Grand Valley provides first peer-reviewed journal of philanthropy

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The W.K. Kellogg Foundation of Battle Creek has awarded a grant to Grand Valley State University for the development of a peer-reviewed journal devoted specifically to philanthropy. The $183,000 grant will help establish The Foundation Review , to be published by Grand Valley’s Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy and Nonprofit Leadership.

The Foundation Review will be the first and only peer-reviewed journal of philanthropy. The idea for the journal came from Teri Behrens, a loaned executive at the Johnson Center and former director of evaluation at the Kellogg Foundation, who will serve as editor-in-chief.

“Currently, there are no on-going mechanisms for foundations to share what they are learning about their work,” said Behrens. “The Foundation Review will be a way to build the knowledge base for philanthropy. There is now a demand from our constituents and from foundations for greater transparency, to make it clear what foundations are doing, why they are doing it, and what they are accomplishing.”

The Foundation Review will be a quarterly journal where philanthropy professionals, and those who work with them to implement and evaluate programs, can submit and share information about what has worked well, and just as importantly, what hasn’t worked, said Behrens.

“The journal will make the Johnson Center the headquarters for thoughtful foundation leaders in the country,” said Joel Orosz, distinguished professor of philanthropy at Grand Valley. “The Foundation Review will be the place to go if you are serious about making your foundation and philanthropy better. The Kellogg grant will allow us to do primary promotion and get the first issue published. We will seek start-up support from other foundations and will begin selling subscriptions and advertising with the goal of being self-supporting in two to three years.”

The first issue will be out in December. For more information or to request a free issue, visit www.foundationreview.org .

BACKGROUND:
Grand Valley’s Johnson Center for Philanthropy is a nonprofit academic center whose mission is to improve communities by the application of knowledge, which unleashes the power of nonprofits, foundations and individuals. For more information, visit www.johnsoncenter.org .

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation was established in 1930. The organization supports children, families and communities as they strengthen and create conditions that propel vulnerable children to achieve success as individuals and as contributors to the larger community and society. Grants are concentrated in the United States, Latin America and the Caribbean, and the southern African countries of Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mozambique, South Africa, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. For more information, visit www.wkkf.org .

For more information, contact Teri Behrens at (734) 646-2874 or the Johnson Center for Philanthropy at (616) 331-7585.