What’s New at Foundation Center (April)

I'm currently in New Orleans at the EDGE Funders Conference and am delighting in the stories and wisdom of bold, understated leaders from around the world who are pushing the traditional boundaries of philanthropy. Through conferences like these and our regular scanning and conversations, my colleagues and I have been busy keeping up with data trends and tracking philanthropy's engagement on a variety of issues. Here's a quick update:

Project launched

• We added a new Open Knowledge Feature to Glasspockets Profiles to showcase the knowledge each foundation has contributed to Issuelab. Learn more.

Content published

• New blog post on our Advancing Human Rights platform comparing funding trends from the women's fund community.
• New blog posts on PhilanTopic, including #TimesUp for the Nonprofit Gender Gap, a review of a book on Asian philanthropy, and a Q&A with Sarah Eagleheart, CEO of Native Americans in Philanthropy.
• New blog posts on GrantSpace, including how to set up an email series to engage users, Bitcoin for good, and a Day in the Life of a Major Gifts Officer.
• New blog posts on Glasspockets from last month on topics such as diversity data and tackling #PhilanthropySoWhite, inequitable funding practices, divesting from firearms in the wake of school shootings, and salary transparency.
• New blog posts on GrantCraft about accepting proposals written for other funders, strategic collaboration, and 9 ways to support grantee staff.
• 251 new resources added to IssueLab in March!

What We're Excited About

• Learning about and participating in global philanthropy conversations. Our director of global partnerships, Lauren Bradford, had this to say about Russian philanthropy.
• Our FDO at Foundation Center YouTube channel! Have questions about how to use Foundation Directory Online to identify funding sources, build your prospect network, and win funding to support your mission? Our YouTube channel has all the answers.

Upcoming conferences and events

Our staff will be speaking at these upcoming events:

• Shifting The Power: Applying Community Philanthropy to Sustainable Development, Here and Abroad April 26, New York City, NY
• African American Philanthropy Summit April 28, Cleveland, OH
• GEO Conference April 30, San Francisco, CA (and stay tuned for an exciting announcement here!)
• Foundation Center will host its three-day immersion course, Proposal Writing Bootcamp, in New York City on May 2-4
• Opportunity Collaboration May 6-11, Sandpiper Bay, FL. Foundation Center is a founding partner of the conference’s first U.S.-based convening!

Data Spotlight

• Funders have granted over $644 million to libraries since 2015. Learn more about funding for libraries at libraries.foundationcenter.org.
• We reached more than 1,500 people in March through our eLearning and webinar programming on fundraising and nonprofit management.
• 736,055 new grants added to Foundation Maps in March, of which 6,101 grants were made to 3,724 organizations outside the U.S.
• New data sharing partner: Hugh J. Andersen Foundation
• Foundation Directory Online currently has 140,000 foundation profiles, more than 11 million grants, and over 500,000 recipients profiles.

Tell your story through data so we can communicate philanthropy's contribution to making a better world — learn more about our eReporting program.

If you found this update helpful, feel free to share it or shoot us an email! I’ll be back next month with another update.

Jen Bokoff is director of stakeholder engagement at Foundation Center.