General Operating Support

Exploring the Restrictions on Unrestricted Funding: Part III

By July 3, 2015

Knowing my own history with TWI, someone recently asked me for advice. As a non-profit board member, she was struggling with how to handle the anger she often feels when dealing with wealthy donors who make everything about them rather than the people and organization they are donating to. Not an uncommon dilemma of course….

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Supporting A Bolder Form of Leadership

By June 18, 2015

I was reminded yesterday, at LeaderSpring’s A Bolder Form of Leadership luncheon, that non-profit organizations, on average, spend $29 a year on leadership development. Given how vital developing leadership is, this investment (or lack of it) is striking. In the NCRP’s report Cultivating Nonprofit Leadership, philanthropic support for leadership development is studied and found lacking….

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Exploring the Restrictions on Unrestricted Funding: An Introduction

By June 17, 2015

While I am happy to acknowledge that many foundations provide long term, unrestricted funding, a question I’ve had for a long time about philanthropy writ large still persists: Why is it that the one thing most nonprofits say they need – multiyear, unrestricted funding – is the one thing many foundations won’t give them? It’s…

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The “How” Matters to Ford Foundation, Too.

By June 16, 2015

As I read Ford Foundation President Darren Walker’s letter about the foundation’s newest priorities, I was most stirred by the fact that he asked for grantee feedback and is acting on it. I had to take a pause when the leader of this large, influential foundation shared that “the majority of the feedback [he] received was not…

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Amplifying Unheard Voices with Long Term Funding Structures

By June 10, 2015

TWI is proud to be one of Voice of Witness’s first core funders to provide multi-year support. As Voice of Witness continues to expand, we will continue to support their work and mission, which is “fostering a more nuanced, empathy-based understanding of contemporary human rights crises. We do this by amplifying the voices of men…

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