July 23, 2009 | Read Time: 1 minute
Next week nonprofit leaders will gather in Colorado Springs to discuss the future of philanthropy and how it can meet the emerging global problems triggered by the economic downturn.
Independent Sector, a Washington association of about 600 charities and grant makers, is organizing the three-day event. Given how hard the nonprofit world has been hit by the recession, it needs to “reinvent itself” in the next 10 years or so, Diana Aviv, Independent Sector’s chief executive, said in a phone call with reporters and blog writers.
She promised that the discussion would be wide-ranging, including global and national trends and specific issues facing nonprofit groups. Topics are likely to include whether there are too many charities in America; how business, government, and nonprofit organizations can work together better; and how foundations should rethink their grant making to meet today’s needs.
The effort is being led by Stephen B. Heintz, president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, in New York, and Marguerite W. Kondracke, of the America’s Promise Alliance, in Washington.
The event has received some support from philanthropists.
Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.com, has donated Kindles to be used by the participants, while Patricia Q. Stonesifer, former chief executive of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, paid for three digital books to be included on the device as summer reading.
Seventy-five people have been invited to the meeting, including Stacy Palmer, the editor of The Chronicle of Philanthropy. Ms. Aviv said others will be allowed to participate in the discussion online or in other ways.
What do you think? What topics do you think the conference should cover?
