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Videos from the 2008 Global Philanthropy Forum Conference
Through conversations among elders and emerging leaders, donors and social investors gathered at the Global Philanthropy Forum's 7th Annual Conference on April 9-11, 2008 to build alliances and spread the ideas necessary to promote human rights, advance global health, manage natural resources, spread economic opportunity and stop mass atrocities. Opening and closing remarks at the conference were delivered by Jane Wales, President and CEO of the GPF and Executive Director of the Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy Program. Read about the conference sessions and view the videos.
World Affairs Council CEO Jane Wales Joins Aspen Institute
The Aspen Institute has appointed Jane Wales as Vice President, Philanthropy and Society, and Executive Director of the Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy Program. Wales is President and CEO of the World Affairs Council of Northern California, headquartered in San Francisco, and she is co-founder of the Global Philanthropy Forum (GPF), a path-breaking and fast-growing network of donors and social investors committed to international causes.
To download the press release on Wales' appointment, please click here.
Linking Payout and Mission: A National Dialogue with Foundation Leaders
A little more than a year ago, the Aspen Institute’s Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy Program began an important dialogue on foundation spending with leaders from organized philanthropy throughout the United States. The subject of the dialogue was simple but compelling: How can foundations be more strategic in their grant-making, and how might they do better at matching their payout practices to their philanthropic missions? For a summary of some of the most important questions and strategies that arose in the Aspen Institute meetings, please click here. The meetings grew out of a working paper on foundation payout that the Aspen Institute sponsored in 2005. To download "Money, Mission, and the Payout Rule: In Search of a Strategic Approach to Foundation Spending," by Thomas J. Billitteri, please click: http://www.nonprofitresearch.org/usr_doc/Full_Report.pdf.
Creating Social Capital Markets for Fourth Sector Organizations: Opportunities and Challenges
On June 14, 2007, the Aspen Institute and the Fourth Sector Network, in partnership with the Calvert Social Investment Foundation and The Case Foundation, brought together 30 capital market innovators to discuss new developments in social capital markets. Underlying the June roundtable was the long-term interest of the meeting sponsors in easing the access of social-purpose organizations to existing sources of funding, growing new types of capital, and organizing a high-performing landscape of actors who can work together seamlessly to deliver more funding at a faster pace to enterprises working for the common good. Full Meeting Summary.
Newly Released Research Findings:
Online philanthropy markets: From 'feel-good' giving to effective social investing? Online platforms like GlobalGiving, Kiva, Network for Good, GiveIndia, HelpArgentina, and so many more – hold the potential to transform both the quality and quantity of resources available for domestic and international development. But how far do they realize that potential? And can they really revolutionize philanthropy? Keystone’s study examines the rapidly expanding phenomenon of online philanthropy markets and details the opportunity that they have to create an informational basis for results-oriented giving that encourages greater accountability and effectiveness among social purpose organizations. The study finds that online philanthropy markets are relentless innovators, and in some cases are developing interesting new ways of ensuring greater accountability for impact to their donors, beneficiaries and other constituents. This study was funded by the Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy Program and conducted by Keystone, an English NGO that works to improve the effectiveness of organizations committed to social change. Download the full study.
Medicaid Funding for Nonprofit Healthcare Organizations (download the study, pdf). Nonprofit health-care providers—including hospitals, nursing homes, and home-health organizations—received between $85 billion and $105 billion in Medicaid funding in fiscal 2004, roughly a third of total Medicaid spending, according to a groundbreaking study commissioned by the Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy Program and conducted by the Nelson A. Rockefeller Institute of Government, the public-policy research arm of the State University of New York system.
New Study Highlights Tensions Between Foundations and Nonprofits Over Funding Policies
Foundations are more likely to support nonprofits' overhead costs than is commonly believed, according to a new study released earlier this month by the Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University and the Aspen Institute’s Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy Program, which funded the study, Paying for Overhead. The study found that a surprisingly large majority of foundations (69 percent) support nonprofits’ overhead expenses, such as rent, administrative staff, accounting systems, or strategic planning.
The findings reflect longstanding tensions in the nonprofit sector. On the one hand is the desire of many foundations to incubate new solutions, coupled with concern that providing long-term and/or general operating support may harm nonprofits by creating dependence on foundation funding. On the other hand are concerns that foundation-overhead funding that is too little or too brief may harm nonprofits by risking inefficiency or reduced effectiveness.
For more on this study, please visit www.nonprofitresearch.org.
The Role of Nonprofits in American Healthcare
In both political and academic circles, the legitimacy and favorable tax treatment of nonprofit medical care have come under fire. Some academics question whether there are real differences between nonprofit and for-profit medical care. And some policymakers express doubt that nonprofit providers contribute community benefits commensurate with the value of their tax advantages. However, a new report supported in part by the Aspen Institute Nonprofit Sector Research Fund asserts that nonprofits play a crucial and distinctive role in the healthcare of Americans.
For more information on these papers, please visit www.nonprofitresearch.org.
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