The Missing Piece in How Foundations Can Fight Polarization
It turns out that strengthening local news might be just as important as other remedies.
The leaders of 65 conservative-leaning philanthropy organizations have urged Congress to reject tax proposals intended to speed up distributions from foundations and donor-advised funds.
Airbnb.org Grants $2 Million to Help Refugees Following Repeal of Muslim Travel Ban
Also, the Community Foundation for Greater New Haven has committed $26 million to address the challenges of Covid-19 and racial inequality in Connecticut, and the McKnight Foundation gave $6.5 million through its Midwest Climate and Energy program.
Community Foundations Band Together to Fight Structural Racism
Nine regional grant makers are working together on strategies to combat structural racism in the hope of generating nationwide progress and attracting philanthropic support from wealthy donors and private foundations.
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.
The Nonprofit World Tackles Equity and Racial Justice
The Chronicle has been talking to charities and foundations as they grapple with how to make their organizations more equitable and what role they can play in advancing equity in the larger society.
Starbucks Pours $100 Million Into Community Resilience Fund
Also, the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation gave $72 million to 16 grantees through its Just Futures Initiative, and Netflix granted $25 million to address systemic racism in real-estate development and ownership.
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.
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.
Ga. Senate Runoff Shows Philanthropy’s Power to Mobilize Voters
Political donors poured more than $800 million into the two U.S. Senate races in Georgia. But a coalition of nonprofits with a much smaller budget may have made a huge difference in getting people out to vote in the run-off election, which resulted in a pair of Democratic victories last week.
Amazon Commits $125 Million to Housing Equity Fund
Also, Morgan Stanley gave $100 million to the National Equity Fund to help low-income renters in Atlanta, and First Premier Bank has granted $50 million to endow need-based scholarships for students at universities in South Dakota.
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.
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.
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.
Philanthropy Can’t Replace Our Broken Government — but It Can Help Rebuild It
The Trump administration’s failures during the pandemic have revealed government’s essential role in protecting the public welfare. Philanthropists should work to restore that role, rather than simply stepping in to try to fill the breach.
Foundations That Want to Support Local Journalism Should Take a Close Look at Alt Weeklies
For relatively small investments, philanthropy could help preserve some of the most important local journalism around—and fend off growing rightwing “news” sites.