The Practice of Philanthropy with author Malcolm MacLeod

This week, we speak with Malcolm MacLeod. Malcolm is a board chair, retired nonprofit CEO, lawyer, and author of the book entitled, “The Practice of Philanthropy: A Guide for Foundation Boards and Staff.” Malcolm's book is the culmination of 19 years of experience spent as the president and CEO of the Johnson Scholarship Foundation. Those 19 years were not all smooth sailing. Malcolm had to learn by trial and error. He wished he had a reference book for leading a nonprofit. Thus, when he retired, he wrote his own.

In this episode, we cover several chapters of the book, including the “Essence of Grantmaking," managing your investment managers, and a foundation's approach to values, mission, strategy, and vision. To end the episode, Malcolm provides great advice for CEOs, “trust is your currency” and to board members, “listen.”

Malcolm’s website: malcolmmacleodauthor.com

Find Malcolm's book on Amazon

Timestamps:

00:00 Introducing Malcolm MacLeod

03:10 The role of the CEO and board

04:35 The reason for writing the book, the transition from for-profit to foundation work

07:00 What do board members/leaders need to know about the "Essence of Grantmaking"?

08:35 What have you found to be solid principles of Foundation investing?

10:55 Control your investing costs

11:20 How do you keep your board informed of investment policy?

13:30 Compare and contrast your view of Governance as a CEO and now as a Board Chair

15:06 Positives and negatives of being CEO and Board Chair

17:45 How do you advise Foundation leaders to approach Values, Mission, Strategy and Vision?

20:50 Discuss your epiphany about the grantmaking process

25:20 How might a board "manage" its investment managers? 

27:35 Closing advice to a CEO 

29:00 Advice for a board member

31:23 Recapping with Read

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