Nurturing Philanthropy
A key objective of the Brainerd Foundation is to grow philanthropy in the Northwest and beyond. Below are some important resources in this area.
- Giving Forum
The Forum is a national, innovative funder collaborative that works to expand, enhance and explain philanthropy. With 28 regional associations, it has the ability to provide tailored resources at the city, state and multi-state level.
- Philanthropic Collaborative
This organization helps individual donors, families, foundations and corporations increase the impact of their giving by designing, implementing and evaluating a wide range of philanthropic programs and grants initiatives.
- Philanthropy Northwest
A professional association of grantmakers who fund throughout the five-state region of Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon and Washington. Services include conferences, professional development workshops, a library on philanthropy, a newsletter and meetings focused on a variety of societal issues. PNW also supports groups of grantmakers who share funding interests (like family foundations, educational funders, environmental funders, etc.).
- Social Venture Partners
A nonprofit, volunteer-driven organization dedicated to addressing critical social issues in King County and inspiring philanthropy and volunteerism among its Partners. Each Partner annually contributes a set amount to a pooled fund which is used to invest in nonprofit organizations working on education, children's and environment issues. In addition to these grants, SVP Partners volunteer significant amounts of time with these organizations. SVP also offers a wide range of workshops and resources to further develop the personal philanthropy of its Partners. SVP recently expanded to seed similar groups in the United States and internationally.
- The Council on Foundations
The Council on Foundations is a national nonprofit membership association of grantmaking foundations and corporations. The Council's mission is to promote responsible and effective philanthropy. Its Web site offers information about services for members as well as general information about grantmaking.
- Washington Women's Foundation
This foundation is committed to educating and expanding the pool of women in philanthropy, to building and strengthening community through individual and pooled investments, and to demonstrating the impacts that result from informed, focused grantmaking.