Launch Podcast My guest today is Jeff Martin. Jeff is Director of Media Relations for the Council on Foundations. Jeff discusses the events that led up to bloggers being invited to attend the recent conference, plans to provide streaming video of conference sessions next year and the need for transparency to be embraced by foundations. […]
Category Archives: 2007COF
Nancy Roob & Clara Miller
During the Council on Foundations conference I wrote about a session called “Linking Money to Mission: Structuring Your Grants to Promote Grantee Performance” featuring Clara Miller of Nonprofit Finance Fund and Nancy Roob president of The Edna McConnell Clark Foundation (EMCF). I just received copies of the presentation from both speakers and want to share […]
Council on Foundations Conference Video
I’m swamped today. Just enough time for two quick thoughts: Video from the Council on Foundations conference is now available. None of the actual sessions are included, but the video does include well received speeches by Melinda Gates and Mark Warner. I had coffee with Jeff Brooks of Donor Power Blog while I was in […]
Correction
In the post Demonstrating Impact, which has become my most widely read post of the conference, I wrote: Knickman gave as an example a project that The James Irvine Foundation did on end of life care (if readers know more about this project, email me the relevant links). He called it “the most successful failure […]
Keeping the Discussion Going II
In response to my post about using social media tools to keep the discussion started at the COF conference going, Lucy Bernholz has a question for the attendees: Another way of asking the question Sean asks is this. You spent several days in Seattle. What question do you have that is still unanswered, that is […]
Meyer Memorial Trust
I attended a session yesterday that focused on mission related investing (investing in ways that further the mission of the foundation). Perla Ni, founder of Stanford Social Innovation Review, has already posted on the session so I won’t duplicate her work (I met Perla last night at the awards ceremony, you should see the fireworks […]
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Blog
Throughout the conference, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has been pointed to again and again as an innovator who is embracing transparency. Guess what? They have a blog: Pioneering Ideas was launched in 2006 by the Pioneer Portfolio, the grantmaking area within RWJF charged with scouting innovative ideas that may drive breakthrough improvements in the […]
Top Five Challenges for Philanthropy
Michael Gilbert, blogging from the COF conference, posts the top five challenges facing philanthropy as identified by Council on Foundation members. Capacity building Collaboration Communications Effectiveness Relations (government & corporate) I think that collaboration, communications and effectiveness can all be addressed by embracing social media tools (blogs, wikis, podcasts, etc). These tools can also help […]
Lucy Bernholz
With 12 Council on Foundation conferences under her belt, Lucy Bernholz reflects on this year’s conference: The 2007 Council on Foundations Conference made some significant changes to its structure, but its pretty much “inside-the-beltway” kind of stuff, probably not of much interest to those outside the conference… But I have seen a few things of […]
Keeping the Discussion Going
The moderator of almost every session I’ve attended here in Seattle has begun by saying that they really wanted the session to be discussion rather than just having speakers talk at the crowd. All 100+ people in the room would nod their heads and then a traditional conference format unfolded with a Q&A at the […]