Advice for Chan and Zuckerberg: Pursue Real Education Innovation
Don’t follow the path of Gates and Broad in getting cozy with government — take risks and seek alternative routes to expanding educational upward mobility.
By Chester Finn Jr.
Contributor
Mutual Funds for Nonprofits Help Donors Diversify Giving
Agora for Good and Bright Funds say their methods of screening and pooling charities can help ordinary donors give like the Gates family.
By Marc Gunther
Contributor
Fatherhood Sparked J.B. Pritzker’s Crusade for Kids
The Hyatt hotel heir, investor, and philanthropist says early-childhood education is the key to the nation’s economic future. He wishes more donors agreed.
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
A Hong Kong Philanthropist With a Vision
Having helped pioneer the “family office” concept in Chinese giving, entrepreneur James Chen sets his sights on helping vision-impaired people in the developing world.
By Megan O’Neil
Contributor
Water Charity Drills Down to Get to Know Real Needs
Well Aware seeks input from residents to ensure its projects make sense for the Kenyan communities they serve.
By NICOLE WALLACE
Features Editor
Donor-Advised Critics Miss the Point About the Value of These Tools
The fast growth of these accounts means more money for charities and has led to misplaced concerns about financial institutions like Fidelity that offer them.
By HOWARD HUSOCK
Contributor
The stunning rise of a young charity founded by a for-profit company comes as total giving to America’s 400 most successful fundraising groups increased by 7 percent.
Charities and Taxpayers Deserve More From Donor-Advised Funds
As the controversial method of giving becomes increasingly common, concerns about the funds become ever more consequential.
By Ray D. Madoff
Contributor
Flush With $51 Billion, Donor-Advised Funds Face Questions About Payouts
As the funds’ collective coffers swell, their rate of grant making has slowed, further fueling criticism that the popular charitable accounts are warehousing dollars that could be doing good.
By Alex Daniels and Drew Lindsay
Donor-Advised Funds Reshape the Philanthropy Landscape
The donation vehicles managed by Philanthropy 400 leader Fidelity Charitable and other sponsors are changing how Americans view giving — and how charities compete.
By Alex Daniels and Drew Lindsay
Fidelity Overtakes United Way as New Charity Champion
For the first time, the sponsor of a donor-advised fund tops the Chronicle’s annual ranking of the 400 U.S. charities that raise the most in private support. Another first: Giving to groups on the list tops $100 billion.
Social Issues Strike a Chord With ACLU Donors
As the group looks to raise nearly $1.3 billion by its 2020 centennial, heightened interest in immigration and incarceration policies is prompting seven-figure gifts that once would have been unthinkable.
By Eden Stiffman
Senior Editor
Rapid Expansion Plans Lift Religious Charity With Youth Focus
Nonprofits like InterVarsity Christian Fellowship that aim to shepherd young adults’ spiritual lives are finding a receptive audience among a notoriously “unchurched” generation.
By Heather Joslyn
Contributor
U. of Oregon Taps Its Scholars to Be Fundraisers
With state spending on higher education down, the institution is asking academic leaders to help cultivate big donors.
By Drew Lindsay
Contributor
How the 2016 Philanthropy 400 Was Compiled
A variety of sources were used to make The Chronicle’s list as comprehensive and accurate as possible.
By Peter Olsen-Phillips
Contributor
Nonprofits That Saw Big Gains in the Philanthropy 400
How the Sierra Club Foundation, Junior Achievement, and other groups made major moves in The Chronicle’s rankings.