1: Foundations: what they do and how they do it
The third great force: America's civic sector
Why they give
The foundation's mission: the highest use of philanthropic capital
Foundation strategy in principle
Foundation strategy in practice
2: Achieving impact: leadership, focus, alignment, and measurement
High-impact initiatives: twelve case studies
3: What ails the foundations: transparency and accountability
Steps to achieve high impact: a commonsense approach to strategy
Characteristics of high-impact programs: leaderships, focus, alignment, and measurement
How foundations fail
Three essentials: discipline, boundaries, and persistence
Should foundations be permitted to exist in perpetuity?
Enhancing foundation effectiveness: some not-so-modest proposals
A prophetic epilogue: philanthropy in the twenty-first century.