Donor control in nonprofit funding can shape far more than a grant. It can influence what nonprofits pursue, how they operate, and even what community needs get addressed! Stupski Foundation CEO Glen Galaich joined us for a candid examination of why big giving can fall short and what nonprofit leaders can do about it.
Glen is the author of ‘CONTROL: Why Big Giving Falls Short’ and CEO of the Stupski Foundation, which is spending down its assets and plans to return all its resources to communities by the end of 2029. That experience has caused him to question some of philanthropy’s most entrenched assumptions: Who gets to make decisions? Why should foundations exist forever? And why does so much charitable capital remain invested instead of moving into communities?
The numbers make the conversation hard to ignore. Glen points to roughly $2 trillion in foundation assets and discusses projections that charitable accounts could grow dramatically over the coming decades. He also notes that while annual American philanthropy may exceed $600 billion, foundations represent only a portion of that giving, yet their large grants give them enormous influence over nonprofit behavior!
For nonprofit leaders and fundraisers, Glen’s strongest advice may also be the most uncomfortable: “We need to see service and advocacy organizations asking for what they need to do their job, not what they need to get the grant.”
Instead of shaping the mission around a funder’s predetermined boundaries, he argues that nonprofits should communicate the real cost and scale of community need and challenge donors to respond accordingly.
The conversation gets even sharper when Glen examines the traditional 5% foundation payout mindset. A $100 million grant can sound extraordinary, he says, while still representing a relatively modest deployment of a multibillion-dollar foundation’s resources.
Key Takeaways:
Fundraising strategy should begin with what the mission requires, not what appears easiest to get funded.
Foundation priorities and community priorities are not automatically the same.
Approximately $2 trillion in philanthropic assets raises serious questions about capital deployment and charitable purpose.
The assumption that a foundation must operate in perpetuity deserves examination.
Strong funder relationships can give nonprofit leaders room to communicate needs more candidly.
Large grant announcements should be evaluated relative to the funder’s total available resources—not merely the headline dollar amount.