| Welcome
to this journal of
information about the breadth
and effectiveness of systems
thinking applications. Our
intent is to provide readers
with reflections on what we
are seeing, learning and discovering
as we go about our work. From
time to time we will also comment
on current events from a systemic
perspective.
April 12, 2010
Foundations are challenged more than ever by growing demand, shrinking budgets, and higher expectations for results. Moreover, despite donors' best intentions, their abilities to succeed have often been undermined by surprising and disturbing outcomes - such as food aid that leads to increased starvation over time and homeless shelters that divert resources from ending homelessness.
Bridgeway Partners and Applied Systems Thinking have just completed publication of a two-part article on "Leveraging Grantmaking" in The Foundation Review, the first peer-reviewed journal of philanthropy. Part 1 of the series enables donors - and their recipients - to understand why their well-intentioned efforts to solve social problems often fail, and where to find leverage in a complex system (http://www.bridgewaypartners.com/FR1-print.pdf).
Part 2 enables donors to align their programmatic approaches with how these systems behave and evolve, and it offers a series of questions both donors and grantees must consider to ensure the highest and most sustainable returns on their investments
(http://www.bridgewaypartners.com/FR2color.pdf).
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