In W. Michigan, Giving Shapes 2 Cities in Different Ways
Generous local benefactors have had a major impact on social, political, and cultural life in Kalamazoo and Grand Rapids in ways that reflect widely varied approaches to civic philanthropy, MLive writes.
ACLU Shifts Gears in Campaign to Cut Jail Population
The American Civil Liberties Union is retooling an ambitious, donor-funded effort to reduce incarceration across the country, shifting its emphasis from the ballot box to the courtroom, reports BuzzFeed News.
Black Lives Matter Groups Push Grant Makers to Step Outside Their Comfort Zones
Foundations should back efforts to create “deep, systemic, and structural change” rather than supporting programs that just tweak existing power structures, says one leader of the racial-justice movement.
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor
Grants Roundup: Joyce Awards Back Great Lakes Ecology and Gun-Safety Work
Also, the Fund II Foundation commits $48 million over five years to the United Negro College Fund to support STEM scholarships.
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor
Donors Who Want Social Change Should Do More to Fix Democracy
Far less than 1 percent of all grants go to groups working to reduce the influence of money in politics and preserve the integrity of self-government.
By David Rockefeller Jr.
Contributor
Foundations Ask Public for Messages of Hope in Major Newspaper Buy
Presidents of the grant-making organizations want to counteract the “feelings of sorrow and discord” resulting from recent killings of both unarmed African-American citizens and police officers.
By Alex Daniels
Contributor
After the Conventions, Time for Foundations to Focus on Change
Whatever the election results, the country could be facing political gridlock for years — so it’s up to philanthropy to push for solutions to the nation’s problems.
By Vince Stehle
Contributor
Combined Endowment and Planned-Giving Campaign Is a Hit With Donors
The Minneapolis Foundation’s Pay It Forward Forever Fund, which will not be used for 50 years, asks supporters to consider what the fund might have accomplished if it had existed during previous half-century spans.
By Heather Joslyn
Contributor
Grants Roundup: $5.3 Million for Equity in Bay Area, $1 Million for National Park Trails
Also, the New York Women’s Foundation awards $2.9 million for projects to boost the economic security of women and families.
By Rebecca Koenig
Contributor
It’s Time for a Strategy on Rural Philanthropy, Not Just Shaming
Climate change, inequality, jobs, and many other issues foundations care about require more attention outside the cities where so many grant makers focus their work.
By BRUCE KARMAZIN
Contributor
Giving Up Only Slightly in First Half of 2016, Report Says
The forecast for fundraising in the second half of the year calls for scaling back expectations, according to Atlas of Giving.
By Timothy Sandoval
Contributor
Detroit Museum Launches Push to Acquire African-American Art
The Detroit Institute of Arts kicked off a three-year, multimillion-dollar program to acquire and spotlight works by black artists, reflecting the new director’s focus on diversifying the museum’s offerings, writes the Detroit Free Press.
Elton John’s $10 Million LGBT Fund Makes 1st Grants
Groups taking on AIDS in sub-Saharan Africa and the Caribbean are the inaugural beneficiaries of a $10 million fund established last year by the singer and activist to fight discrimination and violence against lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people, the Thomson Reuters Foundation reports.
Correction: Funding for Nonprofit’s Google ‘Transparency’ Campaign
An official with the Campaign for Accountability, which has issued highly critical reports on Google’s ties to federal agencies and influence on internet-privacy policy, told SiliconBeat that the campaign is not a project of a fund that has received significant financial support from the Gates and Hewlett foundations, as the tech-news site had previously reported.
Lottery Winners Pour Millions Into Nonprofits and Make Diversity a Priority
Marvin and Mae Acosta, who pledged some of their $328 million in Powerball winnings to charity, may want to give Alcario and Carmen Castellano a call for advice. They hit the jackpot 15 years ago, and dozens of San Jose area charities ended up as winners, too.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
How Philanthropy Can Show That Black Lives Matter
Foundations could reduce the heartbreaking violence of recent weeks by helping cash-strapped cities so there’s no reason for them to ask cops to raise revenue by targeting people of color for fine- and fee-producing minor offenses.
By AMY SCHILLER
Contributor