The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University is privileged to serve as the executive agent of the McCormick Tribune Foundation's Philanthropy Summits. These Summits further both the Center's mission and the McCormick Tribune Foundation's emphasis on encouraging a free and responsible discussion of issues affecting the nation.

These discussions facilitate balanced discourses on issues of importance to the philanthropic sector. By promoting this dialogue, the McCormick Tribune Foundation's Philanthropy Summit advances our respective activities, as well as those of the participant organizations.

The Fourth Annual Philanthropy Summit
Philanthropy and Organizational Effectiveness
The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University was honored to convene a special summit on philanthropy and organizational effectiveness in 2007. Sponsored by the McCormick Tribune Foundation, the summit was attended by national leaders from philanthropic foundations, nonprofit organizations, academic centers, third-sector infrastructure organizations, corporations and government agencies. The participants discussed frankly the issues and challenges of accountability, assessment, and evaluation, often termed "organizational effectiveness."

A new report, Expecting Too Much? Promising Too Much? Assessing Accountability for Grantmakers and Their Recipients, highlights the discussions and key themes that emerged during the summit. A vital need exists to identify the challenges and strategies for making assessment achieve its promise in improving the practices of nonprofit organizations and ensuring a positive return on investment for grantmakers.

The Third Annual Philanthropy Summit
Philanthropy and Leadership Transition

The Center on Philanthropy has a distinguished history of bringing together influential leaders in the nonprofit sector in order to gain and share new knowledge. The McCormick Tribune Foundation has an outstanding history of hosting discussions among key leaders on important topics of the day and publishing the results to enhance public understanding of such issues. A special 2006 summit on Philanthropy and Leadership Transition emerged from those two traditions.

A vital need exists to identify and foster emerging leaders in the nonprofit sector. If we do this well, those men and women will possess the experience necessary to move their vital missions forward in the 21st century. Convened by the Center and sponsored by the McCormick Tribune Foundation, the 2006 Philanthropy Summit brought current and emerging leaders together in Indianapolis to discuss challenges and suggest strategies for transitioning to the next generation of leadership.

A new report, Passing the Torch, summarizes the key themes and discussions that emerged from the 2006 summit. Please review it and use it to continue this important dialogue in your own organization and community.

The Second Annual Philanthropy Summit
Building Bridges between the Media and the Philanthropic Sector

The Center was honored to participate in the following year with the renowned Cantigny Conference Series. We are grateful for the McCormick Tribune Foundation's sponsorship of the special summit on Philanthropy and the Media convened by The Center on Philanthropy at Indiana University, in cooperation with the Indiana University School of Journalism, on September 12-14, 2005. The resulting gathering served as a catalyst for a healthy debate on the media coverage of philanthropy and nonprofit organizations.

Panel sessions addressed issues such as "Regulation, Self-Regulation and the Media as Watchdog;" "Tensions within the Nonprofit Sector," including dilemmas such as meeting short-term versus long-term needs, who decides when and how needs are met, and whether there are too many nonprofit organizations today; "Complexities and Challenges of Reporting on the Nonprofit Sector," and "What Have We Learned Since September 11 and the Tsunami Relief Efforts?" The 37 participants included roughly equal number of individuals from the media and the nonprofit sector. Media representatives were mostly from the print media, and included both senior executives from major daily newspapers around the country and philanthropy beat reporters from several of the nation's largest and most influential newspapers.

The Inaugural Philanthropy Summit
Identifying Challenges and Opportunities in the Philanthropic Sector

In 2004, the Center was honored to work with the McCormick Tribune Foundation to promote discourse among sector leaders during the first landmark Philanthropy Summit. The Center and Indiana University are also deeply grateful for your Foundation's prior generous support for general operations, research, publications, and retreats.

Compelling issues regarding the state of philanthropy were deliberated by those leading some of our sector's largest foundations, associations, and resource organizations during the first Philanthropy Summit. In attendance were 15 chief executive officers or trustees from large nonprofit organizations and associations, 17 CEOs or board members from large organizations, and 4 faculty members from nonprofit management programs. The session themes included:

• Exploring Mission and the Evolution of Funding in the Nonprofit Sector;
• Implementing Standardization of Terms and Identification of Essential Data;
• Increasing Understanding of the Sector and Supporting Existing Regulation;
• Supporting Ethical Standards, Diversity, Self-Regulation, and Accountability; and,
• Building Mass Support for the Sector through Small Givers and Volunteers.