Research Explores Perceptions of
Foundation Role and Impact;
Suggests Ways to Improve Understanding
How well are the role and impact of
foundations understood in America today? If
policymakers and opinion leaders better
understood the work of foundations would
that enhance the sector's overall
effectiveness? To help answer those
questions and identify potential
communications strategies to support those
goals,
FoundationWorks'
Philanthropy Awareness Project has begun
producing a series of thought-provoking
research reports.
Making American Foundations Relevant:
Conversations with 21st Century Leaders in
Philanthropy
(Download)
This latest volume in the FoundationWorks
series reports on how the foundation sector
sees itself as well as how it believes it is
perceived by external audiences critical to
its ability to deliver on the promise of
philanthropy. In interviews with 43
individuals (foundation and related
professional association executives, and
opinion leaders from national policy centers
and universities), researchers found almost
universal agreement that the role and
importance of the sector does not register
with critical audiences to the extent that
these individuals believe it should.
Making American Foundations Relevant
presents essential and practical strategies
for overcoming many of the barriers that
sector leaders and observers believe hamper
the ability of foundations to be more
effective at addressing society's needs.
A Research Synthesis on Aspects of
Foundations and Philanthropy (Download)
suggests that foundations spend more time
examining their operations and grant-making
effectiveness rather than trying to
understand external perceptions and
attitudes, and how those might affect their
ability to fulfill their missions.
Philan thropy
in the News (Download) offers an in-depth
look at how the news media has covered
foundations over 15 years, beginning in
1990. While the study finds that the number
of news stories is steadily increasing, the
primary focus has been on the amount of
money foundations have awarded individually
and collectively. Conversely,
FoundationWorks found that "only 1 percent
of 38,000 stories analyzed discuss the
benefit or impact of philanthropic
activity. (Click
here
for a related
op-ed from the Chronicle of Philanthropy.)
FoundationWorks, supported by the
David and Lucile Packard Foundation,
is committed to helping foundations make
more strategic use of communications to
enhance philanthropic effectiveness. |
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