Dear Reader,
Will A.I. help you do your job better — or take it away? How is the Supreme Court’s affirmative-action ruling affecting decisions in foundation board rooms and beyond? How are the 2024 elections likely to influence where philanthropic dollars are going?
Those are among the questions reporters and editors in the Chronicle’s newsroom are asking as they put the finishing touches on a special report we’ll publish in January to showcase the trends ahead.
We have a lot more in store for readers like you, including:
- A new special section debuting in April — one that will focus on the ways philanthropy and nonprofits can stitch together our divided nation. We’ll bring you ideas from top thinkers and profiles of groups that are taking innovative approaches to building bridges. Plus, we’ll examine the unintended ways philanthropy opens fissures in society and how to close the gaps.
- An exclusive new survey taking the pulse of nonprofit CEOs to learn what they see as opportunities, what’s keeping them up at night, and what issues are top of mind for leaders in a fast-moving world.
- Our annual Philanthropy 50 rankings of the donors who give the most, plus the return of our annual America’s Favorite Charities list.
More Voices and Ideas
We’re also continuing to add more regular columnists to our opinion section and making an intensive push to recruit new voices to help spark good-faith debates about nonprofits and philanthropy.
I’m sure you have found new insights in essays from the three columnists we introduced over the past year, as Eboo Patel wrote about the disquieting lack of mentorship for young nonprofit workers and why The Bear should be required viewing for everyone in the nonprofit world; Craig Kennedy urged nonprofits to embrace congressional calls for greater transparency about donors; and Cora Daniels wrote about reparations and philanthropy.
And if you’re like many of our readers, you’re still debating some of the opinion essays that drew the most attention in the past year, such as a call from six leaders for greater philanthropic pluralism that reverberated across philanthropy and a donor who explained why he stopped giving to some longtime beneficiaries. (See excerpts from the responses here.)
We also hear regularly from readers who are putting ideas from the Chronicle to work at their organizations, including Rasheeda Childress’s article about how to shape statements on hot-button events that will prevent donor revolts and Drew Lindsay’s deep dive into shortcomings of the donor pyramid and alternatives that are working better.
Growing Staff, Listening to Readers
In recent months, I’ve been doing a lot to ensure we hear from even more of you — hosting listening sessions in concert with organizations like Independent Sector, Appalachia Funders Network, and the Florida Philanthropic Network. These opportunities to meet with a small group of social-sector executives is enormously helpful to advancing our work, and if you are interested in hosting such a session, I hope you’ll get in touch with me.
As we look ahead to 2024, we’ll do even more. We plan to:
- Hold more than 30 live online events, connecting you to invaluable advice and insights from experts. Among the new offerings I’m especially excited about is a free series on nonprofit leadership. (Here’s where to find an archive of our previous events and watch for sign-up information as we unveil topics and speakers for 2024.)
- Continue and expand our successful partnership with the Associated Press and the Conversation to educate the public about philanthropy. Many Chronicle articles now regularly get global attention from the Associated Press’s members, such as this look at what unfolded in the two decades since Joan Kroc surprised the Salvation Army with a $1.8 billion bequest and why the Brooklyn Community Foundation decided to rebrand itself.
- Select a third round of local journalism fellows who spend a year working closely with our staff to learn how to cover nonprofits and foundations in sophisticated ways that resonate with their audiences, including a look at gender gaps in corporate philanthropy and how failures in local, state, and nonprofit regulation deprived a South Carolina town of resources for the homeless.
We’re able to do so much more because of the outstanding leadership and staff we’ve hired in the past year. By year’s end, we’re expecting our staff size will have grown by 50 percent. We have added five new colleagues focused on augmenting our editorial content, including Ben Gose, a longtime contributor to the Chronicle, who joins our staff in January. (Read his latest story for the Chronicle, on nonprofits led by co-CEOs.)
Behind our staff expansion was the move we made in April to become a standalone nonprofit so we could broaden and deepen our information services and our mission.
Building an independent nonprofit has been exhilarating for our entire staff — especially because we can do so much more to help you excel. Our work has been strengthened by a governing board filled with people who bring a broad range of expertise and perspectives and foundation supporters who have enabled us to become part of a growing movement of nonprofit journalism organizations.
We value your loyal attention to our work, and if you don’t already subscribe, we hope you’ll consider doing so. Subscriptions allow unlimited access to everything we publish — and ensure that our reporters and editors have the resources they need to provide you valuable new information and ideas every day. Sign up here to ensure your 2024 is filled with valuable insights daily.
My colleagues and I want you to know how much we appreciate all you do to bring about meaningful change in the world.
We look forward to doing all we can to serve you well in 2024.
Stacy Palmer, CEO, the Chronicle of Philanthropy