Thanks to those of you who participated in the April “Trends and Innovations in Philanthropy” roundtable to learn more about Impact Investing, Social Entrepreneurship, Nonprofit Capacity Building and Changing Perceptions Around the “Overhead Myth.”
If you’d like more information on Impact Investing, please plan on joining us on May 25, 1:00-2:30pm at the Rhode Island Foundation for a more in-depth look at Mission-Related Investments. In addition, Mission Investors Exchange, a sister organization in the Forum, has many resources on its website and will be hosting its annual Mission Investing Institute on June 19-21 in Troy, Michigan at the Kresge Foundation.
For more information on the “Overhead Myth,” be sure to check out Dan Pallotta’s TED Talk, The Way We Think About Charity Is Dead Wrong. Pallotta is the founder of the Charity Defense Council, which works to change the perceptions of Boards, donors and the public around the idea of nonprofit “overhead.” Pallotta is a nationally recognized fundraiser, speaker and author of Uncharitable. In addition, Northern California Grantmakers/San Diego Grantmakers/Southern California Grantmakers (GCRI’s sister organizations in the Forum) have released a report on their statewide “Real Cost Project,” an educational initiative for funders and nonprofits about eliminating the concept of “overhead,” and instead focusing on the “real cost” — all of the necessary investments for a nonprofit organization to deliver on mission and to be sustainable over the long term. Through research, regional convenings, and senior level executive briefings, the project identified what it would take for funders to overcome institutional and sector-wide barriers and to be able to move from awareness to action. Read the report.