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Featured Resources
bi3 Article: Trust-Based Philanthropy is Grounded in Mutual Accountability and Learning
A new article shows how applying a trust-based philanthropy lens helps funders capture the full impact of grants, describes how bi3 evaluates initiatives, and how building funder-grantee relationships grounded in power-sharing, transparency, and mutual accountability helps achieve greater impact.
New Competency Model for Foundation Program Officers Released
The Dorothy A. Johnson Center on Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University has released a competency model for foundation program officers.
Taking A cultivate approach to Improve Community Health
Health foundations are increasingly recognizing that their mission is not simply to award grants to deserving nonprofit organizations, but rather to play a catalytic role in improving the conditions that influence health, especially at a population level.
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Latest Resources
Riding Wild Horses: Philanthropic Strategy in An Era of Unpredictable Health Policy
In 2015, Montana passed bipartisan legislation to expand Medicaid for low-income adults. The new coverage went into effect in January 2016. Within a year, Montana’s uninsured rate dropped from 15 to 7.4 percent and more than 30,000 thousand newly-insured people had already obtained preventive services.
Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation
Learn more about Illinois Children’s Healthcare Foundation’s mission, vision, and approach in this Grantmaker Focus profile.
William J. and Dorothy K. O’Neill Foundation
Learn more about William J. and Dorothy K. O’Neill Foundation’s mission, vision, and approach in this Grantmaker Focus profile.
Recounting Thirty Years of Health Philanthropy
In 1987, the opportunity to lead a new health foundation was appealing enough for me to leave a partnership in a thirty-five-person law firm. I believed the new job would permit reacquaintance with my wife and three young children and the opportunity to make the world a little better.
How Foundations Can Accelerate Health System Improvement by Investing in Capacity Building Across Sectors
At a time when the health care system is facing a host of challenges, many with attributes that are impossible to solve alone, we see organizations from across the health and social sectors combining their skills and expertise through interesting partnerships to crack the “impossible” together.
Using Rapid Evidence Reviews to Inform Health Funders’ Decisions
Between 2015 and 2017, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) commissioned AcademyHealth, the professional society for health services research, and its Translation and Dissemination Institute, to develop and test a “rapid evidence review” (RER) process that could meet the needs of decisionmakers for fast, low-cost, but rigorous syntheses of evidence about health-related services and programs.
Reports and Publications
2024 Health Equity Survey: Understanding the Changing Landscape
In 2024, Grantmakers In Health (GIH) surveyed its Funding Partners to understand how their health equity work has evolved. The survey consisted of 40 questions including demographic information, program focus areas, partner engagement, organizational strategy, priority population, successes, and challenges. This report summarizes findings from the Health Equity Survey titled, “Understanding the Changing Landscape.”
Diversity in the Leadership, Staff, and Boards of Health Philanthropy
A new Grantmakers In Health survey of health funder leadership, staff, and boards found that health funder organizations are more racially and ethnically diverse than the broader field of philanthropy.
Advancing Health and Creating Lasting Impact: MacKenzie Scott’s Grants to Health Foundations
In 2019, MacKenzie Scott announced that she was stepping into the world of philanthropy to give away her multi-billion-dollar fortune “until the safe is empty”. She has kept her word—to date, she has given away $16.5 billion. Her initial process for choosing which organizations would receive grants was shrouded in mystery. From 2019 to 2023, Scott used a process she termed “quiet research” to identify possible grantee organizations. The lucky organizations received a call from Scott’s consultants, who let them know they were receiving a grant for immediate use however they would like to spend it. In the Fall of 2022, Grantmakers In Health (GIH) became one of those grantee organizations, along with more than 20 health foundations. Two additional GIH Funding Partner organizations received gifts in 2020 and 2021, respectively.
Trustee Resources
Explore this page to browse resources, publications, and events related to foundation trustees.