Foundations, History, and Strategy

This project studies how large grantmaking organizations and philanthropic foundations decide what initiatives to create and implement, exploring how historical practices, organizational capacity, leadership agency, and broader environmental factors shape these decisions. My research reveals the complex, negotiated internal processes foundations use to design strategies and adapt to changing contexts.

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A central aim of this research is to develop a clear understanding of how philanthropic innovations are adopted and diffused across the sector. I reframe foundations not simply as funders of innovation but as adopters whose decisions and relationships influence sector-wide change. Historical cases—such as efforts to promote program-related investments (PRIs) in the 1970s—shed light on persistent barriers and opportunities for innovation diffusion.

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Another core focus is how nonprofit organizations and fundraisers strategically leverage organizational history in fundraising narratives and internal decision-making. Drawing on interdisciplinary approaches from history and social science, this work examines how constructed historical narratives build legitimacy, foster identity, and mobilize resources.

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Project Goals:

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1. Map the decision-making process involved in creating and implementing new initiatives within large grantmaking organizations.

2. Identify and analyze intra-organizational and environmental forces that influence these decision-making processes.

3. Describe the methodologies and processes foundations use to develop new grant-making strategies, initiatives, and programs.

4. Examine how historical practices and past decisions serve as foundations for current strategic changes and program development.

5. Explore how past practices and decisions are differently interpreted and applied within the complex, negotiated internal decision-making of foundations.

6. Investigate how nonprofit leaders strategically use historical narratives for various organizational purposes.

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Key Questions:

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• How does a large grantmaking organization decide to create and implement new initiatives?

• What intra-organizational and environmental forces shape this decision-making?

• How are new strategies, initiatives, and programs developed in philanthropic foundations?

• How do past practices support current decisions about strategic change?

• How are past practices differently interpreted and applied during internal negotiations?

• How do nonprofit organizations and leaders use narratives of the past strategically?

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Together, these questions and goals guide a comprehensive exploration of the dynamic processes that shape philanthropic strategy, innovation adoption, and the strategic use of history, with the long-term aim of helping foundations build greater capacity for meaningful, sustainable impact.