The conversation focused on how a diversity of backgrounds and perspectives can be beneficial to grantmaking programs, and discussed how foundations can increase the diversity of both their leadership and their giving.

Read more about the panel discussion on the Minnesota Council on Foundation’s Philanthropy Potluck blog.

But they don’t see themselves as big players in the charitable arena, and that presents an image problem, say experts like Judy Belk, a senior vice president for Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

“African Americans have been very uncomfortable with the title of philanthropist,” Belk said. “If you don’t see role models who look like you when people start talking about issues related to philanthropy, you start believing, ‘Hey, maybe I’m not a philanthropist.’”

Belk said she got so weary of hearing this that she helped produce a 12-minute video released in November, dubbed, “I Am A Philanthropist,” which features diverse faces, races and ethnicities of donors and grant-makers.

Despite the challenges presented by that image problem, blacks do play a major, growing role in philanthropic circles. Each year, black donors give away 25 percent more of their incomes than white donors, according to a report released last month by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors.

Continue reading…

“Strategic Philanthropy: Guide to Evaluation” is a great companion piece to “Assessing Impact” (the recently released guide in the Philanthropy Roadmap series) for those looking for an in-depth look at specific evaluation methodologies, challenges, and applications.

Click here for a copy of “Strategic Philanthropy: Guide to Evaluation.”

You can also watch a brief introductory video on the report here, and view the full Credit Suisse press release here.

Each of Oceans 5’s partners and members pledges to donate a certain amount annually, for a minimum of three years. With their combined resources, they are able to support various projects, campaigns and NGOs all over the globe. And collaboration doesn’t stop with these individuals—Oceans 5 also teams up at an organizational level with groups around the world. Working with the Antarctic Oceans Alliance, a coalition of environmental organizations including Greenpeace and the World Wildlife Fund, Oceans 5 has been working to create a Ross Sea/Antarctica Marine Reserve that would protect one of the few remaining places on the planet largely untouched by human activity.

Other Oceans 5 initiatives include the Seafood Traceability Project, which seeks to increase the transparency of global fisheries and cut down on illegal fishing, and the Global Ocean Commission, which attempts to build systems and processes to manage and conserve international high waters.

Each of these projects would have been impossible to scale without the collaboration amongst donors and organizations, and nations. The high seas (water outside of the 200-mile boundary of each coastal nation’s Exclusive Economic Zone) are not under any single nation’s control—and are therefore not any single nation’s responsibility. Philanthropy therefore has an opportunity to play a vital role, working both to coordinate among governments, and working independently from any nation.

Oceans 5 is made up of a small group of individuals, with just one full-time Program Director. Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors provides Oceans 5 with a legal and financial infrastructure, as well as helping to coordinate with the organization’s partners and board.