Maryland Congressman and Wife Give $10 Million for Mental-Health Services and Hillel
Plus, MacKenzie Scott strikes again: The billionaire novelist gave nearly $39 million to Junior Achievement USA, her second eight-figure gift in the last two weeks.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
To Mark Black Philanthropy Month, Grant Makers Need to Double Down on Fight for Racial Justice
Even as the headlines have moved on to other crises, donors must recommit to efforts sparked by the 2020 racial reckoning. They must be true partners to Black leaders whose innovative ideas and relentless focus are driving this movement for change.
By Cheryl L. Dorsey
Contributor
Elitist Grant-Making Practices Stand in the Way of Equitable and Effective Public Policy
In the policy world, foundation funds typically flow to think tanks and advocacy groups staffed by people with traditionally impressive education and employment credentials. These practices leave out organizations and leaders from the communities most affected by policy choices — and prevent the development of strong policy.
By Emma Vadehra
Contributor
MacKenzie Scott Gives $55 Million for Affordable Housing Efforts in Los Angeles
Plus, three universities received large donations to support music programs, campus construction, and better understanding of U.S. institutions.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
3 Women Share Lessons From Running Family Foundations
Stacy Schusterman, Regan Pritzker, and Anne Earhart explain whether recent global crises have changed their giving and talk about the power of philanthropy to improve people’s lives.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Philanthropy’s Love of Data Must Extend to Underfunded and Frequently Ignored Indigenous People
Indigenous people are typically reduced to an asterisk in research focused on BIPOC groups. As a result, the needs and aspirations of this population are nearly invisible to grant makers and governments.
By Erik Stegman and Carly Bad Heart Bull
Wendy Schmidt Gives Big to Protect the Ocean and Fight Climate Change
She and her husband, former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, have poured nearly $2.2 billion into their philanthropies since 2019.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Wendy Schmidt’s Advice for Donors
Wendy Schmidt leads her and her husband’s broad network of philanthropies, the largest of which is the $2 billion Schmidt Family Foundation, which they started in 2006.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Financier and Wife Give $25 Million to Work-Force Development Charity
Plus, Ken and Kathryn Chenault give $1 million to help formerly incarcerated people, and three universities and an art museum in Michigan land big gifts.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
The Federal Whiplash on Climate Is a Wake-up Call for Better Grant Making
As the political winds continue to shift on climate change, philanthropy needs to set its sights on organizations that have worked for decades with minimal funding — the environmental justice groups that understand best how to clean up communities and create a healthy planet.
By Ansje Miller
Contributor
Texas A&M Athletics Lands $25 Million From Houston Energy Mogul
Plus, the Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum receives $15 million for arts education, and a science organization, an Urban League, and two universities all got big gifts.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Silicon Valley Real-Estate Mogul and Wife Give UC-Berkeley $30 Million
Plus, three donors give big gifts to support mental-health programs at two universities and at a treatment center.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
A Message to Ford Foundation in Gates Spending Approach: Give More Now
Bill Gates’s $20 billion donation to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the decision to increase its payout rate to charities should be seen as a lesson for trustees of the nation’s second largest philanthropy — the Ford Foundation — about the perils of maintaining the organization forever.
By Howard Husock
Contributor
Philanthropy Leaders Should Stop Bashing the Capitalism That Built Their Organizations
A recent article on foundation efforts to remake capitalism shows why that goal is off the mark, according to a philanthropy scholar.
Prominent Lawyer Gives Oxford $35 Million Gift That Will Also Benefit U. of Pittsburgh
Plus, Vassar College received $10 million from Hollywood producer Jason Blum.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
I Was a Leader of the Anti-Abortion Movement — Until I Engaged With the Other Side
An evangelical minister says he might never have changed his position on abortion if a pro-choice advocate and philanthropist hadn’t been willing to listen to his views and eventually help him understand the flaws in his thinking.