Effective Foundation Management: 14 Challenges of Philanthropic Leadership--And How to Outfox Them

There is no science to the management of charitable foundations, and even the art of managing them is poorly understood. The foundation field is relatively young, university centers for the study of philanthropy arrived only recently, and foundation leaders typically had little experience in the foundation field before taking their posts. Consequently, both seasoned and aspiring CEOs fall into traps that make them less effective leaders. These traps arise from the highly idiosyncratic nature of the foundation field, and thus are not fully understood by leaders whose training and experience generally lie elsewhere. But there are predictable challenges and recognizable dilemmas, and a hard-won knowledge base does exist. In Effective Foundation Management, seasoned philanthropy professional and educator Joel J. Orosz introduces the new foundation board member CEO, vice president, program officer, and other foundation staff members to seven vexing challenges and seven inescapable tradeoffs, along with strategies for meeting and resolving them. In simple and engaging terms, Orosz describes the steps foundation leaders need to take to maximize positive social impact and avoid poor outcomes—in other words, to become fully effective in their consequential roles.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1 Foreword Chapter 2 Introduction: Foundations and Failure Part 3 Part I: The Seven Challenges Chapter 4 Challenge #1: Lack of Pre-and Post-employment Training Chapter 5 Challenge #2: Lack of a Cohesive Culture Chapter 6 Challenge #3: Lack of a Salutary External Discipline Chapter 7 Challenge #4: Lack of Reliable Feedback Chapter 8 Challenge #5: Lack of an Accepted Body of Good Practices Chapter 9 Challenge #6: Lack of Ideological Cohesion between Board and Staff Chapter 10 Challenge #7: Lack of Ideological Cohesion within the Staff Chapter 11 The Seven Challenges: Afterword Part 12 Part II: The Seven Dilemmas Chapter 13 Introduction: The Seven Dilemmas of Managing Foundations Chapter 14 Dilemma #1: Low Overhead versus High Overhead Chapter 15 Dilemma #2: Strategic Planning versus Flexibility Chapter 16 Dilemma #3: Broad versus Deep Chapter 17 Dilemma #4: Innovation versus Implementation Chapter 18 Dilemma #5: Expert-based versus Community-based Chapter 19 Dilemma #6: High Uncertainty versus Low Uncertainty Chapter 20 Dilemma #7: High Profile versus Low Profile Chapter 21 The Seven Dilemmas: Afterword Chapter 22 Epilogue: Forty Years On