Research Projects

Foundation Support for Nonprofit Capital Needs in Southern California, funded by The Ahmanson Foundation and Weingart Foundation. Principal Investigator: James M. Ferris, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2007.

This study examines foundation support of the capital needs of nonprofits in Southern California, encompassing the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino, Santa Barbara, and Ventura.

Report (PDF)

Health Philanthropy and Foundation Policy Efforts, funded by The California Endowment. Principal Investigator: James M. Ferris, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2006-07.

This project examines the intersection of advocacy, public policy engagement, and systems change to inform foundations interested in such work to understand the underlying models for these approaches to change and the associated benefits, costs, and risks.

Report (PDF)
Highlights (PDF)

California Foundations: 2004, funded by The California Endowment, the James Irvine Foundation, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Principal Investigators: James M. Ferris and Elizabeth Graddy, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2005-06.

This project updates the 1999 baseline analysis of California foundations conducted through 2004. The analysis examines changes in the size and scope of California's foundations, and the scope and reach of their grantmaking across the regions and communities of the state over the past five years.

Report (PDF)
Highlights (PDF)

Philanthropic Activity in California's Central Valley, funded by The James Irvine Foundation. Principal Investigators: James M. Ferris and Elizabeth Graddy, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2002-04.

This project tracks philanthropic activity in California's Central Valley from 1996-2002. It specifically examines foundation grantmaking to nonprofits within the region, and the region's philanthropic capacity of the region, as revealed by the private and community foundations of the Central Valley.

Report (PDF)

Foundations and the Public Policymaking Process, funded by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Principal Investigator: James M. Ferris, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2001-03.

This project examines the roles that foundations can play in influencing public policymaking; the strategies that foundations may choose, either on their own or jointly, and the associated benefits, risks and uncertainties; and the potential consequences for the evolving relationships between philanthropy and government.

Report (PDF)
Highlights (PDF)

Philanthropy and Social Capital in Los Angeles, funded in part by the California Community Foundation (CCF), and The John Randolph Haynes and Dora Haynes Foundation. Principal Investigators: Eleanor Brown, Pomona College, and James M. Ferris, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2001-02.

This project examines patterns of giving and volunteering and the nexus with social capital in Los Angeles, and compares these philanthropic behaviors to other communities within the state and across the nation. It builds on work done in partnership with the CCF to develop a benchmark of social capital in Los Angeles as part of a national effort headed by Robert Putnam, the Aspen Institute, and 33 community foundations throughout the United States.

Report (PDF)
Highlights (PDF)
Social Capital in Los Angeles: Findings from the Social Capital Community Benchmark Survey (PDF)

Intersectoral Strategies for Urban Problem Solving, funded by the USC Urban Initiative. Principal Investigators: James M. Ferris and Elizabeth Graddy, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; John Mutlow, USC School of Architecture; Rino Patti, USC School of Social Work; and Penny Wohlstetter, USC School of Education; 2000-02.

This project identifies intersectoral partnerships and collaborations in education, health, housing, and social services; develops a conceptual framework to explain successful cross-sector ventures; and suggests strategies that increase the capacity of governments, philanthropy, nonprofits, and business to work across the sectors to address complex urban problems.

California Foundations: A Baseline Analysis, funded by The James Irvine Foundation. Principal Investigator: James M. Ferris; Principal Consultants: Marcia Sharp, Millennium Communications Group; Elizabeth Graddy, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2000-02.

This project is developing a baseline analysis of California foundations. The analysis documents the size and scope of California's foundations, and the scope and reach of their grantmaking across the regions and communities of the state.

California Foundations: 2000-2001 Update (PDF)
An Atlas of Foundation Philanthropy in California, 1999 (PDF)
California Foundations: Trends and Patterns (PDF)
California Foundations 1998: A Statistical Profile (PDF)
California Foundations: A Snapshot (PDF)

Healthcare Philanthropy in California: Assessing the Landscape of Health Grantmaking, funded by The California Endowment. Principal Investigators: James M. Ferris and Elizabeth Graddy, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; Principal Consultant, Lucy Bernholz, Blueprint Research & Design; 2000.

This project assesses the size, scope and reach of healthcare philanthropy in California, with particular focus on the impact of the introduction of 20 new healthcare foundations created by nonprofit conversions.

Report (PDF)
Highlights (PDF)

California Community Foundation Research Fund Projects

The California Community Foundation established an endowed fund in December 2002 to provide seed funding on an annual basis for high-quality, publishable research on topics related to philanthropy and the nonprofit sector by USC faculty. Projects initiated to date include:

The Uses of Evaluation by Foundations. Principal Investigator: Howard Greenwald, Ph.D., USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2008-09

This project aims at better understanding how private foundations use the results of their evaluation efforts. This work will also include an assessment by foundation officials of the quality of work now done by evaluators and how best to organize to do evaluation. Several issues related to the impact of evaluation at foundations will be explored, including the role of evaluation in foundation decision making. This work will find application by illustrating how evaluation can yield better value than it currently does.

The Current State of Nonprofit Sector Research: An Analysis of the Leading Journals. Principal Investigators: James M. Ferris, Ph.D., Elizabeth Graddy, Ph.D., USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2008-09

What it the current state of research on philanthropy and nonprofits? This project examines the question by analyzing the work published in the three major academic journals – Nonprofit & Voluntary Sector Quarterly, Nonprofit Management & Leadership, and Voluntas – to assess the knowledge base of the field of nonprofit studies, the extent to which nonprofit studies has developed as a distinct field of study, and the relative influence of different types of publications on the field.

Creating Lifelong Venture Philanthropists: A Study of the Socialization of Social Venture Partners. Principal Investigator: Michael Moody, Ph.D., USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2007-08

This research project will meet the growing need for better understanding of the process of donor education and donor learning by examining the process of “donor socialization” of the “Partners” involved in local affiliates of Social Venture Partners International. The donors active in various SVP affiliates are both engaged and diverse, and SVP is widely acknowledged as an innovator both in the practice of donor education and in a new method of giving.

Community Foundation Development and Social Capital. Principal Investigator: Elizabeth Graddy, Ph.D., USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2006-07.

This project addressed the relationship between the characteristics of community foundations and the social capital dimensions of the communities they serve. Specifically, the project looked at how the incidence, size, gifts, and grant-making behavior of community foundations nationally were affected by measures of the social capital of their communities.

Paper (PDF)

The Construction and Evolution of Venture Philanthropy: Evidence from Proponents and Practitioners. Principal Investigator: Michael Moody, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2006-07.

The study examined donor socialization in Social Venture Partners International (SVPI), a philanthropic organization that is a pioneer both in the practice of donor education and in a new method of giving. The analysis investigated both what Partners learn, and how they learn it; it will identify both the challenges and the impacts of the learning process.

Why Do Nonprofits Merge? Principal Investigators: James M. Ferris and Elizabeth Graddy, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2006-07.

This paper examined the factors that lead nonprofit organizations to merge. A conceptual model was developed that adapts the motivations for mergers in the business sector to the nonprofit context. Three recent cases were then examined in which nonprofits with significant philanthropic dimensions have merged.

Paper (PDF)

Volunteer Behavior among Asian and Hispanic Groups in the US. Principal Investigator: Richard Sundeen, Ph.D., USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2004-07.

This research examined volunteer behavior among three Asian groups (Chinese, Filipino, and Asian Indian) and four Hispanic groups (Mexican, Puerto Rican, Cuban, and Central land South American) in the United States. This study provides new insights into how these factors influence volunteering among Asian and Hispanic Americans. This research has implications for volunteer management as it enables practitioners to better understand, recruit, and engage these group members as volunteers.

Paper (PDF)

Place-based, Collaborative Land Conservation in California: What Roles for Foundations? Principal Investigator: Shui-Yan Tang, Ph.D., USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2003-07

By examining three cases in California, this research seeks to understand the role of foundations in each of the four stages of contemporary land conservation—planning, negotiation, fundraising and title transaction, and long-term management. This study will help to identify the comparative advantages of foundations, vis-à-vis other actors, in advancing land conservation efforts.

Foundations for Los Angeles? An Analysis of the Scale, Scope and Reach of Foundation Philanthropy in Los Angeles County. Principal Investigator: James M. Ferris, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2004-05.

This project uses Foundation Center data on the fiscal dimensions of all foundations that are located in Los Angeles County to enable the creation of an updated and expanded profile of Los Angeles foundations and the mapping - for the first time - of foundation philanthropy within the region.

Report (PDF)
Highlights (PDF)

Philanthropic Strategies for School Reform: An Analysis of Foundation Choice in Education Policy. Principal Investigators: Guilbert C. Hentschke, USC Rossier School of Education, and James M. Ferris, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2004-05.

Building on the Center's Foundations and Public Policymaking project, this study includes a detailed analysis of foundation strategies in impacting K-12 education policy in the U.S, as revealed through in-depth interviews with 20 foundations across the nation that make significant grants in this area.

Paper (PDF)

Strategic Philanthropy, Land Conservation Governance, and the Packard Foundation's Conserving California Landscape Initiative. Principal Investigators: Shui-Yan Tang and F.G. Delfin, Jr., USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2003-04.

This project examines the specific strategies adopted by The David and Lucile Packard Foundation in CCLI and how these strategies fit in with the prevailing land conservation and governance approaches in California.

Paper (PDF)

Community Foundations, Organizational Strategy, and Public Policy. Principal Investigators: Elizabeth A. Graddy and Donald Morgan, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2003-04.

This empirical study of the strategic direction of California community foundations explores how this choice is impacted by organizational and community characteristics. The authors develop a model of the determinants of organizational strategy in community foundations, analyze it based on data collected on community foundations and their communities, and then consider the implications for public policy.

Paper (PDF)

The Construction and Evolution of Venture Philanthropy: Evidence from Proponents and Practitioners. Principal Investigator: Michael Moody, USC School of Policy, Planning, and Development; 2003-04.

This project examines the principles and practices of venture philanthropy, including an assessment of how and why venture philanthropy has developed, spread, and changed over time, as well as how people and organizations learn to become venture philanthropists.

Paper (PDF)