Community foundations bring together the resources of individuals, families, and businesses to support effective nonprofits in their communities. Over the years, foundations have come to engage community problem-solving through more than just grant-making. They have added a rich array of other activities, including programs of community capacity building, active modes of advocacy, and centres for meeting. In 2011, the 700+ institutions in the United States gave an estimated $4.2 billion to a variety of nonprofit activities in fields that included the arts and education, health and human services, the environment, and disaster relief. The origins of this book stem from conversations among the leadership of community foundations about the challenges they must overcome in order to make such "foundational" contributions to their communities. As community foundations enter the second century of their existence (the first foundation was formed in Cleveland in 1914), the need for knowledge and best practices has never been greater. This book, with expert authors representing the best and the brightest in this important field, fills that need.

Community foundations bring together the resources of individuals, families, and businesses to support effective nonprofits in their communities. Over the years, foundations have come to engage community problem-solving through more than just grant-making. They have added a rich array of other activities, including programs of community capacity building, active modes of advocacy, and centres for meeting. In 2011, the 700+ institutions in the United States gave an estimated $4.2 billion to a variety of nonprofit activities in fields that included the arts and education, health and human services, the environment, and disaster relief. The origins of this book stem from conversations among the leadership of community foundations about the challenges they must overcome in order to make such "foundational" contributions to their communities. As community foundations enter the second century of their existence (the first foundation was formed in Cleveland in 1914), the need for knowledge and best practices has never been greater. This book, with expert authors representing the best and the brightest in this important field, fills that need.

Philanthropy – the use of private resources for public purposes – is undergoing a transformation, both in practice and as an emerging field of study. Expectations of what philanthropy can achieve have risen significantly in recent years, reflecting a substantial, but uneven, increase in global wealth and the rolling back of state services in anticipation that philanthropy will fill the void. In addition to this, experiments with entrepreneurial and venture philanthropy are producing novel intersections of the public, non-profit and private spheres, accompanied by new kinds of partnerships and hybrid organisational forms. The Routledge Companion to Philanthropy examines these changes and other challenges that philanthropists and philanthropic organisations face. With contributions from an international team of leading contemporary thinkers on philanthropy, this Companion provides an introduction to, and critical exploration of, philanthropy; discussing current theories, research and the diverse professional practices within the field from a variety of disciplinary perspectives. The Routledge Companion to Philanthropy is a rich and valuable resource for students, researchers, practitioners and policymakers working in or interested in philanthropy.

Community within the church today is hemorrhaging. Attention spans are dwindling, noise levels are increasing, and we can't seem to find time for real relationships. The answer to such social fragmentation can be found in small groups, and yet the majority of small groups—at least in the traditional sense—are often not the intentional, transformational community we really want and need. Somehow we need to get our groups off life support and into authentic community. Pastor Brad House helps us to re-imagine what gospel-centered community looks like and shares from his experience leading and reproducing healthy small groups. With wisdom and candor, House challenges us to think carefully about our own groups and to take steps toward cultivating communities that are able to glorify Jesus, bless one another, and participate in the mission of God.

Something new and important is afoot. Nonprofit and philanthropic organizations are under increasing pressure to do more and to do better to increase and improve productivity with fewer resources. Social entrepreneurs, community-minded leaders, nonprofit organizations, and philanthropists now recognize that to achieve greater impact they must adopt a network-centric approach to solving difficult problems. Building networks of like-minded organizations and people offers them a way to weave together and create strong alliances that get better leverage, performance, and results than any single organization is able to do. While the advantages of such networks are clear, there are few resources that offer easily understandable, field-tested information on how to form and manage social-impact networks. Drawn from the authors’ deep experience with more than thirty successful network projects, Connecting to Change the World provides the frameworks, practical advice, case studies, and expert knowledge needed to build better performing networks. Readers will gain greater confidence and ability to anticipate challenges and opportunities. Easily understandable and full of actionable advice, Connecting to Change the World is an informative guide to creating collaborative solutions to tackle the most difficult challenges society faces.

What are the grand dynamics that drive the accumulation and distribution of capital? Questions about the long-term evolution of inequality, the concentration of wealth, and the prospects for economic growth lie at the heart of political economy. But satisfactory answers have been hard to find for lack of adequate data and clear guiding theories. In this work the author analyzes a unique collection of data from twenty countries, ranging as far back as the eighteenth century, to uncover key economic and social patterns. His findings transform debate and set the agenda for the next generation of thought about wealth and inequality. He shows that modern economic growth and the diffusion of knowledge have allowed us to avoid inequalities on the apocalyptic scale predicted by Karl Marx. But we have not modified the deep structures of capital and inequality as much as we thought in the optimistic decades following World War II. The main driver of inequality--the tendency of returns on capital to exceed the rate of economic growth--today threatens to generate extreme inequalities that stir discontent and undermine democratic values if political action is not taken. But economic trends are not acts of God. Political action has curbed dangerous inequalities in the past, the author says, and may do so again. This original work reorients our understanding of economic history and confronts us with sobering lessons for today.

Strengthen programs of family and community engagement to promote equity and increase student success! When schools, families, and communities collaborate and share responsibility for students′ education, more students succeed in school. Based on 30 years of research and fieldwork, the fourth edition of the bestseller School, Family, and Community Partnerships: Your Handbook for Action, presents tools and guidelines to help develop more effective and more equitable programs of family and community engagement. Written by a team of well-known experts, it provides a theory and framework of six types of involvement for action; up-to-date research on school, family, and community collaboration; and new materials for professional development and on-going technical assistance. Readers also will find: Examples of best practices on the six types of involvement from preschools, and elementary, middle, and high schools Checklists, templates, and evaluations to plan goal-linked partnership programs and assess progress CD-ROM with slides and notes for two presentations: A new awareness session to orient colleagues on the major components of a research-based partnership program, and a full One-Day Team Training Workshop to prepare school teams to develop their partnership programs. As a foundational text, this handbook demonstrates a proven approach to implement and sustain inclusive, goal-linked programs of partnership. It shows how a good partnership program is an essential component of good school organization and school improvement for student success. This book will help every district and all schools strengthen and continually improve their programs of family and community engagement.