Why Foundation Promises to be ‘Strategic’ Fall Short, Plus More: Thursday’s Roundup
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
January 7, 2010 | Read Time: 1 minute
- Despite pledges to be more “strategic,” grant makers largely have failed to live up to their talk, writes Bob Hughes, vice president of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, on the new blog for the Center for Effective Philanthropy, a research group. When it comes to strategy, he says, “philanthropy’s glass is half-empty.”
- As charities enter 2010, Janet Levine, a nonprofit consultant, offers on her blog a New Year’s resolution: “Let me suggest that we all focus less on how much good we think we do, and concentrate instead on how much better we all could be.”
- On her group’s blog, Nan Roman, the president of the National Alliance to End Homelessness, reflects on the charity’s 10-year plan to reduce the homeless population, which was introduced in 2000. While the recession and other factors have hampered its efforts, she says the plan largely has been successful.
- What will be the trends in nonprofit marketing this year? Gail Hyman, a consultant to nonprofit groups, predicts that smart charities will use social media to complement their work but not try to replace the dwindling stream of big gifts; that organizations will slowly reinvest in new technology and in their employees; and that they will turn more frequently to volunteers.
