Governance of impact in foundations is mission-critical and concerns how the board and executive, supported by the foundation staff, make optimal decisions to further their organization’s mission. It is central to creating, implementing, and assessing the foundation’s strategy and deciding how grant-making or operating budgets are spent.

Like any organization (private, public, or social), foundations need clear, compelling strategies as well as a way to continuously improve by determining how well they are doing—are they achieving what they set out to achieve and what could they do better?

In this ground-breaking research, four European foundations - Bertelsmann Stiftung, Daniel and Nina Carasso Foundation, King Baudouin Foundation, and Laudes Foundation - joined forces to provide funding and open their doors so that the Esade Center for Social Impact could conduct a deep dive into how impact is governed in their foundations. They were joined in the sample by Rethink Ireland and Pontis Foundation. The report is an exploration of this under-researched but essential area, reflecting perspectives from the board, executive team, foundation staff, and grantees/partners.

During the event, ECSI will present key insights from the report and discuss them with a panel of some of the study participants. The definition of governance of impact will be reviewed, exploring the hidden and less obvious aspects that underlie it, and a roadmap presented for improving governance of impact supported by case studies from participating foundations.