When GEO launched the Change Incubator last year, we were making three…
- Perspectives Piece
A Positive Culture Only Happens With Intentionality
We know that as a field, we need to do more to…
- Perspectives Piece
The CIA Made Me Do It
I recently ran across a historical document that surprisingly holds many parallels…
- Perspectives Piece
Change Incubator — What are we learning so far?
Teams from four pioneering GEO member organizations joined us in the first…
- Perspectives Piece
The First Step: Understanding the Origins of Culture
More and more people in philanthropy are realizing just how critical attending…
- Perspectives Piece
A Compelling Case to Make Advocacy a Part of Board Culture
Neither we nor the organizations we support can afford to leave any…
- Perspectives Piece
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