Impact Investing: Transforming How We Make Money While Making a Difference

The Role of Nonprofits in Health Care

In the midst of the debate about health care reform, nonprofit health insurance cooperatives have been presented as an alternative to a government-run plan.  Many questions remain about the start-up costs, management structure, and viability of these co-ops, but it has brought to light the role of nonprofit health care institutions and services, particularly how they compare to their for-profit counterparts.  In 2005, the Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation released Why Nonprofits Matter in American Medicine: A Policy Brief, by scholars Mark Schlesinger (Yale University) and Bradford Gray (Urban Institute).  In this ground-breaking report, the authors find that nonprofits and for-profits vary significantly in cost, quality, and accessibility.  Read the policy brief.

More Family Foundations Considering Limited Lifespans

As part of the Aspen Institute Program on Philanthropy and Social Innovation's research initiative, "Advancing Knowledge and Practice about Foundation Spend-Down," a grant was awarded to the Foundation Center and the Council on Foundations to conduct a large-scale study of the lifespan plans of family foundations. The study "Perpetuity or Limited Lifespan: How Do Family Foundations Decide?" was released on April 30, 2009 and finds that more than one third of family foundations are unsure about their lifespan or have decided on a limited lifespan. The full report can be downloaded from the Foundation Center website.