The fraught relations between foundations and nonprofit organizations was a hot topic last year. Our friends at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy have been saying this for the past 20 years. Jennifer Choi reminded us that power dynamics are the most significant source of strained relationships between foundations and nonprofit organizations.

The latest report from the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) validated the findings harvested by Exponent and NCN. CEP’s report, Relationships Matter: Program Officers, Grantees and the Keys to Success, highlighted what it takes to build strong relationships while navigating the power imbalance between funders and nonprofits.

Admonitions asking philanthropy to behave better are needed, but they tend to focus on the behaviors of individuals in the system. They offer less insight on how the structures and processes of the funding dynamic get in the way of changing the normative behavior of funders.

Read the full article about funder-nonprofit relations by Prentice Zinn at Exponent Philanthropy.