The Foundation Center

“The center's form 990 is prepared by the outside accounting firm, pkf o'connor davies. The draft form 990 is then reviewed by the organization's vp of financial strategy and president. Subsequently, the audit committee of the center's board of trustees and the full board receive an electronic copy of the form 990 and reviews the return. After responding to all inquiries and making any necessary changes, the final form 990 is provided to all members of the board prior to its filing with the irs.”

“A conflict of interest disclosure statement is obtained annually from all trustees, officers, manager and other key employees who are currently serving the center. A report summarizing the disclosure statements is provided to the board of trustees annually. It is the center's policy that in the event of a conflict the following is done: if there is a conflict relevant to a matter requiring action by the board of trustees, the interested person shall call it to the attention of the board of trustees, and the trustee concerned shall not vote on the matter. Moreover, the person having a conflict shall retire from the room in which the board is meeting and shall not participate in the final deliberation or decision regarding the matter under consideration. When there is doubt as to whether a conflict of interest exists, the matter shall be resolved by vote of the board of trustees or its committee, excluding from the room and the vote the person whose situation will be discussed. When a conflict of interest arises for any staff member except the president, that staff member shall report it to the president in writing. A conflict of interest relating to the president shall be reported in writing to the chair of the board.”

“The center's board of trustees, consisting of independent persons, establishes compensation for the president and reviews the compensation for the other officer(s) and vice presidents on an annual basis. Prior to making compensation decisions, the board obtains information on the compensation of functionally comparable positions for similarly qualified persons at similarly situated organizations and/or benchmark salaries for select positions obtained from salary surveys. Documentation of the deliberations and decisions made are maintained in the minutes in the corporate secretary's office. A full independent compensation review for more than a third of its staff positions was completed in the fall of 2016.”

“The center's audited financial statements and annual report for the past five years are posted on its website and are downloadable. In addition, governance and staffing policies are posted, including the code of conduct (which includes the conflict of interest policy), diversity statement and the executive compensation policy.”

“The center accomplishes its mission by: - operating library/learning centers in five locations-new york city; washington, dc; atlanta; cleveland; and san francisco-that offer free access to information resources and educational programs. - maintaining unique databases of information on more than 140,000 foundations, corporate donors, and grantmaking public charities worldwide and over 9.5 million of their recent grants. Its foundation directory online (fdo) subscription service is the most popular means for searching these databases. - providing a content-rich web site with a variety of free search tools, tutorials, downloadable reports, and other information updated daily, including philanthropy news digest, its daily news service. - conducting research and publishing reports on the growth of the foundation field and on trends in foundation support of the nonprofit sector. - coordinating a network of funding information centers nationwide and around the world - more than 400 funding information network (fin) partners that offer free local access to core center resources and training. Established in 1956, the foundation center is the leading source of information about philanthropy worldwide. Through data, analysis, and training, it connects people who want to change the world to the resources they need to succeed. The center maintains the most comprehensive database on u.s. And, increasingly, global grantmakers and their grants - a robust, accessible knowledge bank for the sector. It also operates research, education, and training programs designed to advance knowledge of philanthropy at every level. Thousands of people visit the center's web site each day and are served in its five regional library/learning centers and its network of more than 400 fin partners located in public libraries, community foundations, and educational institutions nationwide and around the world.”

“Major data collection and publications program accomplishments in 2017 include the following: foundation center has forged deep, substantive relationships with global, regional, and country-level organizations such as worldwide initiatives for grantmaker support (wings) and donors and foundations networks of europe (dafne) to facilitate data-gathering and knowledge-sharing by their memberships. Our recent work with global partners on issue areas such as human rights, peace and security, and the sustainable development goals (sdgs) has dramatically extended our reach and reputation around the world. Global data: recently, foundation center has logged a number of significant international achievements, all of which we expect will yield important new data and knowledge for philanthropy for years to come. We led important cross-national conversations regarding data standards in europe (with dafne) and africa (with wings), and delivered on a complex partnership with afe (colombian association of family and corporate foundations) of colombia with a special focus on the sdgs and peacebuilding. We also developed a data strategy and capacity building program that we have implemented in east african countries kenya, tanzania, and ugandain collaboration with east african association of grantmakers (eaag). We initiated similar data strategy and capacity building programs in ghana and romania in 2017. Our data initiative has helped establish the national philanthropy forums of tanzania and uganda, where such institutes did not exist earlier. Much of the work undertaken between wings and foundation center in 2016 set the stage for the wings 2017 forum, where our co-authored report, infrastructure in focus: a global picture of organisations serving philanthropy was launched. In addition, we helped plan the forum and spoke at multiple breakout sessions. To realize a vision of improved data for deeper philanthropic impact and transparency, foundation center and wings collaborated with more than 40 organizations from over 20 countries to refine and launch the global philanthropy data charter in october 2017. The charter is intended to act as a framework to guide organizations in the sector as they set out to gather or improve the collection of philanthropy data, while acknowledging the diversity of context, culture, and legal frameworks within which these organizations operate. In july 2017, in collaboration with the council on foundations, foundation center released international giving by u.s. Community foundations: local communities with global reach, a report that examines the current state and recent trends in international giving and engagement by large u.s. Community foundations, the first-ever analysis of its kind. This report was popular on issuelab in 2017, downloaded 2,000 times. Foundation center has spoken at sdg dialogues around the world to promote participation by foundations in achieving the sdgs. Sdgfunders.org, our knowledge portal which illustrates philanthropy's contributions towards achieving the sdgs, provides the most comprehensive data in this regard. This landscape project has been cited in wide range of publications and is visited by a broad global audience regularly. We also contributed thought pieces to several widely-read international publications on philanthropy (including alliance and asianngo) and developed or grew more than 100 partnerships with non-u.s. Organizations. Electronic grant reporting: foundation center continues to be a leading driver in establishing data standards for philanthropy and enabling foundations to share their data with us directly. The "get on the map" campaign with united philanthropy forum (formerly the forum of regional associations of grantmakers) continues to be successful, helping push the number of foundations that report their grants data electronically to foundation center to 1,411 in 2017. Foundation center staff have obtained and processed over 173,000 grants (totaling nearly”

“Data mining, machine learning, and rapid prototyping: in 2017 we invested in the professional development of our technology staff and reaped the benefits of their advanced skills in data mining, machine learning, and rapid prototyping. These are areas where foundation center is at the forefront of service to the field of philanthropy. -news prototype: this prototype now includes a grant extractor module that allows us to pull out grants from news articles, with an algorithm that tries to match organizations mentioned in text with organizations in our edms. We hope to further refine these experiments and begin using them in 2018. -amazon web services (aws) prototype: for 2017, foundation center set a goal of migrating its web properties to aws to make our resources faster, more reliable, more secure, and more scalable for the social sector. To accomplish this, we committed to building up the skills of our diverse information technology staff to increase their ability to contribute to the information needs of nonprofit leaders. In march, we had one person on staff certified in aws; by december, 15 of our staff achieved one, two or three certifications, exceeding our goal of 12. Our teams have prototyped a hybridized, cloud-based, server-less architecture that will allow our edms to scale up or down based on any level of data that it receives. Foundation websites: foundation websites is our web design and support services for private foundations and other grantmaking organizations. Surprisingly, only 10 percent of foundations in the u.s. Have websites. With a goal of increasing foundation transparency, foundation center offers to professionally design and maintain customized websites for foundations free of charge or for a modest fee. Grantmakers who have worked with us on their websites reported receiving better proposals and answering fewer requests by phone and mail, saving them both time and budget dollars. By the end of 2017, 225 foundations had taken advantage of this service.”

“Major research and other programs accomplishments in 2017 include the following: knowledge services are data-driven tools and content-rich platforms developed by foundation center for funders and their networks, consultants, advisors, and grantees. They are designed to answer fundamental questions such as: who is funding what and where? How can we know what other funders know? How can we make the most of what we are learning? We work with partners on custom projects to transform our information, analysis, and technology into solutions for the sector. Foundation landscapes: foundation center aims to create knowledge portals that combine multiple resources, including data visualization tools, news, and original research, to illuminate key issues in philanthropy in a comprehensive and cohesive way. These projects, known as foundation landscapes, are designed for ongoing updates and to make it easy for donors to scan the landscape to reveal opportunities, needs, and gaps and see how their past, current, and future efforts fit into the broader field. Foundation center was honored to receive the knight foundation's news challenge on libraries award in 2016. The competition awarded grand prizes to five organizations, out of more than 600 that applied. In february 2017, we launched visualizing funding for libraries [libraries.foundationcenter.org], which provides free access to grants data on library funding through a custom map and training for librarians and their supporters, including foundations. The map centralizes data on public, academic, government, and school libraries and digital and archive collections. The free training, which continued throughout last year, took several forms, including in-person, webinars, and an elearning course. In march 2017, we launched fundingtheocean.org, an online knowledge hub designed to track, inform, and inspire ocean conservation philanthropy. This new foundation landscapes project aims to centralize and provide access to information needed by ocean funders and conservationists as they work to improve the condition of the ocean, its inhabitants, and the livelihoods that depend on it. The site includes a funding map, a resource center with reports and case studies, as well as an online community for those working on this issue to share information and collaborate. Foundation center's staff has presented on this resource at conferences and events since its launch, including at the biodiversity funders group's annual marine conservation program meeting, the un world ocean conference, and the center for effective philanthropy conference. Staff also hosted an online webinar to demonstrate the tool to 215 registrants. The site and accompanying funding map were visited by 9,245 users from around the world in 2017. We launched the fourth edition of our measuring the state of disaster philanthropy report in october 2017 in partnership with the center for disaster philanthropy. The report and its accompanying landscape project provide an analysis of disaster-related funding by foundations, governments, corporations, and individuals. The data illuminates funding trends, exposes imbalances in where and when contributions are made, and can help donors make more strategic decisions about their investments in the full life cycle of disasters, including preparedness and recovery efforts. Foundation center and the campaign for black male achievement launched the 2017 edition of quantifying hope: philanthropic support for black men and boys in november. Amidst current racial tensions in the united states and the ever-shifting social and political landscape, the report analyzes foundation funding explicitly targeted to improve the life outcomes of black men and boys. The report also examines strategies and milestones in the field of black male achievement and how philanthropy can build on this work for stronger coordination and greater impact. We also made several enhancements to our existing foundation landsca”

“Cf (community foundation) insights: cf insights is the leader in data collection and research for the community foundation field in the united states with a reputation for benchmarking and analysis of trends. In its third year at foundation center, cf insights continued to deliver a high level of service to its members, worked with partners to release groundbreaking research on the role of infrastructure organizations in supporting the field, and launched a new, free repository of resources from around the sector relevant to community foundations. In june 2017, cf insights launched its first columbus survey dashboard, the most up-to-date and comprehensive dataset on the financial state of community foundations in the u.s. In september 2017, in collaboration with cf leads, cf insights released assessing community foundation needs and envisioning the future. Informed by responses from 142 community foundations and 46 philanthropy-serving organizations, this report assesses the current state of community foundations, identifies needs and aspirations, and lays out specific next steps for both community foundations and philanthropy-serving organizations to better serve those needs. In december 2017, in conjunction with foundation center's issuelab team, cf insights launched the community foundation knowledge center, a new home for research funded and published by community foundations, as well as other organizations in service of the community foundation field. Together, cf insights members serve half of the u.s. Population and represent two-thirds of total community foundation assets. Through cf insights, community foundations have the ability to improve performance and sustainability individually and collectively. Issuelab: issuelab represents one of the largest platforms of social sector knowledge, spanning 38 issue areas and containing more than 23,000 publicly available resources (produced by nearly 6,000 organizations), such as white papers, case studies, evaluations, and issue briefs. After redesigning and relaunching issuelab in 2016, we continued to enhance the platform in 2017 based on both user feedback and existing plans. These enhancements included the development and launch of issuelab results, a "vertical" focused on the collection and sharing of program evaluations; the development and implementation of a content marketing strategy; a refresh of the homepage; a rethinking and redesign of issuelab newsletters; a deep dive into search engine optimization for repositories; and optimization of the site for mobile users. In 2017, there were 2,260 reports added to issuelab. We saw an increase in user engagement in 2017 with 217 people creating user libraries, building their own collection of reports to read when time allows, a 51 percent increase over the previous year. Issuelab is increasingly involved in curating and sharing special collections of knowledge to help inform both funders and practitioners. These special collections have been made available on issuelab.org, as well as a growing number of special issue portals. During the grant period, issuelab curated special collections, provided literature reviews, and synthesized important topics such as multi-party advocacy, building foundation capacity for evaluations, and funding the ocean. Publications: during the grant period, foundation center released reports on topics relevant to funders, the media, researchers, and nonprofits including: -quantifying hope: philanthropic support for black men and boys, 2017 edition updates analysis on u.s. Foundation funding trends for african american males. -global charter for philanthropy provides a global vision for how to leverage global data and strengthen civil society. -measuring the state of disaster philanthropy: 2017 focuses on using data for strategic and informed disaster-related giving decisions. -assessing community foundation needs and envisioning the future analyzes results from a survey of large community foundat”

“Major library/learning center and other public services accomplishments in 2017 include the following: the center operates professionally staffed library/learning centers in five locationsnew york city; washington, dc; atlanta; cleveland; and san francisco that offer free access to the center's online subscription databases and books, other resources on funders and all aspects of philanthropy and nonprofit management and free educational programs. The center has an online librarian who responds to reference questions from people who prefer to use its resources online. The center provides free in-person programs which give participants a comprehensive understanding of the grantseeking process. The center also coordinates a network of funding information centers nationwide and around the world more than 400 fin partners that offer free local access to core center resources, including the foundation directory online professional and training. Other major library/learning center accomplishments in 2017 include the following: free access to foundation center resources and training courses: during the grant period over 20,000 visits were tracked at the libraries of our regional learning centers in new york city, washington, d.c., atlanta, cleveland, and san francisco where visitors used our subscription-based services at no charge, guided by expert librarians and resource specialists. More than 12,000 social sector colleagues attended our onsite programs on fundraising and nonprofit management. Foundation center staff also provided 74 offsite trainings at our funding information network (fin) partner locations to an additional 1,570 people. In 2017, foundation center continued to make its resources more easily accessible to a broader audience. To ensure that our capacity building tools are available to anyone, anywhere, we used bridge, our online learning platform, to offer new and improved trainings in three core competencies: fundraising, organizational sustainability, and leadership & management. These offerings range from introduction to proposal writing to more advanced skill-building courses such as your board and fundraising. Through this platform, we offered 32 live webinars at no cost to 11,400 registrants online and engaged another 7,000 people through free online courses that supplement our on-the-ground trainings and resources. We continued to live stream some of our most popular special programs out of our san francisco learning center, allowing our online audience to participate and ask questions from anywhere around the globe. With the steady growth of participants, we have begun testing our live streaming capabilities at our other regional learning centers and are looking to expand this service to increase public access to our programs. We also made these sessions available for replay immediately after, so that those who had scheduling conflicts could still benefit from special expertise. In addition to our online learning tools and in-person trainings, our online librarian service made it easy for people who were unable to access our physical locations to engage with our team of experts to get answers to their questions about foundations, philanthropy, fundraising, and nonprofits. In 2017, our online librarian service responded to nearly 11,000 live chats and email inquiries. Grantspace: grantspace, foundation center's award-winning website used by more than 2 million people last year, offers capacity building resources at no costsaving community organizations time and money so that more of their budgets can be allocated to serving constituents and less on travel and training expenses. In 2017, we continued to curate new content; the grantspace blog published 43 posts, providing fresh material and engaging readers with current issues that are most relevant to their work. Nearly 30,000 people continue to subscribe to our monthly grantspace e-newsletter. We continued to provide access to broad audiences that are often”

“Postretirement changes other than net periodic benefit cost -43,574.”

“The organization did not change either its oversight process or selection process during the tax year.”