Optimism Has Long Been Fuel for Philanthropy. It Still Should Be, if It’s the Right Kind
As the Biden administration takes off and vaccinations begin to slow the deadly Covid virus, this could be the moment to wed a conviction that things will get better with a chastened self-examination from those who have already been doing well.
By Benjamin Soskis
Contributor
Covid-19 has exposed infrastructure inequities in everything from broadband to transportation to clean air and water. It’s time we did something about it.
By Katrina Badger, SAMANTHA GRAFF and Ang Hadwin
Philanthropy’s Inauguration March: What the Real Work of Protecting Democracy Demands Now
Not since Watergate has our nation faced such a significant opportunity — or, indeed, an imperative — to remake our system of government. The next few years will be a make-or-break moment that will shape how the American people regard their democracy.
By Joe Goldman
Contributor
We Need to Fix Problematic Charitable Giving Laws. The Biden Administration Can Help.
It’s time to overhaul tax laws that favor wealthy white donors, encourage delayed giving, and fail to prevent nonprofit fraud and abuse.
By Roger Colinvaux
Contributor
Charity Navigator’s New “Impact Score” Tells Us Little About a Nonprofit’s True Value
Attempts to quantify success based primarily on return on financial investment, ignore the complexities of nonprofits’ work and their impact on the communities they serve.
By Liz Dozier and Lisa Pilar Cowan
To Advance Racial Equity, Foundation Boards Need to Take an Active Role
A philanthropist and chief executive explain how they transformed a family philanthropy’s governance system so it helped accelerate a commitment to fighting racism.
By James Canales and BARBARA HOSTETTER
Our Democracy Is Faltering, but We Can’t Rely on Philanthropy to Save It
When private wealth and philanthropy continually come to the rescue, we lose sight of the benefits of a representative democracy in which taxes provide for the common good and elected representatives uphold and respect the democratic process.
By Ellen Friedman
Contributor
Investors Trust the Companies They Support. Here’s How Grant Makers Can Do the Same.
Providing support that helps nonprofits improve their management and finances and removing requirements that divert attention from crucial missions is especially important in the pandemic and social upheaval now challenging nonprofits.
By Andrea Levere and Dan Nissenbaum
Taking Off Blinders: How the Insurrection at the Capitol Changes My Grant-Making Perspective
I had a clever column worked out to open 2021, one that would detail my New Year’s resolutions to be a better grant maker. I had talked with the colleague who illustrates these dispatches for the Chronicle about the most amusing ways to show me as cleareyed and resolute.
By Lisa Pilar Cowan
Contributor
Nonprofit Influences on Trump Deserve Condemnation
The insurrection at the U.S. Capitol this week is a reminder that we can’t allow charitable organizations to become “moral launderers” for anti-democratic policies, writes the head of a nonprofit loan fund.