Perspectives

  • Perspective

    Cross-post: Finding—and Using—the Right Tool for the Job

    Organizational assessment tools can be used to gauge an organization’s strategic focus, leadership, governance, human resource capacity, financial and fundraising structure, and learning and evaluation ability. The Hewlett Foundation commissioned a scan to discover which tools are available, and how these tools can be most effectively used.
    • August 3, 2018
  • Perspective

    Strengthening Relationships Language Poll

    Help GEO decide on language to use when we talk about increasing community and nonprofit participation in philanthropy.
    • August 1, 2018
  • Perspective

    Returning Learning to the System

    The more frequently members of a system communicate with each other about what they are seeing, what they are doing, and with what results, the more quickly that system as a whole is able to adapt to changing conditions in order to survive and thrive.
    • July 25, 2018
  • Perspective

    Philanthropy's Debt to our Country's Biggest Region

    The southeastern U.S. is heavy with history and layered with nuanced culture that can take a lifetime to fully understand. All places have magic and secrets, but NCRP and GSP's 'As the South Grows' initiative documents the unique and hidden complexities of advancing systems change in the South.
    • July 12, 2018
  • Perspective

    Listening to Beneficiary Needs and Respecting Grantees

    Philanthropy and the nonprofit sector have seen several evolutionary changes over the past decade. Paul Brest and Hal Harvey look at two important developments – listening to the needs of beneficiaries and respecting grantee organizations – in the second edition of Money Well Spent.
    • July 5, 2018
  • Perspective

    Strengthening the Field of Philanthropic Evaluation: A Call to Action

    One year ago, Engage R+D and Equal Measure launched an exploratory dialogue among funders and small/mid-sized evaluation firms to consider ways we could work together differently to deepen the impact of evaluation and learning on philanthropic practice. Based on what they heard, interest is ripe to move from idea exchange to action.
    • June 28, 2018
  • Perspective

    To Move Forward, Look Back

    The longstanding saying tells us to stop and smell the roses. But I believe we also need to take the time to stop and glimpse behind us, because very often looking back helps us move forward. In more technical terms, we call this reflective learning, which helps us reflect on our work and take action on what to improve.
    • June 14, 2018
  • Perspective

    Cross-post: Advancing Equity by Undoing Nonprofit Power Dynamics

    If we want our sector to be more effective in addressing the problems we're trying to solve, then power dynamics -- between foundation staff and trustees, between nonprofit staff and program officers -- have to be better. Join us on June 21 to break down power imbalance and strengthen relationships in our sector.
    • June 7, 2018
  • Perspective

    Reflections from the 2018 National Conference

    We were so excited to welcome so many thought leaders to GEO’s 2018 National Conference — and that many took the time to share their takeaways after the conference. We’ve collected those posts here.
    • June 1, 2018
  • Perspective

    Systems Change and Equity Go Hand-in-Hand

    Complex, systemic challenges require sophisticated, long-term strategies to address them. The same is true for ending structural racism, and philanthropy is starting to get much more real about its obligation to address inequity and racism.
    • May 31, 2018