Publications

Published: July 2003

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The Core of the Matter is a meeting of local, regional and national nonprofits convened by NCRP in Washington to discuss the importance of operating support grantmaking for the sustainability of the sector. The agenda was to articulate the importance and need for operating support in the voices of nonprofits themselves as opposed to academic observers or foundation funders.

Community-Based Public Foundations: Small Beacons for Big Ideas

Published: January 2004

Community-Based Public Foundations (CBPFs) are democratic philanthropic grantmaking institutions, functioning as partnerships between donors and community activists, committed to supporting the work of community-based nonprofit organizations engaged in progressive social change organizing addressing the root causes of inequality, lack of opportunity, discrimination and political and economic powerlessness experienced by disadvantaged and disenfranchised populations in our society. This report seeks to raise the profile of CBPFs based on the results of a survey NCRP conducted in late 2002 and early 2003 of CBPFs across the nation. Of 192 CBPFs contacted nationwide, sixty-four responded to the survey for a 33 percent response rate. In-depth interviews were also conducted with eight of the CBPF correspondents.

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Funding the Culture Wars: Philanthropy, Church and State

Published: February 2005

This new report on the connections between conservative foundation grantmaking and the politically influential evangelical movement. Funding the Culture Wars: Philanthropy, Church and State clearly shows how strategic grantmaking is being used to promote "traditional family values"and stances on issues such as abortion, same-sex marriage, stem cell research, school prayer, and public displays of the Ten Commandments.

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Published: Summer 2004

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A review of corporate CEOs who, despite their being charged and convicted of serious corporate malfeasance, are still serving on foundation governing bodies. NCRP called for extending the Securities and Exchange Commission penalty that prohibits convicted corporate felons from serving on the boards of publicly traded corporations to cover service on foundation boards as well.

Published: April 2003

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This report examines the meaning of social justice philanthropy based on literature reviews and conversations with grantmakers, academics and nonprofit practitioners. What are the main elements of social justice philanthropy? What are the contradictions? This paper sets the stage for a report published by NCRP in the fall of 2004 that assesses the size and scope of the philanthropic social justice field and offer recommendations for funders.

Published: July 2003

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Charitable donations pledged to alternative funds, the workplace giving programs that complement United Way charity campaigns, have grown to comprise 11 percent of pledge dollars from traditional donors in American workplaces from 1996 to 2001. Meanwhile, United Way has shifted its fundraising focus to appeal to wealthier donors. These are among the findings in Giving at Work 2003, a new publication released by NCRP, reporting the results of a survey the organization conducted in conjunction with the National Alliance for Choice in Giving.

Advocacy for Social Change in Metropolitan Washington

Published: September 2003

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Though often overshadowed by their more prominent national counterparts, local and regional public policy advocacy groups in the nation's capital are doing vital work while struggling for adequate and appropriate foundation funding. With the support of the Washington Grantmakers' Community Capacity fund, NCRP surveyed local and regional advocacy groups in the metropolitan Washington area looking into the advocacy infrastructure in the region.

Full title: Helping Charities, Sustaining Foundations: Reasonable Tax Reform Would Aid America's Charities, Preserve Foundation Perpetuity and Enhance Foundation Effectiveness and Efficiency (1st of 3 Reports on Sec. 105)

Published: June 2003

(1st of 3 Reports on Sec. 105 of H.R. 7, The Charitable Giving Act)

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The first report of three, "Helping Charities" explores the reform that would end foundations’ rampant practice of counting much of their own administrative costs toward their annual charitable spending obligations. NCRP suggests that private foundations can afford to devote up to an additional $4.3 billion annually to nonprofits while sustaining themselves, which supports a provision in a bipartisan charity aid bill in Congress, Sec. 105 of H.R. 7, that would help foundations focus their required charitable spending almost entirely on grants.

Full title: A Billion Here, A Billion There: The Empirical Data Add Up (2nd of 3 Reports on Sec. 105)

Published: July 2003

(2nd of 3 Reports on Sec. 105 of H.R. 7, The Charitable Giving Act)

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Following "Helping Charities, Sustaining Foundations," "Billion Here, Billion There" is the second of three reports about a proposal in Congress to end foundation’s widespread practice counting many of their own overhead costs, such as trustee fees, staff salaries and benefits, toward their annual 5 percent charitable spending requirements.

Closing the Loophole: Removing Foundation Overhead Costs from Payout (3rd of 3 Reports on Sec. 105)

Published: July 2003

(3rd of 3 Reports on Sec. 105 of H.R. 7, The Charitable Giving Act)

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NCRP’s third report on foundation "payout" rates, and the legislation in front of the House Ways and Means Committee that would increase foundation grantmaking by excluding private foundations' administrative and operating expenses from the required minimum 5 percent charitable spending requirements. "Closing the Loophole: Removing Foundation Overhead Costs from Payout" reviews the most recent research to conclude that foundations could and should pay out at least 5 percent of their endowments annually in grants.

Axis of Ideology: Conservative Foundations and Public Policy

Published: March 2004

NCRP's Axis of Ideology details the effective philanthropic strategies that 79 conservative foundations have used to support the activities of 350 public policy-oriented right-wing think tanks at the federal, state, and local levels.

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On the Path to Philanthropic Reform: Concrete Steps Toward Public and Private Accountability and Oversight

Published: July 2004

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This report contains NCRP’s written statement for the Senate Finance Committee's roundtable discussion meeting on July 2004 about issues such as foundation board composition, charitable giving return, and oversight.

Beyond City Limits: The Philanthropic Needs of Rural America

Published: May 2004

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This report goes against the grain to examine some resource deficiencies in rural America concerning the availability and delivery of philanthropic capital from private foundations and corporations to rural community-based organizations. In this report, we analyze whether the nonprofits of rural America have adequate access to the philanthropic capital markets controlled by American foundations to give them the wherewithal to address the complexities of challenges in non-metropolitan communities.

$1 Billion for Ideas: Conservative Think Tanks in the 1990s

Published: March 1999

The rising influence of conservative think tanks has been a notable development during the 1990s. Today, the conservative policy establishment is perhaps the key generator and purveyor of public ideas. This report focuses attention on the top 20 right-of-center think tanks, the ways in which they operate, where they get their funding, how they are governed and the links that exist in the "conservative labyrinth."

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Moving a Public Policy Agenda: the Strategic Philanthropy of Conservative Foundations

Published: July 1997

For more than three decades, conservative strategists have mounted an extraordinary effort to reshape politics and public policy priorities. NCRP's report documents the substantial role that 12 conservative foundations have played in developing and sustaining key institutions in the movement. It also outlines lessons learned from grantmakers interested in influencing public policies.

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Spring 2013

Each Responsive Philanthropy includes articles from guest contributors and NCRP staff on critical issues in philanthropy today. This edition of the quarterly journal includes articles on the benefits of diversity in philanthropy, breaking silos to address social issues, and an inspiring story of small nonprofits winning big for their communities.

Read more about the featured articles.

View the Responsive Philanthropy Archive.

A Democratic Landscape: Funding Social Change in California

Published: April 2000

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NCRP continues to advocate for the rights of nonprofits to engage in public policy advocacy and the necessity of grantmakers to support such activities. A Democratic Landscape highlights how foundations and nonprofit groups influence progressive social and economic policy in California. Based on interviews with leaders of 73 nonprofit advocacy groups and eight of the state's leading foundations, this study found that California nonprofits play a crucial but undervalued role in shaping public policies benefiting the state's poorest and most vulnerable communities.