Effectiveness, Efficiency and Accountability in Philanthropy E-Book

• Herausgeber: Bertelsmann Stiftung
• Kategorie: Fachliteratur
• Sprache: Englisch

Seitenzahl: 136

Veröffentlichungsjahr: 2010

Beschreibung

This volume collects the insights of the Management Symposium on "Effectiveness, Efficiency and Accountability in Philanthropy - What Lessons can be Learned from the Corporate World?" which was held in spring 2005. It both includes contributions by individual speakers as well as an edited summary essay of the argument made. The contributions explore the role of foundations in society and their interaction with other sectors, strategic marketing and planning, entrepreneurial approaches, controlling and quality management, as well as evaluation and sustainability considerations. This book offers thoughts and tools for high-impact philanthropy and shows that management in philanthropy can indeed learn from the corporate world, the lack of a bottom line notwithstanding. However, the corporate world can learn from philanthropy how to manage under conditions of uncertainty and nontransparent "markets". Whatever philanthropic institutions do, they will be held accountable in public for effective contributions to the public good.

Leseprobe

Bibliographic information published by the Deutsche Nationalbibliothek

The Deutsche Nationalbibliothek lists this publication in the Deutsche Nationalbibliografie; detailed bibliographic data is available on the Internet at http://dnb.d-nb.de.

© 2010 E-Book-Ausgabe (EPUB) © 2006 Verlag Bertelsmann Stiftung, Gütersloh

Responsible: Dr. Volker ThenCopy editor: Heike HerrbergProduction editor: Christiane RaffelCover design: Nadine HumannCover illustration: PhotoDiscTypesetting and Print: Hans Kock Buch- und Offsetdruck GmbH, Bielefeld

ISBN : 978-3-86793-237-0

www.bertelsmann-stiftung.de/verlag

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Titel

Impressum

Preface

1. Key Issues in Foundation Management

1.1 The Role of Foundations in Society-What Market Are We in?

1.2 Strategic Foundation Management

1.3 Operative Foundation Management

1.4 The Last Word-An Agenda for the Future

2. The Future of Foundations- In-depth Knowledge and Experience

2.1 Creative Philanthropy toward a New Philanthropy for the Twenty-first Century

2.2 Entrepreneurship in Philanthropy

2.3 Efficient Foundation Management- Accountability for Resource Allocation

2.4 Strategic Marketing-Creating a Philanthropic Brand Identity

2.5 Controlling and Quality Management in the Nonprofit Sector

2.6 Effective Foundation Management- How to Assess and Manage Uncertainty?

2.7 Sustainability: Experience from Project Work

Preface

The Philanthropy and Foundations division of the Bertelsmann Stiftung aims at an effective and efficient foundation sector. Our projects have focused on donor information, donor learning and innovative philanthropic vehicles such as community foundations as well as issues of foundation governance and management.

The Bertelsmann Stiftung invited an international group of participants from both academia and innovative social-investment organizations to its Foundation Management Symposium 2005. The debate was organized around the issues of effectiveness, efficiency and accountability and was held in a thoroughly interactive conference format. Foundations are not unique in many of the challenges they face, but they operate in an environment in which leverage and risk taking under conditions of market uncertainty remain key. They are usually small players compared to the problems they address, and their smallness requires particular care in their strategic thinking. At the symposium, brief impulse statements initiated round-table discussions on the philanthropic market as part of the third sector, strategic leverage, efficient resource allocation, and public expectations toward the accountability of charitable foundations. In particular, we raised the question whether foundations could learn from the corporate world in addressing these issues (and vice versa).

This volume documents the proceedings of the conference. The first contribution is an editorial overview of the debate, for the following contributions authors have elaborated their short impulse statements to the symposium. The contributions are more like essayistic reflections than academic papers, and their character has not been changed.

The transfer of knowledge from a corporate to a philanthropic background is difficult but still has its merits. Even participants from business schools agreed that “the market” could be seen only as a metaphor in philanthropic contexts because the actual functioning of resource allocations lacks the efficiency and smoothness of a market. Nonprofit organizations in general and foundations in particular have to bear comparatively high transaction costs when they try to establish information on their field and transparency in their spheres of interest. When deciding on their allocations, foundation leaders cannot rely only on simple mechanisms of return on investment. They have to bear in mind more complex frameworks for their decision making that are defined by a multiplicity of variables which in addition are characterized by normative interpretations. However, this very complexity of decision-making under conditions of uncertainty may be of interest to the corporate world. In addition, the legitimacy advantages of foundations in society may be of interest to corporations.

I would like to thank all the speakers and contributors to our debate for their input. I wish you a stimulating reading experience and hope that you will share our interest in improving professional thinking within our sector.

Dr. Brigitte MohnMember of the Board of Management Bertelsmann Stiftung Gütersloh, February 2006

1. Key Issues in Foundation Management

Heribert Meffert, Volker Then, Nina Fritsch

1.1 The Role of Foundations in Society-What Market Are We in?

In recent years, the controversy over the relationship between the state, the economy and civil society has achieved a new dynamic. It is clear that, increasingly, the state is unable to assume responsibility for all spheres of life, and the limitations of the market are becoming obvious. Consequently, the significance of civil society will increase within this power triangle. Both politically and economically, as a highly independent part of the nonprofit sector, foundations are vitally important in an era of smaller government, social diversity and greater reliance on private action for the public benefit.