Intrepid Philanthropist Blog

What makes a foundation embrace big risks?

November 14, 2014

By at least one measure, the Kresge Foundation has made the biggest bet, among all national foundations, on the future of Detroit. The question is: What led them to accept the risk?

Out of the woods, but not out of the dark

November 10, 2014

A recent talk by the president of the Kresge Foundation sheds light on the path by which Detroit emerged from bankruptcy last Friday, and the pivotal role of philanthropy.

Hauling In the Nets

October 23, 2014

Foundations’ passion for grouping their grantees into networks may lead to quicker learning and more efficient operations. But it sometimes leads nowhere at all.

 

Incubators of philanthropy

September 5, 2014

A new report shows philanthropy and civil society coming to life in the great emerging markets of Brazil, Russia, India, and China.

 

 

Climbing toward the finish line

July 29, 2014

The newest installment in our ongoing chronicle tells about the year The Atlantic Philanthropies defined how it was going to end, and what its final goals would be.

 

Assessing a sunset, five years later

July 11, 2014

The Beldon Fund, which closed in 2009, set aside money for an evaluation to be written five years later. The report is in, and there’s a lot to be learned from hindsight.

 

‘Disruption’ in the public interest?

July 3, 2014

Behind the latest debate over the business-school doctrine of ‘disruptive innovation’ stands an important question that most of the debaters haven’t asked: Might the idea actually fit philanthr

Learning from Disappointment

May 30, 2014

A recent paper by Duke graduate student Peter McElroy surveys the literature on the Annenberg Challenge, a huge philanthropic school-reform initiative of the late 1990s, and reflects on whether

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