Press Releases

Ford Foundation Launches Grantcraft

Project will provide resources on effective grant making

New York, N.Y., April 24, 2002 -- The Ford Foundation today announced the launch of GrantCraft, a project designed to promote discussion about strategic and tactical lessons in philanthropy. The recent growth in the number of foundations has triggered increased demand for resources that address how best to do philanthropic work. GrantCraft offers a range of publications and videos about practical issues in grant making. Some of the materials have been used in the Ford Foundation’s orientation program for new grant makers. Others draw on the experiences not only of Ford but also of a wide range of other funders and grantees. “Grantors and grantees have a new opportunity to strengthen the effectiveness of our work by sharing grant making experiences and insights,” said Susan V. Berresford, president of the Ford Foundation. “GrantCraft is meant to encourage these kinds of conversations in the field so we can continue to sharpen our skills.” Current GrantCraft products include guides on such topics as Using Competitions and Requests for Proposals and When Projects Flounder; case studies on specific grant making challenges, such as Programming on a Blank Slate and Inheriting a Portfolio; and videos that capture the experiences and insights of grant makers in the United States and overseas. Some of the videos include discussion guides and all come with transcripts. New guides currently in production range from challenges such as Building New Institutions, Networks & Centers to very specific tools such as Making Endowments and Related Grants. The project will also respond to suggestions for topics. Materials can be viewed, ordered or downloaded from the GrantCraft Web site at http://www.grantcraft.org. “Most grant makers focus on deepening their knowledge of fields they want to support, which makes a lot of sense,” said Jan Jaffe, a senior director at the Ford Foundation and project leader of GrantCraft. “But grant making is also a discipline that requires specific knowledge. Until now, stories and practical information have been shared in workshops or through mentoring, but rarely recorded. GrantCraft publications and videos provide a body of useful wisdom in the voices of foundation professionals and grantees reflecting on the grant making experience.” The project joins other recent efforts to meet the growing need for thoughtful materials on effective philanthropy. The Kauffman, Robert Wood Johnson, Packard, and John F. and James L. Knight Foundations are among the organizations supporting the development of publications on the practice of grant making. The Council on Foundations and the Regional Associations of Grantmakers offer workshops for people new to philanthropy and other specialized sessions on grant making. The Ford Foundation, established in 1936, is a private, nonprofit institution that serves as a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide. Its goals are to strengthen democratic values, reduce poverty and injustice, promote international cooperation, and advance human achievement. A national and international philanthropy, the Foundation maintains headquarters in New York and offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia.

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The Ford Foundation is an independent, nonprofit grant-making organization. For more than half a century it has been a resource for innovative people and institutions worldwide, guided by its goals of strengthening democratic values, reducing poverty and injustice, promoting international cooperation and advancing human achievement. With headquarters in New York, the foundation has offices in Africa, the Middle East, Asia, Latin America, and Russia.