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Articles/Reports
Cost-Revenue Tools
ISM Tools
Community Foundation Economic Scenario Planning
(ESP) Model
John Kania, Rebecca Graves, Melissa Scott, Diana Cook, Valerie Bockstette
Current economic conditions indicate challenging times ahead for community foundations and their abilities to plan effectively. In response, the Community Foundations Leadership Team (CFLT), Community Foundation Insights team (CF Insights), and FSG have created a new interactive forecasting tool, The Economic Scenario Planning (ESP) model: a financial ‘stress test’ for all sizes and types of community foundations. This user-input, interactive assessment tool can help forecast impacts on budget and business decisions, and allows users to test the implications of market performance, donor behavior, and adjustments to operating budgets over a five year period of time.
Download the ESP User Guide»
View the ESP Stress Test materials»
Raising Money While Raising Hell:
Catalytic Community Leadership and
Successful Fundraising
for Community Foundations
John Kania, Emily Gorin, Valerie Bockstette
Do you believe that advocacy-oriented community leadership and fundraising are naturally at odds with one another? In our latest paper, “Raising Money While Raising Hell”, we beg to differ. This provocative new paper debunks the myth that advocacy-oriented community leadership is naturally antithetical to fundraising, and highlights examples where foundations have built their fundraising efforts by playing advocacy-oriented community leadership roles.
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Taking Informed Action in Challenging Times
Wendy Horton, Valerie Bockstette, Melissa Scott
CF Insights and FSG Social Impact Advisors are excited to release their follow-up study on the impact of the economic crisis on community foundations. The follow-up research, funded by the Community Foundations Leadership Team, uncovers how community foundations are continuing to weather the economic storm and how they have succeeded in “making lemonade” from these difficult times. Community foundations are using limited resources to meet greater community needs and have emerged as strong community leaders through increased convening, capacity building, and collaboration. The report goes beyond a basic playback of data; rather it validates decisions made through several peer benchmarking analyses, provides direction for 2009 and 2010, and inspires future action for increased community impact and sustainability.
Download PDF»
Link to CF Insights Website»
Making Informed Decisions in Uncertain Times
Wendy Horton, Valerie Bockstette, Melissa Scott
Financial markets are volatile, leading indicators point to an economic downturn of epic proportion, and community foundations are particularly vulnerable in this tumultuous time. What do you do? FSG and CF Insights have completed a study to identify strategies and recommendations for coping with today’s challenging fiscal environment, to provide relevant information to share with boards and the community. The study looks at forecasting key indicators for the next fiscal year, changes to operating budgets, changes in approaches to grantmaking and community leadership activities, and changing communications with donors, grantees and staff, and, includes a list of ideas for how to respond to your community.
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Link to CF Insights Website»
Eva Nico, Rebecca Graves, Tracy Foster, Fay Hanleybrown
It's a striking paradox: as community foundations grow their assets, their sustainability is often threatened. This report, written by FSG Social Impact Advisors and sponsored by The James Irvine Foundation, is based on research with growing and community foundations. Community foundations of virtually any size will find valuable information, case studies and economic models. An executive summary and discussion guide are also available as separate files for easy distribution. A board presentation introduces core concepts of the report.
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A 2005 study by FSG, sponsored by the Community Foundations Leadership Team of the Council on Foundations, that assesses the field's interest in new ways to look at community foundation finances and operations.
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John Kania
A 2003 background piece on FSG's research into the sustainability of community foundations.
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Mark Kramer and John Kania
The explosion of new donor services has increased the cost structure of community foundations. A better matching of revenues to costs is the only sustainable solution.
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Mark Kramer
This letter to the editor of the Chronicle of Philanthropy disputes the contention that community foundations can not be both community-focused and donor-focused.
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Rebecca Graves and Owen Stearns
This article argues that per capita giving levels offer a powerful window into the success of foundation and donor development strategies.
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A 2003 white paper reviewing the economic sustainability of community foundations based on our detailed analysis of nine community foundations.
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John Kania and Matthew Clark
How the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven created a new approach to donor development.
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