The Philanthropy Awareness Initiative

The Philanthropy Awareness Initiative (PAI), a research project that begun in 2005, was designed to collect and better understand perceptions about philanthropy in the United States today. Funded by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the purpose of the PAI was to determine how the foundation component of the philanthropic sector might
1) increase understanding of the role foundations play
and 2) better express their impact on society.

Philanthropy in the News, an Analysis of Media Coverage, 1990-2004

The second in a series, FoundationWorks' Philanthropy Awareness Initiative conducted an in-depth historical media analysis to understand how philanthropy specifically the foundation portion of the philanthropic sector has been covered in the news. These findings and implications suggest that there is a growing appetite among the media to cover philanthropic activity and foundations may have an opportunity to talk to the press more about the transformational nature and substance of their efforts.

Bridging the Gap: Connecting Strategic Communication and Program Goals

In Bridging the Gap: Connecting Strategic Communication and Program Goals, we report on a series of conversations that took place in 2002-2003 with a cross-section of foundation leaders and program staff. Our goal was to elicit perceptions from program staff about the relationship between strategic communication and program goals and to find out how foundations use communication in their grant-making. Based on this research, foundations and their grantees can and should adopt a more strategic approach to communication-in large part by working together to address the barriers identified in this report.

Making American Foundations Relevant: Conversations with 21st Century Leaders in Philanthropy

The third in a series of research volumes seeks to reveal the foundation sector and its challenges through its own eyes. This report summarizes anonymous interviews with 43 individuals including foundation and related professional association executives and opinion leaders from national policy centers and universities. The findings indicate nearly universal agreement that the role and importance of the sector does not register with critical audiences to the extent that it should. Making American Foundations Relevant presents essential strategies for overcoming many of the barriers to effective philanthropy as indicated through the interviews.

A Research Synthesis on Aspects of Foundations and Philanthropy: Operational Efficacy, Grantee Needs and Public Perceptions, 2000-2004

The first in a series, this research synthesis summarizes our findings from a review of recent research conducted on the field. FoundationWorks undertook this task as a first step in the Philanthropy Awareness Initiative to understand the types and outcomes of research conducted on and by the philanthropic sector in order to help us define our own research needs without duplicating past efforts. Most studies focus on one of three main themes: operational efficacy, grantee needs, and public perceptions.

How to Make the Most of Working with Your Marketing and Communications Professionals

Designed to be a "practical guide for organizations out to make a difference," this publication created in 2004 focuses on creative collaboration for results and how to measure success. Based on our research, this guide translates the real experience of nonprofit professionals into easy, actionable guidelines for selecting and working with communications consultants-independents practitioners as well as full-service firms.