Nonprofit Tech

National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy

Challenging Grantmakers to Strengthen Communities

“The challenge isn’t just to see how many of the criteria your foundation can achieve. The key is to engage board and staff in why the criteria matter for your institution and how you can make progress towards being your best. Every foundation will benefit from engaging in that process, because it speaks directly to your impact and your effectiveness in meeting your mission.”

Sharon King, President F.B. Heron Foundation

Impact is the most important measure for the civic sector. Operating in ways consistent with these criteria doesn’t guarantee that a funder will have positive impact, but it makes it more likely. The criteria address values, effectiveness, ethics and commitment—four elements that are essential to better grant- making. The full text highlights these important issues and explains how we established the 10 benchmarks that accompany the criteria. The appendix lists “field leaders”—grantmakers that NCRP knows meet or exceed the measures.

Some funders may view the criteria as overly prescriptive, but we disagree. The criteria were developed to highlight the most important issues in philan- thropy and challenge grantmakers to critically assess practices. NCRP wants grantmakers to wrestle with these issues; it’s our role as the sector’s watchdog to push for real transformation in philanthropy, but we don’t intend to be dogmatic or inflexible in pursuing compliance with the criteria. There may be good rea- sons for a grantmaking institution not to live up to cer- tain benchmarks. We’re clear that a foundation meet- ing eight of the 10 measures isn’t necessarilybetter than a foundation that meets only five. Ultimately, it’s up to the leadership of each institution to decide how it will operate. Foundation trustees and executives, stewards of the public trust, are responsible for improving their institutions.

Proper regulation of grantmaking institutions is essential. NCRP historically has engaged in efforts to influence foundation regulation and will contin- ue to do so. This particular document, however, isn’t a call for regulatory action—it is a tool for meaningful self-regulation. If grantmakers don’t improve their relevance to society by regulating themselves with integrity and rigor, government reg- ulation likely will…

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