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Feedback loops: going for the ‘early majority’?
There is a simple and clear notion that if you listen to your constituents, you will be able to identify which of their needs require attention and become better at attending to them. We say …
How constituent feedback can help government
Social entrepreneurs are leading the way by using ‘constituent feedback’ to understand better what is working, for whom and in what circumstances. Consider, for example, the American non-profit organization LIFT, which has spent 15 years …
The politics of measurement: interview with Jay Naidoo
As social justice campaigner, trade unionist, government minister – Jay Naidoo has seen most sides of the development process. What’s the main lesson he’s learned from all this experience? That the whole process is based …
Time for a new foundation for philanthropy
Philanthropic institutions and accountability – two big notions whose paths seldom cross. Whose presence in the same sentence evokes sidewise looks from lawyers and financial advisers, snickers from savvy leaders of operating charities, and anxiety …
Growing pains: foundation accountability in emerging economies
Where economies are ‘emerging’, the foundation sector often is, too. In many emerging economies, foundations are making increasingly substantial contributions to society, especially in areas that are less popular with government and individual donors such …
Toronto Foundation: Giving wisely starts with community knowledge
Toronto Foundation, one of Canada’s largest community foundations, has developed a model for strategic philanthropy. This involves directing support from donors and cross-sector partners to areas of concern on the basis of an annual report …
Grantee feedback comes to Germany
The many and varied roles foundations are called upon to play in societies today call for a high level of professionalization. Comparing internal assumptions with external perceptions can be a productive way for foundations to …
Why do dictators lock up the poets first?
Why should philanthropists fund the arts? Some have argued that as art is of lesser importance than basics like food, shelter, health and so forth, there is no justification for funding art until world hunger …
Dancing is part of the revolution!
‘If I can’t dance I don’t want to be part of your revolution.’ Attributed to Emma Goldman, 1869-1940, feminist, anarchist, revolutionary, free-thinker Those of us who work, teach, present, support or participate in art and culture …
Weighing the imagination?
Many of us have a deeply held belief that art matters to society, that artists’ experiments and creative explorations lead us to ourselves and teach us about our societies. Across generations and countries, there are …