Quote of the Day (November 9, 2008)

"...Ask why foundations don't accomplish more, perform better, advance farther, and you'll get a catalogue of barriers from nearly every knowledgeable player and observer. Yet the obvious, paradoxical question is: How can there be so many barriers to performance when there are so few boundaries to hem us in?

"The core of the answer, I think, is this: The biggest barrier to improved foundation performance is our own constraining 'mental model' about how we should conduct ourselves. It's not just what we do; it's our perception of the world and how we think. Our constraints don't come from the outside world; they come from within. If we can overcome this, our effectiveness will surely rise...."

-- Edward Skloot, "Doing Better -- It Isn't About the Money," collected in Beyond the Money: Reflections on Philanthropy, the Nonprofit Sector and Civic Life, 1999-2006