Resources

Every organization experiences moments when it has opportunities to tend its culture and to cultivate a more productive one — a culture in which staff and trustees are performing at their best and it is doing everything it can to make sure nonprofits are resilient, successful and strong. Paying attention to culture doesn’t have to happen only at huge, earthshattering moments in the life of an organization or its operating environment.

Five stories about shaping culture

Member Story: Peery Foundation

We are looking for examples of times when non-senior level staff members have had an influence on organizational culture.

Examples of policies and guidelines regarding sabbaticals.

Have any other Foundations celebrated an anniversary in recent years and willing to send along information about how you celebrated?

We are looking for examples of survey instruments that help us understand staff interests in developing their knowledge, dispositions, and skills as it relates to becoming more effective grant makers, collaborators, and agents of continuous improvement.

Our foundation is working towards revising our bereavement and holiday schedule policies to be more inclusive and flexible for a diverse staff. I am writing to request members to share their current policies with our foundation, and any information that may be helpful.

The discussion starter can be used to delve into questions that are often challenging to raise and to surface issues that may be invisible.

Philanthropy evolves slowly, despite (or maybe because of) very few external constraints or imperatives. Historically, good stewardship of philanthropic resources has focused on preserving capital and growing assets for the benefit of future generations. But given the complex, evolving nature of challenges like poverty and climate change, as well as what we have learned about how best to support nonprofit success and community impact, we must shift our conception of good stewardship in order to make significant progress in solving large-scale problems.