Denver's Daniels Fund Assessed by Philanthropy Watchdog in New Crowdsourcing Website

WASHINGTON, June 25, 2014 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Today, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) unveiled its latest foundation assessment for Philamplify, a new project aimed at bursting the isolation bubble in philanthropy by delivering honest feedback to grantmakers. The new report, assessing Denver's Daniels Fund, is part of the second wave of Philamplify assessments since the project launched in May.

"The Daniels Fund is one of the most important grantmakers in the Rocky Mountain region," said Aaron Dorfman, executive director of NCRP. "Our Philamplify assessment, which has been largely informed by its grantees, peers and other constituents, offer recommendations that we believe will further help boost their impact on the many issues and places that were important to Bill Daniels."

Written by NCRP senior research and policy associate Kevin Laskowski, "Daniels Fund: How Can This Colorado Grantmaker Fuse Donor Vision With Community Needs for Greater Impact" highlights the organization's strengths and contributions to a broad range of issues in Colorado, New Mexico, Utah and Wyoming, including often-neglected areas such as aging, alcoholism and financial responsibility among youth. The report also identifies ways the foundation can further boost its impact, such as soliciting input from the community and funding efforts that seek long-term solutions for its priority issues. The assessment also urges the foundation to align its investment portfolio with its mission, specifically by divesting from alcohol-related companies.

Conducted by top-notch researchers, Philamplify's foundation assessments provide a comprehensive examination of a foundation's grantmaking and operations. The reports incorporate feedback received from the foundation's key stakeholders and offer recommendations designed to maximize foundation effectiveness. Philamplify.org users can comment on and agree or disagree with these recommendations and share stories about how philanthropy has impacted their lives.

Since its launch, Philamplify has been met with approval from those active in the charitable sector, who see it as a potential turning point in the ongoing conversation about transparency and accountability in philanthropy. Buzz Schmidt, founder of GuideStar, a site that aggregates information about all registered nonprofits, is one such supporter.

"The absence of market tensions at both [the internal and external] levels keeps private foundations from performing at the highest level and being the effective resource allocators we need them to be," said Schmidt. "NCRP's new philamplify.org site seeks to help remedy this situation and impose an external market tension."

In addition to The Daniels Fund assessment, NCRP has released reports on the Lumina Foundation for Education in Indianapolis, Robert W. Woodruff Foundation in Atlanta, William Penn Foundation in Philadelphia and The California Endowment in Los Angeles. Additional assessments covering other top-100 U.S. foundations will roll out in the coming months.

To foster transparency, mutual accountability and knowledge sharing, the full report on the Daniels Fund, along with all other Philamplify assessments, is available free of charge on philamplify.org.

To learn more, view this Philamplify video on Daniels Fund or visit philamplify.org.

About NCRP 

Since 1976, NCRP has served as the voice of nonprofits and the communities they serve in philanthropy. Through research and advocacy, NCRP works to ensure that philanthropy contributes in meaningful ways to the creation of a fair, just and equitable world. Visit www.ncrp.org for more information.

For interviews with Kevin Laskowski, Lisa Ranghelli, director of foundation assessment at NCRP, Aaron Dorfman, please contact CJ Frogozo at (310) 570-2622 and [email protected] or Yna Moore at (202) 557-1381 and [email protected].

SOURCE National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy