Foundation Effectiveness: A Report on a Meeting of Foundation CEOs, Senior Executives, and Trustees

More than 100 foundation trustees, CEOs, and senior executives from across the country gathered in New York on October 9 and 10 to explore the challenges of achieving greater effectiveness. Participants heard from noted foundation leaders and talked with each other about key elements of foundation effectiveness, including strategy choices, performance assessment, funder-grantee relationships, and governance. The gathering was hosted by the Center for Effective Philanthropy, a nonprofit research organization founded by Mark Kramer and Michael Porter in 2000. The Centers work primarily relates to the development of comparative data, insight, and management tools to enable higher-performing foundations. Much of our learning, however, comes from understanding and highlighting practices in the field and, in the process, helping foundation leaders learn from each other.