Aspen Institute Awards Grants for Research on New Philanthropic Practices
WASHINGTON, May 23 — The Aspen Institute has awarded four grants totaling more than $231,000 for research on emerging aspects of philanthropy.
The grants were made by the Institute’s Nonprofit Sector Research Fund under the Fund’s new grant-making initiative, An Evolving Field: Research on New Philanthropic Practices and the Changing Environment for Philanthropy. The initiative’s goal is to develop new knowledge that encourages strategic philanthropy in response to social and technological changes.
The grantees and their projects are:
Angela Eikenberry, Assistant Professor, Virginia Tech
Project: Giving Circles and Their Impacts on Donor Attitudes and Behaviors
Grant Amount: $53,051
Cynthia Gair, Director, REDF (formerly Roberts Enterprise Development Fund)
Project: Stepping Out of the Maze: Aligning to Improve the Nonprofit Capital Market
Grant Amount: $62,438
Marybeth Gasman, Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania
Project: A Growing Tradition? Examining the African-American Family Foundation
Grant Amount: $63,717
David Bonbright, Chief Executive, Keystone
Project: Realizing the Potential for Impact of Online Giving Marketplaces: Improving Performance Reporting
Grant Amount: $52,300
Alan Abramson, director of the Aspen Institute’s Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy Program, which includes the Nonprofit Sector Research Fund, noted the importance of studying emerging philanthropic trends.
“A number of forces are likely to change philanthropy in the future: an increase in the number of high net-worth individuals, greater involvement of donors in their philanthropy, accessible and powerful communications technologies that accelerate information-sharing and collaboration across great distances and organizational boundaries, and continued calls for philanthropy to be accountable and demonstrate impact,” he said.
“The research and practitioner communities have an opportunity to advance understanding of how philanthropy may look in the future,” Abramson added.
The “Evolving Field” initiative is supported by the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. The Nonprofit Sector Research Fund is supported by the Atlantic Philanthropies, Carnegie Corporation of New York, Ford Foundation, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, William Randolph Hearst Foundation, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, W.K. Kellogg Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Northwest Area Foundation, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation, Skoll Foundation, and Surdna Foundation.
The Aspen Institute Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy Program seeks to improve the operation of the nonprofit sector and philanthropy through research and dialogue focused on public policy, management, and other important issues affecting the nonprofit sector.
The Aspen Institute, founded in 1950, is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to fostering enlightened leadership and open-minded dialogue. Through seminars, policy programs, conferences, and leadership development initiatives, the Institute and its international partners seek to promote nonpartisan inquiry and an appreciation for timeless values. The Institute is headquartered in Washington, DC, and has campuses in Aspen, Colo., and on the Wye River on Maryland’s Eastern Shore. Its international network includes partner Aspen Institutes in Berlin, Rome, Lyon, Tokyo, New Delhi, and Bucharest, and leadership programs in Africa, Central America, and India.
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CONTACT: Winnifred Levy, Communications’ Manager
Aspen Institute Nonprofit Sector and Philanthropy Program