Bill Gates ‘Gamifies’ Philanthropy With Chicken Giveaway
Fast Company explains the billionaire philanthropist’s Coop Dreams project, a partnership with aid charity Heifer International to give breeding chickens to families in Africa that was powered by an online quiz.
Tapping Into Silicon Valley Philanthropy
Delve into how tech donors give and what they want with this collection of Chronicle resources.
More Emails Reach Supporters in 2015
On average, only 7 percent of nonprofit emails were delivered to spam folders in 2015, down from 12 percent the year before, a study finds.
By Eden Stiffman
Senior Editor
Traditional Charities Dip Into Digital to Draw Millennials
Venerable nonprofits like the United Way and the American Red Cross are pivoting to online appeals to win over millennials who are “rewriting the rules of fundraising,” Adweek magazine writes as part of a special report on trends in cause marketing.
Big Medical Charities See Yield From Biotech Investments
Groups like the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and the Wellcome Trust are becoming important sources of capital for fledgling firms working on new drugs and diagnostic tools and are seeing big profits on some investments, Reuters reports.
Opinion: Thiel Backing Hulk Hogan Suit Is not Philanthropy
A Salon culture writer takes issue with tech billionaire Peter Thiel’s assertion that his bankrolling of the pro wrestler’s sex-tape lawsuit against Gawker Media is “one of my greater philanthropic things that I’ve done” and likens the view to a self-interested strain of Silicon Valley giving.
Drug Firm Pledges $100 Million to Back Youth Science Contest
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals made a 10-year commitment to support the Science Talent Search and significantly boosted prize money for the long-running scholastic math and science competition, reports The New York Times.
Cash Giving to Poor Gains Ground but Fuels Backlash
New Republic magazine looks at the rising popularity of direct, unrestricted cash transfers to poor people and the pushback against the aid method among traditional relief agencies.
Gates Foundation CEO Marks Anniversary With Media Blitz
Sue Desmond-Hellmann, chief executive of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, spoke to The Wall Street Journal, The Seattle Times, and other media outlets about the group’s health programs and what she sees as biggest challenges facing the world’s largest philanthropy.
22% of Americans Say They’ve Donated to Crowdfunding Campaigns
Women are more likely to give to such online drives, and to start them, says a Pew Research Center study.
By Eden Stiffman
Senior Editor
Facebook Arm’s Program Promotes Virtual Reality for a Cause
The VR for Good effort by Facebook-owned virtual-reality company Oculus is aimed in part at helping nonprofits showcase their social missions using 360-degree video technology, reports USA Today.
Gates Fund Commits $80 Million to Close Gender ‘Data Gap’
Announcing the three-year funding program Tuesday at the Women Deliver conference in Copenhagen, Melinda Gates aligned the data effort with the United Nations goal to achieve gender equality worldwide by 2030, reports bdnews24.com, a Bangladeshi news website.
Sacramento Giving Day Beats Record Despite Tech Meltdown
With extended hours, the California capital’s Big Day of Giving overcame the web failure that crippled online-fundraising events nationwide earlier this month to collect a record $7.1 million, reports The Sacramento Bee.
Simons Fund Gives $40 Million to Study Origins of Universe
The foundation led by mathematician, hedge-fund billionaire, and science donor James Simons is funding a telescope to search for signs of gravitational waves physicists believe may hold clues to the beginnings of space and time, Scientific American writes.
Powell Jobs Heads Magazine’s List of Philanthropy Leaders
Town & Country named its top 50 philanthropists of 2016, citing celebrities, tech moguls, nonprofit leaders, and others the wealth and lifestyle magazine says “are using money, influence, and family name to change the game in big ways.”
Gates Foundation Funds Polio Vaccine in Eradication Effort
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation pledged $38 million to Japan-based Takeda Pharmaceuticals to develop a low-cost polio vaccine, Reuters reports.