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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
IEHP Foundation
“At IEHP Foundation, our work centers around health equity to ensure that our region becomes a beacon of Vibrant Health—meaning everyone has a fair chance to be as healthy as possible. We achieve Vibrant Health by addressing the social determinants of health—that 60 to 80percent of nonclinical factors that affect a person’s health. By working with our community partners to strengthen their organizational capacity and to help them identify those health equity issues they are addressing, we can ensure that more individuals in our region access the core needs such as humane housing, easily accessible nutritious food, quality health care, meaningful work, and education to live a healthy and joyful life.”
2024 Terrance Keenan Institute Fellows Named
GIH is delighted to announce the 2024 Terrance Keenan Institute for Emerging Leaders in Health Philanthropy class of fellows.
Building Stronger Early Childhood Systems: Reflections from Western Montana
What happened when a regional health foundation team embarked on a road trip and drank 600 cups of coffee with their neighbors? They discovered that Western Montanans were tired of band-aid solutions and frustrated with interventions that always seemed to arrive too late. People wanted to focus on prevention to address problems at their roots. They hoped to see more collaboration between organizations and across sectors and emphasized that solutions should be locally born and cultivated, focusing especially on kids in their earliest years.
The Crucial Role of Philanthropy in Nurturing Equitable Local Journalism
In an era marked by profound societal divisions, the role of local media in fostering democratic health stands as a cornerstone of informed civic engagement. From critical issues like health care and housing to economic opportunity and climate impacts, local journalism is the bedrock upon which communities build their understanding and response. Yet, the field faces challenges beyond the well-documented financial crisis facing local newsrooms, encompassing deep-rooted inequities in newsroom composition and the narratives they convey.
The Joyce Foundation
“Gun Violence is a significant public health issue in our communities. We believe that philanthropy has an important role to play in tackling it. Despite the enormity of that challenge, public and private funding to address gun violence has lagged—perhaps because of the perceived risk in engaging on this issue, or the apparent challenges in driving impact on an issue that seems intractable. For those very reasons philanthropy must rise to the challenge and take risks where government cannot, and lead when others will not.”
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.