annual.foundationcenter.org FROM OUR PRESIDENT ow many times have you heard Foundation Center’s print directory became Landscape sites that focus on youth giving, the success of an organization Foundation Directory Online, the most widely the sustainable development goals, and the Hdescribed in terms of a bigger used database of foundations and their critical issues of our time. budget, more staff, or larger office space? grants in the world. Today’s Foundation Foundation Center’s evolution continues to As indicators, those all tell us something but Center is a global resource for trusted data, be a story of transparency, technology, and miss what is most critical. In a world of deep insight, and analysis of the many ways in talent. Our team, whether they be writing technological and societal transformation, as which, through philanthropy, private wealth computer code, teaching a class on proposal important as it may be for organizations to is contributing to the public good. writing, or designing a new website, is grow, it is essential that they evolve. The following pages describe how the key to our success. Philanthropy is an Foundation Center was born in 1956, in the Foundation Center evolved even further engine for positive social change worldwide wake of McCarthy era hearings investigating in 2016. In a historic milestone for our and at Foundation Center, we’re using the foundations for alleged support of un- organization, we fully launched a new latest data, technology, and analysis to help American activities. Conceived as a means database system that had been years in the those doing good be strategic. The world to combat suspicion and innuendo about making. As part of this effort, we used data needs the nearly seven million people, philanthropy with public information, its science techniques to machine code more online and in-person, who depended on us very creation ignited an evolutionary spark than two million foundation grants around in 2016 to succeed. that has propelled our field forward ever the world by subject, beneficiary population, Insuring that Foundation Center since. Foundation Center published the first strategy, geographic location, and other provides the knowledge they need print directory of American foundations in characteristics. We then employed this requires constant evolution. That 1960, then created a classification system same technology to code all the content— is my commitment to Foundation that enabled successive generations of including blogs, news stories, research Center and our commitment to you. grantseekers, scholars, journalists and reports, and more—so users can quickly foundations themselves, to understand the search the entire Foundation Center through work of a rapidly expanding philanthropic our main website, foundationcenter.org—to sector. In 1994, Foundation Center launched find exactly the information they need. And its first website, when only four foundations this wealth of highly curated information Bradford K. Smith had websites of their own. Five years later, is fueling a new generation of Foundation President 2 Foundation Center 2016 Annual Report 2016 FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS 45.8% ($11,193,704) PRODUCT REVENUES 39.2% ($9,569,754) FOUNDATIONS AND CORPORATE OPERATING REVENUES CONTRIBUTIONS $24,429,704 13.1% ($3,192,282) PROGRAM SERVICE AND OTHER FEES 1.9% ($473,964) INVESTMENT RETURN 34.6% ($8,121,481) DATA COLLECTION AND PUBLICATIONS 19.7% ($4,609,932) RESEARCH AND OTHER PROGRAMS OPERATING EXPENSES 21.7% ($5,080,835) LIBRARY/LEARNING CENTERS AND OTHER $23,433,027 PUBLIC SERVICES For complete financials see 20.0% ($4,686,620) annual.foundationcenter.org MANAGEMENT AND GENERAL Available Online: 4.0% ($934,159) FUNDRAISING • Audited financial statements • Balance sheets • Statements of changes in net assets • Form 990 “2016 was a challenging yet innovative year at Foundation Center. Thanks to a well-developed strategic plan and the generous support of our donors, we were able to balance our financial statements and evolve our products and service to meet the needs of the field.” Monisha de Quadros Vice President for Financial Strategy See the full report at annual.foundationcenter.org 3 EVOLVING SKILLS Growing skills to strengthen our capacity for innovation For any organization to stand the test of “Moving into this new role to topics ranging from the sustainable time, it needs a dedicated staff willing to was very empowering. I can development goals (SDGs), to data capacity building, to early childhood development, evolve their skills in service of the mission. answer questions myself, We’re lucky to have skills spanning library to agriculture. “Ultimately, the hope is that and I know the questions science, research methodologies, data this work will bring transparency to the science, facilitation, computer programming, to ask.” sector. It’s broad, multi-year, multi-region work, but that’s what’s exciting. It requires and even ping pong. In 2016, we saw roles Her growth started through a class taught investment in understanding the cultural, grow in interesting ways, and we thought by another staff member about SQL, and legal, and political environments of different we’d share Amy Stern’s and Arif Ekram’s continued through online courses, other countries and how that relates to data work, stories with you here. peer-led classes (most recently, Python) and which can vary a lot.” For Arif, part of this encouraged curiosity. “The classes have been As we have evolved our data systems, evolved role is representing Foundation great, but applying what I learned to actually our staff have built new skills and evolved Center and philanthropy more broadly solve real-world problems is very satisfying. their roles to support more streamlined, in multi-stakeholder conversations. At Strengthening our data and our processes automated processes. Amy Stern came the Asian Venture Philanthropy Network is motivating, because I know it will help to Foundation Center as a special data conference in Hong Kong, Arif spoke on a organizations get quality information they projects associate manually cleaning excel panel about data availability and quality need faster.” Amy is also a clutch player on spreadsheet data from foundations. Now, issues, mostly focusing on Asia. This is a big Foundation Center’s softball team. she is an application developer, working on leap from what he was previously working various aspects of database development Arif Ekram similarly worked as a data on, and he credits “learning from experts, including using SSIS to support loading data analyst, with a specific focus on international both colleagues at Foundation Center and from a wider variety of sources, deploying foundations. In 2016, he became a critical externally through workshops, conferences, back-end bulk updates, and brainstorming part of our global partnerships work, and simply following the news” as core to his solutions to needs identified by user stories. where he manages multiple projects tied skill development. 4 Foundation Center 2016 Annual Report EVOLVING PARTNERSHIPS The partnership initially launched the “Get David Biemesderfer, president and CEO of on the Map” campaign. The 26 member the Forum, shares, regional associations participants were Partnering encouraged to share grants data with “We place great value on with sector Foundation Center using the eReporting our ongoing partnership standard. This data was centralized with Foundation Center. influencers to and structured using the Philanthropy As we work to help our build data and Classification System and visualized in members lead, inform custom regional maps. and support philanthropy, knowledge Now, we’ve put that increasingly current and Foundation Center plays No organization can do it alone. Partners comprehensive data to good use, generating a critical role by making help us better interpret and deliver on standardized regional giving dashboards as foundation data more our mission, and engage with people a new service. Our first for California was accessible and usable who we may not have otherwise reached. launched during the year, which has been throughout our network.” Partnerships take time and work to build, used to tell regional stories of giving and and we’re investing in them as a core explore funding priorities. Prithi Trivedi, As we develop more regional dashboards strategy. It’s paying off. program fellow, effective philanthropy at in 2017, our partnership will continue to the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation grow. We’ll continue to work with regional We’re now in our third year of a thriving associations to better understand needs, partnership with the Forum of Regional shares, “I found the Foundation Maps: Associations of Grantmakers. Together, California tool to be incredibly helpful in and respond with new data visualizations, we’re working to improve the information answering the question I had. The design benchmarking services, and knowledge infrastructure available for and about and interface are really user-friendly, and management tools that will empower philanthropy, and translating that into produces clean visuals, which can help you users to draw actionable conclusions from knowledge that drives smarter grantmaking. grasp the data.” the information. “Together, we’re working to improve the information infrastructure available for and about philanthropy, and translating that into knowledge that drives smarter grantmaking.” David Biemesderfer President and CEO, Forum of Regional Associations of Grantmakers See the full report at annual.foundationcenter.org 5 EVOLVING ACCESS locations again and again to grow and hone Jon Gilgoff is the senior director of their skills and research opportunities. They programming and systems change at come back because it pays off. Brothers on the Rise in Oakland, CA. He is Building the founder and former executive director, a “I never had any interest relationships and role which he held for the organization’s first in starting an organization, eight years. But his entrepreneurial roots understanding to but then I did. It’s very started while attending Columbia University’s connect causes humbling to have a lot to School of Social Work.