The Kenneth Rainin Foundation is celebrating our 10th anniversary of formal grantmaking this year. We’ve been thinking a lot lately about where we’ve been and where we’re going, so we were delighted with the timely invitation to participate in the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s new study, Greater Good: Lessons from Those Who Have Started Major Grantmaking Organizations.

For donors whose philanthropic journey is just beginning, this report will be a terrific guide to helping you achieve your goals. CEP’s results map closely to what the Rainin Foundation has learned over this past decade. Looking back at our own experiences, the three main elements for effectively getting a grantmaking organization up and running that the report identifies ring particularly true:

  1. It takes leadership characterized by humility, courage, and resourcefulness to engage in meaningful philanthropy.
  2. It’s important to have a shared understanding among donors, board, staff, and grantees about how the organization will approach its work.
  3. Every organization needs to have a sense of what success is and an orientation toward learning.

Read the full article about lessons for new grantmakers by Jen Rainin at The Center for Effective Philanthropy.