June 05, 2023 Nonprofit Homeless Response Staff Struggle to Afford Housing. Will Funders Respond? June 05, 2023/ Dawn Wolfe In L.A. and elsewhere, the homeless service sector’s workers are often critically underpaid, and some are at risk of becoming homeless themselves. Part of the problem is funders’ focus on numbers over actual wellbeing.Read More
May 22, 2023 On the Ground with the Ballmer Group, One of LA's Leading Antipoverty Funders May 22, 2023/ Wendy Paris Over the past few years, Steve and Connie Ballmer have continued ramping up their commitments in Los Angeles. We took a deep dive into how a vast tech fortune is being put to use to scale up local economic mobility.Read More
May 18, 2023 Behind the Scenes of MacKenzie Scott’s Open Call — and a New Service that Emulates Her Approach May 18, 2023/ Mike Scutari Registration for Yield Giving’s open call for proposals closed in early May. Cecilia Conrad of Lever for Change, which is running the competition, shares early findings and a new service allowing others to replicate the process.Read More
May 17, 2023 “This is How We're Supposed to Care for Each Other.” Direct Giving Initiative Tackles Poverty in Flint May 17, 2023/ Connie Matthiessen The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation is supporting a plan to provide direct cash payments to expectant mothers and their newborns in Flint, Michigan. Organizers are asking other funders to step up and back the program.Read More
May 17, 2023 How Wall Street Winner Anne Dinning Backs Anti-Poverty Work and More May 17, 2023/ Ade Adeniji This leader at quantitative investment firm D.E. Shaw & Co. has been a big backer of the Robin Hood Foundation, along with public health work and other causes. With a fortune of $900 million, expect more giving to come.Read More
May 16, 2023 Lessons from Across the Pond: How the Living Wage Foundation Is Exporting Its Success to the U.S. May 16, 2023/ Dawn Wolfe This U.K.-based organization has had some success pushing funders to cover living wages for their grantees’ employees — and doing the same for private sector employment. Its new U.S. affiliate is also off to a promising start.Read More
May 16, 2023 Rural-to-Rural Partnerships: Leveling the Playing Field to Secure Federal Funding May 16, 2023/ Jerry Neal Kenney and Kathleen Flanagan, Guest Contributors Rural communities are often at a disadvantage in the race for federal funding. In this guest piece, representatives of two rural philanthropies share how they’ve been collaborating to build that capacity.Read More
May 10, 2023 In Three Decades’ of Efforts to Fund the True Costs of Nonprofits, Where Are the Workers? May 10, 2023/ Dawn Wolfe The sector has long been grappling with the “nonprofit starvation cycle,” in which organizations are never able to cover the full costs of their work. One key component of the problem has received too little attention — labor.Read More
May 09, 2023 The D.C. Power List: The Most Influential Philanthropists Shaping National Policy May 09, 2023/ David Callahan Top philanthropists have become ever more adept at working the levers of power in order to shape federal policy. Here are the living donors who wield the most influence in the nation’s capital.Read More
May 09, 2023 Here are Four Grantmakers Backing Rural Areas in New England and the Mid-Atlantic May 09, 2023/ Martha Ramirez Large parts of New England and the Mid-Atlantic are rural and, despite proximity to large metropolitan areas, tend to receive less philanthropic attention. Here are some place-based funders supporting these areas.Read More
May 08, 2023 Is Excessive Wealth a Disorder? If So, This New Nonprofit Aims to Cure It May 08, 2023/ Dawn Wolfe It’s all there in the name. The Excessive Wealth Disorder Institute, founded last year, is taking on extreme wealth inequality, a problem with deep ramifications for philanthropy. We talked with its new executive director to learn more.Read More
April 25, 2023 What Has Hedge Fund Billionaire David Tepper Been Up to Lately? Here’s a Rundown of His Giving April 25, 2023/ Ade Adeniji David Tepper, founder of Appaloosa Management, is worth $18.5 billion, and has a growing philanthropic footprint that spans New York and New Jersey, South Florida, and the Carolinas. Here are some key causes and grants.Read More
April 20, 2023 Six Organizations Fighting to Improve Nonprofit Pay and Working Conditions April 20, 2023/ Dawn Wolfe Amid burnout and poor retention, there’s a growing push for funders to provide greater support to nonprofit workers. Here’s a handful of organized efforts. Read More
April 20, 2023 How Funders Need to Change to Spark a Revolution in Accessible, Affordable, Inclusive Housing April 20, 2023/ Micaela Connery, Guest Contributor Housing may be the most urgent need for people with disabilities. However, argues guest author Micaela Connery, philanthropy has fallen far behind in addressing that need. She suggests how funders can improve their approach.Read More
April 17, 2023 35 Years Later, What's New With NYC Anti-Poverty Giant Robin Hood? April 17, 2023/ Ade Adeniji Since 1988, the Robin Hood Foundation has channeled Wall Street wealth to Gotham’s needy to the tune of $3 billion. Here’s a peek at the funder’s current outlook as it focuses on relief, recovery and rebuilding after COVID.Read More
April 07, 2023 What the Fall of Silicon Valley Bank Says About Who's Allowed to Take Risks April 07, 2023/ Lynne Hoey, Guest Contributor Guest author Lynne Hoey reflects on the ironies of a system in which people of color seeking resources are told they lack expertise by the same wealth-holders who fail again and again, and get bailed out.Read More
April 06, 2023 How the Ballmers Aim to Build and Diversify the Early Ed Workforce in Washington State April 06, 2023/ Connie Matthiessen The foundation of this billionaire donor couple has made early childhood education a priority, most recently in an effort to strengthen the struggling early educator workforce through a mix of strategies. Read More
April 05, 2023 Is “Tech for Good” Actually Good? A New Framework Seeks to Help Funders Vet Proposals April 05, 2023/ Martha Ramirez Philanthropy is often approached to fund tech that will make the public sector more effective or equitable, but such projects often have unintended outcomes. Ford released a new report to help funders navigate proposals. Read More
March 27, 2023 How Philanthropy Is Pushing for an Age-Friendly New Jersey March 27, 2023/ Wendy Paris The Garden State’s been lagging behind the Empire State on efforts to foster age-inclusive communities. As New Jersey’s population grows older, these funders are looking to change that.Read More
March 22, 2023 MacKenzie Scott's Open Call Is Live. Here's What You Need to Know March 22, 2023/ Philip Rojc Yield Giving teased an open call for applications last year, and now it’s here. Scott’s giving away 250 gifts of $1 million apiece, offering community organizations in the U.S. a chance to “nominate themselves.” Read More