Philanthropy’s Reflective Practices
In this guide, you will find their stories about using four methods of reflective practice that can help you build what you bring to advancing change inside your foundation, with your grantees and other partners.
Resources
Powerhouse Convening
Designing and facilitating powerhouse convenings is a set of strategies and approaches that invite you to show up as an adventurer in working “better together.” This guide provides the tools needed to begin the adventure, centered on 10 Doorways.
What Reflective Practice Is (and Isn’t)
Think of reflective practices as mental bridges you build to help observe, makes sense of and traverse challenging situations. Read more about this working definition and bust myths about the relationship between reflection and action in this brief.
Learning to Ride the Wave
Developed in partnership with United Philanthropy Forum and Northern California Grantmakers, this guide shares seven practices and 12 tools for Philanthropy-Serving Organizations who seek effective ways to mobilize resources to sustain their organization’s work. Part of our DIY Series, the guide features perspectives from dozens of leaders of national and regional PSOs and examples from our work with these organizations.
Forging Ahead
This report includes interviews with executives at eight large foundations that have embraced organization-wide DEI efforts. We asked them how DEI can shape the structure of the investing department, the work of investment committees and the choice of investments.
Vision and Voice
Despite a field replete with research, analysis, recommended policies and practices — not to mention an abundance of educational programs and frameworks for grantmaking to diverse communities — philanthropic leaders have been slow to advance these values in their foundations. We wondered: what is getting in the way? Why are good intentions, buttressed with theory and practical advice, not achieving better results on measures of diversity, equity and inclusion? We wanted to explore more deeply.
Pretty Good Tool: Champion Checklist
We've identified four practices that effective champions use to bring more FANS to their cause: Framing (using ideas for influence), Asking (using inquiry for influence), Networking (using connections for influence), and Storytelling (using emotions for influence). This Pretty Good Tool is designed to help you work on these four practices and sharpen your strategy.
Discover Your Role
What roles are most important to your work? How do you construct them and bring your unique talents to the role? How do you manage your personal challenges in the role? Borrow a few techniques from fellow practitioners described in this brief.
Philanthropy’s Reflective Practices
Philanthropy’s Reflective Practices is a collection of tools and practices that can help you develop a theory of action for challenging situations in philanthropy. We’re building this site as a platform for people in philanthropy to reflect on their practices, hone their leadership skills, and get to better outcomes in their work.
Pretty Good Tool: Talking About Evolutions
Everything is in process. But our ways of thinking about organizational development often don’t account for that. This tool helps you think about where you have been and where you are headed by examining the ongoing change of your organization, team, project, strategy or field.
DIY Strategy Improvements
What comes after “strategic...?” If you said, “planning,” you’re not alone. And for many foundation leaders, especially small ones who don’t have the time or money for a big process, anxiety is the feeling that follows. If that’s the case, this guide is for you.
Pretty Good Tool: Foundation Start-Up Checklist
Starting a new foundation? Going through a period of growth that is significantly changing your foundation? This tool can help you think through the different elements needed to get you up and running.
Philanthropy and the Renewal of Democracy
Daniel Kemmis explores the sometimes-fraught relationship between philanthropy and democracy. Beginning with a wide-ranging stroll through the shared history of philanthropy and democracy, Kemmis examines the current post-Citizens United landscape and asks whether philanthropy can and should do more to strengthen the infrastructure and practices of democracy.
Practice Presence
How do you process your internal reactions and signals before you jump to help others? Learn techniques from philanthropy practitioners that have helped create an environment for learning on both individual and systems levels.
Pretty Good Tool: Reality Checklist
The key in designing an organizational strategy, we have found, is similar to designing any tool: you need to figure out how you want to use it. Think of your strategy more as verb than noun - you need it to function. To help with that, we have designed this Pretty Good Tool. We have used it with clients to help them name what they want a strategy to do and then regularly get a reality check on how close their strategy is to doing it.
Pretty Good Tool: Let’s Talk About Impact Investing
Does your organization need to earn more about impact investing? This Pretty Good Tool can help you and your trustees explore the concept of impact investing.
Pretty Good Tool: Collaboration Readiness
Does your organization have what it takes to be an effective collaborator? This Pretty Good Tool from the consultants at The Giving Practice helps you assess and improve your collaborative mindset. After testing an early version of this at an Independent Sector conference session, we have been using this as a guide with several funder collaboratives.
Mapping the Journey to Impact Investing
When Surdna Foundation made the decision to allocate $100 million to impact investing, there was not a wide breadth of funds and tools available. As part of its investment, Surdna seeks to share its experience with others thinking about impact investing through this publication, drafted by The Giving Practice's Senior Partner Jan Jaffe.
Why Building Reflective Practice in Philanthropy Matters
What’s your hardy perennial dilemma at work? Read why practitioners value reflective practices for navigating their dilemmas. Review the case for making reflective practice a required discipline in philanthropy.
DIY Strategy Improvements: 10 Activities for Community Foundations
What comes after “strategic...?” If you said, “planning,” you’re not alone. And for many leaders of community foundations, especially small ones who don’t have the time or money for a big process, anxiety is the feeling that follows. If that’s the case, this guide is for you.