Posted on March 15, 2006

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Foundation Center Retools Itself for 21st Century

As nonprofits continue to face funding difficulties and foundations strive to demonstrate their value to society, the New York City-based Foundation Center has devised a new strategic plan that aims to position the organization to be more responsive to the rapidly changing needs of organizations engaged in serving the public good.

The center's plan, which has been posted to its redesigned Web site, embodies the organization's new brand identity, a concept built around the tagline "Knowledge to build on." The new identity gives the center — a nonprofit organization with its roots in reference books and libraries — a fresh platform for its Web-based offerings and provides a springboard for launching new services this year in conjunction with its 50th anniversary, including a new multi-faceted service bureau that will collect and distribute more in-depth and timely information on all types of grantmaking organizations and the nonprofits they support; expanded research capabilities that allow for new trend analyses, research studies, and surveys on more facets of organized philanthropy; and an expanded network of information and education services designed to enhance the effectiveness of the nation's nonprofits, particularly those that are under-resourced.

Building on its base of five regional learning centers, nearly 250 cooperating collections nationwide, and a Web site that serves more than 37,000 daily visitors, the center will extend "anytime, anywhere" access to new learning tools, forums for grantseekers and grantmakers, and online reference services. It also plans to conduct broad outreach to promote its next-generation services and raise awareness of how its information, research, and education services can foster greater understanding of philanthropy and its impact on people and communities in the United States and around the world.

"Simply put, we are transforming the Foundation Center to meet the challenges facing the philanthropic sector in the twenty-first century," said the center's president, Sara Engelhardt. "If we are to help our field advance, we must become more agile, more accessible, and more connected to our diverse audiences."

“At 50, the Foundation Center Transforms Itself for the Future of Philanthropy.” Foundation Center Press Release 3/15/06.

Primary Subject: Philanthropy and Voluntarism
Location(s): Atlanta, California, Cleveland, Georgia, New York, New York City, Ohio, San Francisco, Washington, D.C.

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