My Helpful Guide to Failing at Philanthropy

There has been some discussion in the foundation world recently about failure (although probably not nearly enough). Particularly, about the question of why foundations don’t talk more openly about our mistakes. 

While there are a few “good” reasons like protecting grantees, we all know the main explanation comes down to embarrassment and ego. I want to add one more possibility to the literature.

Perhaps foundation staff members don’t know how to fail. I don’t mean that we don’t fail. We fail all the time. I mean that we don’t know how to fail with style. Failing to succeed. With that in mind, I put together a handbook on failing at philanthropy for the Philanthropy News Digest. You can read it here.

Six Lessons Learned from Launching – and Closing – a Community

In my travels over the past few months I have talked to a number of organizations that are experimenting with online communities. I’ve heard tales of success and tales of failure. Mostly, I’ve heard that building an online community is not a task that should be taken lightly. But take heart. Others have traveled this road before.

What’s With the Serious Faces All the Time?

I was interviewing a candidate to join our Web team at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation several years back, and he asked me a question I didn’t get from any other candidates: “Do you have fun here?”

My answer? “We want to.”

Why Foundations Need to Embrace Social Media

A few months back, I began a workshop for staff from a variety of foundations by asking them to shout out all of their whiny, cry-baby excuses for not getting involved in social media. The excuses flew at me fast and furious, like so many tranquilizer darts. I don’t have time. It’s too much work. We don’t have the resources. Can’t figure out the return on investment. Senior staff don’t see the value. We’re afraid of losing control. What if people criticize us? My shoes are too tight.

I had about forty-five minutes to convince these people that social media is more than relevant to philanthropy. That it is core to our future. I blogged about the arguments I made for the Philanthropy News Digest. Please take a look.

Need Wider Feedback on Grant Proposals? Try Facebook

When Maine Health Access Foundation launched its Fund for the Future initiative in May it sent a request for proposals through its usual channels. Then it added a new twist. It launched a Facebook page to get  broader feedback into the process.

Program Officer Len Bartel (left) explains:

Mentor, Teacher, Role Model, Friend Passes Away

I’ve been thinking back through the stories I could tell about Frank Karel, who died on Saturday.

His obituary certainly captures his extraordinary contribution to philanthropy, but what I remember most was the man himself. It was Frank who hired me at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, and I had the great privilege of working with him for six months before he moved on to a retirement that was as full as his worklife until he was slowed by the cancer that ultimately claimed him.

Knight Foundation Looking for Social Media Superstar

I noticed the other day that the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation in Miami is looking for a community manager. There aren’t too many major private foundations that have embraced the need for a community manager, yet, so I gave their V.P. Communications Marc Fest (left) a quick call to find out more.

Go Ahead, Jump In Already

I’ll be the first to admit that when we launched a Twitter feed for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation last December, we had no strategy and little idea of what we were getting into. In the words of my Aunt Winnifred – the one with an unexplained scar from a knife fight on the side of her face—we had less sense of direction than a headless man on a Tilt-a-Whirl.