Private foundation funding of applied communication research

Communication researchers increasingly have a primed and attentive audience in private foundations. Yet most foundations are quite dissimilar to the types of organizations that we as communication scholars know and understand. Here we discuss private foundation funding for applied communication research, including how funding priorities are set, and how potential grantees may position themselves for foundation funds. In doing so, we focus on five norms that characterize American private foundations and their program staff: (1) social betterment, (2) organizational interdependency, (3) personal commitment, (4) future orientation, and (5) external generalizability. How well you and your proposal match up with these norms will affect your success with private foundations.     

At the Heart of Feminist Transnational Organizing: Exploring Postcolonial Reflexivity in Organizational Practice at World Pulse

This article extends research on transnational feminist networks (TFNs), organizations that bring women together across national borders for collective action. A case study of World Pulse, a TFN with online community members from 190 countries that aims to amplify women's voices globally, reveals the nonprofit organization engages in ongoing reflexive practices to negotiate tensions related to voice. Using the analytical lens of postcolonial reflexivity, two themes of reflexive practices were identified: speaking from within (direct and formal inclusion of members’ voices) and speaking for (staff displaying ethical consciousness around members’ voices). Questions TFNs can ask to promote reflexivity are proposed.     

Private foundation funding of applied communication research

Communication researchers increasingly have a primed and attentive audience in private foundations. Yet most foundations are quite dissimilar to the types of organizations that we as communication scholars know and understand. Here we discuss private foundation funding for applied communication research, including how funding priorities are set, and how potential grantees may position themselves for foundation funds. In doing so, we focus on five norms that characterize American private foundations and their program staff: (1) social betterment, (2) organizational interdependency, (3) personal commitment, (4) future orientation, and (5) external generalizability. How well you and your proposal match up with these norms will affect your success with private foundations.