Report

The number of charitable foundations employing their investment portfolios to achieve a social benefit is on the rise, according to this report. Key Facts on Mission Investing finds that one in seven surveyed foundations are directing their assets to market-rate mission-related investments and/or below-market-rate program-related investments. By investing endowment dollars to further their charitable missions, these grantmakers —which hold 20 percent of all U.S. foundation assets— are extending the public benefit of their resources. The report also offers perspective from Stephen Viederman,...

This survey of 155 foundation communicators shows that U.S. foundations are making use of all forms of digital communications, especially social media, a top priority. The survey results suggest the growth of social media and other emerging digital technologies is changing the way foundations communicate with target audiences and that the role of communications is becoming more central to forging and implementing foundation strategies.

The 2011 Action Kit, designed around the Diversity Framework, Minnesota Council on Foundations' groundbreaking guidelines that frame the discussion of grantmakers' diversity practices around the four roles they play in a civil society, is intended to help foundations identify what steps they can take to advance diversity and inclusion.

This report analyzes how the humanitarian community and the emerging volunteer and technical communities worked together in the aftermath of the 2010 earthquake in Haiti and recommends ways to improve coordination and strengthen collaboration between the humanitarian and technology communities during future emergencies.