News

In 2008, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund launched a foundation-wide project to assess and improve diversity within its operations and grantmaking. The 2012 Diversity Project update summarizes the Fund’s progress in collecting and analyzing data on human resources, operations, grantmaking, public programs, and conference activities. This report also provides a brief update on board diversity, which was previously examined by staff in 2010.

Gail Fuller, director of communications, highlights the importance of the 990-PF in helping to tell a foundation's story on Philanthropy New York's blog. More than just an annual information return filed with the IRS, Fuller discusses how the wealth of data can be repurposed to increase a foundation's transparency and enhance its storytelling.

As Egypt undergoes a historic and swift transformation, there is a need for flexible, targeted, and immediate philanthropic support, says Stephen Heintz, president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. In recent months, the RBF has been exploring the most effective ways to offer its support to Egyptian-led initiatives that take into account both the immediate and longer term needs of Egyptian civil society.

The Communications Network has launched a new interview series about foundation communications. In the first installment of "A Quick Word With...," Gail Fuller discusses her role as director of communications at the Rockefeller Brothers Fund. The Q&A is meant to provide an inside look at the responsibilities and inspirations of communications professionals in philanthropy.

The 2010 Audited Financial Statement presents the financial position of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund as of December 31, 2010 and 2009.

In an opinion piece published in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Paul Connolly advises that the best grantmakers must achieve balance between passion and rationality in order to make the biggest impact through giving.

RBF President Stephen Heintz is among the honorees of this year's NonProfit Times Power & Influence Top 50. Recognized for encouraging others in the nonprofit field to be risk-takers, and noting that limited grant dollars should be triggering big impacts, this is the third consecutive year Heintz has been named to the list.

How do you define affected communities when, arguably, an entire country or even all of human kind will benefit? To answer this question, the RBF is piloting a project to gather data on diversity, equity, and inclusion in our grantmaking. This follows on the our foundation-wide effort to assess and improve diversity and inclusion in its operations and grantmaking.

RBF President and chair of the Center for Effective Philanthropy's (CEP) board Stephen Heintz, moderated a conversation with Michael J. Fox and Debi Brooks at the CEP's 2011 conference in Boston in May. Fox and Brooks, cofounders of the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research discussed the intricacies of establishing their foundation in 2000, and centering their mission around addressing the urgency of Parkinson's research.

In an opinion piece published in The Chronicle of Philanthropy, D5 Coalition co-chairs Stephen Heintz, president of the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, Robert Ross, president and CEO of The California Endowment, and Sterling Spiern, president and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, are calling on foundations to make changes in their operations and grantmaking by doing more to promote diversity, equity, and inclusion.