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In extremely challenging times — which we are inarguably in for those of us in the social justice nonprofit and philanthropic spaces — it is often helpful to look back to draw lessons on how to move forward. As a Black woman leading one of the longest-standing civic...
The Trump administration’s relentless assault on USAID, its attempted freeze of federal funding to U.S. nonprofits, and its stated intentions of hobbling the work of vital nonprofits around the world are only the most recent examples — albeit completely avoidable and...
The Center for Effective Philanthropy’s final report of its three-year study on the impact of MacKenzie Scott’s large, unrestricted gifts is overwhelmingly positive, with one notable exception: executives of other foundations have “mixed perspectives” on Scott’s...
I am still pinching myself from the first gift we received from MacKenzie Scott in December of 2020 — and somehow Undue Medical Debt (formerly RIP Medical Debt) has now received three. What these gifts presented to us was an unprecedented opportunity to approach our...
How can we support civil society to promote positive change – now and in the long term? For many of us working in philanthropy, this is an increasingly crucial question. Locally, nationally, and globally, we aim to partner with and empower people and organizations...
“I was left in awe. I didn’t know what to say except thank you. Our core values were repeated back to us as we were given this gift and investment. I thought, ‘Wow, we can now support the growth of our organization and concentrate on our work, not the fundraising...
This year’s wildfires in Los Angeles didn’t only destroy homes and livelihoods they also revealed the longstanding inequities in disaster response. The workers who are clearing debris, the small business owners struggling to reopen, the laborers who lost their income,...
The speed and intensity of the unprecedented attacks on the nonprofit and public sectors unleashed in the first month of President Trump’s second administration has been staggering. While many of us anticipated disruption, the consequences for communities in the U.S....
In times of increasing uncertainty, from shifting federal priorities to crises like the wildfires devastating Southern California, nonprofit organizations face growing challenges in sustaining their work and responding to the evolving needs of their communities....
The recent Eaton Fire that ravaged parts of Altadena and Pasadena left a trail of physical destruction, but its impact goes far beyond property damage. Even as officials announce that the wildfires in L.A. have at last been fully contained, this disaster threatens to...
This post originally appeared on the author’s Medium page. Read it here and find out more about the Full Frame Initiative here. Anyone who has known me for more than a minute knows I love donkeys so much that I have five of them. Real live donkeys. They’re fabulous....
Philanthropic funding for organizations dedicated to women and girls has consistently remained below two percent of total charitable giving since 2012, the year for which the Women’s Philanthropy Institute (WPI) at the Indiana University Lilly Family School of...
As grantmaking organizations increasingly explore how AI tools can transform the way we work in civil society, the Technology Association of Grantmakers (TAG) recently released results from a global survey of grantmakers in our 2024 State of Philanthropy Tech report....
In philanthropy, it’s often an unquestioned expectation that funders will ask grantees to assess the progress of their own work and to apply what they learn to improve. At Barr, we think it is equally important to ask our grantees to assess how we are doing as a...
We find ourselves at a pivotal moment in philanthropy: The choices we make about emerging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI) right now could have lasting impacts on the communities we serve. At the Annenberg Foundation, we are exploring AI’s potential not...
According to the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s recent report on grantee experiences with intermediary funders, 33 percent of intermediary grantees report receiving multiyear funding, compared to 58 percent of grantees of other traditional funders. I find this...
I came to GreenLight Fund after leading Fresh Lifelines for Youth, a direct service and advocacy nonprofit that works with a variety of philanthropic partners. I’ve been struck by how much GreenLight as an intermediary works to align with grantees to support community...
A new report from CEP looks at the grantee perceptions of “intermediary funders” — which it defines as a variety of “entities that are regrantors of philanthropic dollars.” It asks two main questions: how do grantee experiences with intermediaries differ from those...
The recent settlement reached in the case against the Fearless Fund, which provides grants to businesses led by women of color, should not deter funders from supporting racial and gender equity initiatives. As I recently wrote in TIME Magazine: “Targeted efforts like...
When I was approached by the Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) to serve on the advisory group for a research project on intermediary funders, I was immediately keen to participate. From two decades of first-hand experience, I know how valuable it can be to...