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Arabella Issue Briefs

 

Below are several recent research reports conducted by Arabella Advisors and our network of issue-area experts. We encourage philanthropists to utilize these reports to improve the effectiveness of their charitable giving. Please contact us for hard-copies.

 

 

Supporting Innovation in Education

 

America's public schools continue to struggle, but donor-supported changes are underway across the country. Donors are helping drive programs that leverage new technology to reinvent classroom instruction and monitor student performance. They're increasing focus on science and math and building partnerships to help better prepare kids for the future. They're helping attract and train new educators who can build better schools.


Some are also capitalizing on federal programs that have recently encouraged states to compete for funds to use to innovate and improve. While those funds are only a small part of total education funding, their availability has created a window of opportunity for donors interested in supporting innovation in education. Our issue brief covers challenges, trends and opportunities such donors face.

 

Click here to download a pdf.

 

 

Child Nutrition in the United States

 

The diets children eat impact their health, development, success in school and even future earning potential, so schools and communities spend billions each year trying to ensure that children are properly nourished. Still, the issue of child nutrition – which encompasses both hunger and childhood obesity – remains a critical health problem.


This Issue Brief explores strategies donors can employ to help improve child nutrition in the schools and communities they support. Co-authored by Jasmine N. Hall Ratliff of the Childhood Obesity team at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, it explores successful programs and opportunities for funders at the national, regional and local levels.

 

Click here to download a pdf.

 

 

Investing in Innovative Medical Research

 

Each year, donors invest millions of dollars in organizations fighting diseases. Much of this money goes to support individual disease research and finding ways to help our loved ones and communities. But experts in medical research say not all of it is used effectively. This Issue Brief explores strategies donors can employ to help improve the current medical research process and to support the search for breakthrough treatments and cures. Produced in collaboration with FasterCures – The Center for Accelerating Medical Solutions, the brief explores challenges, successes, opportunities, trends and special considerations for any philanthropist interested in helping to improve medical research.

 

Click here to download a pdf.

 

 

Investing in Nonprofit M&A

 

This brief, produced in collaboration with the Steans Family Foundation, explores nonprofit mergers and alliances (M&A) from a potential donor’s perspective. Recently, nonprofits and their funders have looked increasingly at M&A as a possible means to survive and even thrive despite the economic downturn. Our brief goes inside this trend, exploring successes, challenges, opportunities and special considerations for donors who may be interested in supporting nonprofit M&A.

 

Click here to download a pdf.

 

 

Investing to Re-Balance a Warming World

 

This brief, produced in collaboration with the Global Philanthropy Partnership, offers a current look at climate change, providing donors with background information, trends, challenges and opportunities related to the issue. Evidence of climate change impacts is growing, countries are discussing development of a successor treaty to the Kyoto protocol and the United States is actively debating the issue.

 

Click here to download a pdf.

Click here to learn about our teleconference on this issue.

 

 

Investing in Disaster Response

 

The effects of recent hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes have led to a record level of disaster relief contributions by America’s private philanthropists, while the lasting impacts of these and other natural and human-caused catastrophes point to a need for even greater and more effective support. This Issue Brief surveys new approaches to overcoming challenges facing the disaster response field and provides guidance for individual philanthropists on including effective disaster relief in their giving plans.

 

Click here to download a pdf.

Click here to learn about our teleconference on disaster recovery in Myanmar.

 

 

Investing in Financial Literacy

 

This issue brief takes a look at the broader issue of financial literacy, outlining its context while highlighting opportunities for engagement such as coupling financial literacy with existing program or supporting advocacy to remove some of the structural barriers to wealth many people face.

 

Click here to download a pdf.

Click here to learn about our teleconference on financial education.

 

 

Investing in Effective Communications

 

The ability of most nonprofits to accomplish their missions is directly related to their success at engaging targeted audiences in their work. Whether they seek to secure volunteers, advocate on a particular issue or secure donations, effective communications strategies are critical. As a result, donors can have a tremendous impact on the organizations they care about by giving contributions that help them develop communications skills and capacities. This Issue Brief outlines strategies for helping nonprofits get the tools they need to communicate in today’s complex media environment.

 

Click here to download a pdf.

 

 

Charter Schools

 

Education continues to be one of the top areas of interest to today’s philanthropists and charter schools are increasingly looked upon as effective alternatives to an otherwise struggling public education system. This Issue Brief examines the latest trends in Charter Schools, noting successes and failures, and provides an effective granting guide to interested donors.

 

Click here to download a pdf.

 

 

Diaspora Philanthropy

 

Developing countries are increasingly relying upon their expatriates living in the United States and elsewhere for development support, and these diaspora communities are responding in record numbers. International grantmaking is now one of the highest personal priorities for financially successful immigrant communities. This Issue Brief helps diaspora philanthropists ensure that the support they send back home is legal, timely and effective.

 

Click here to download a pdf.

 

 

Investing in Religion, Education, Health and the Arts

 

Almost two-thirds of all charitable contributions in the U.S. go to religious, education, health and arts organizations. These contributions are often based more on personal relationships than strategic grantmaking principles. Ongoing governance problems at leading charities in these areas have encouraged donors to increase their due diligence before writing checks to their favorite nonprofits. This Issue Brief highlights unexpected challenges faced by nonprofits in each of these areas and steps donors can take to ensure their funds are used effectively.

 

Click here to download a pdf.

 

 

 

 

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