Obituary: Doug Walker, Co-Founder of Social Venture Partners
The Seattle-area tech entrepreneur, conservationist, and philanthropist was found dead Friday after a mountaintop hiking accident, The Seattle Times reports.
Contactless Payments Coming to British Street Fundraising
British charities are set to introduce the technology to street-corner soliciting this year, allowing donors to give with the wave of credit or debit card, The Telegraph writes.
Notable Philanthropy Books of 2015
Larissa MacFarquhar explores what drives extraordinarily generous people, David Rieff explains the limits of technology to do good, and Peter Singer urges donors to look beyond personal passions when they give.
By Megan O’Neil
Contributor
Right Plans Hiatus in Planned Parenthood Funding Fight
A largely symbolic House vote next week to halt federal payments to the women’s health nonprofit will likely be the last on the issue until a Republican moves into the White House, conservative activists tell The New York Times.
Billionaires Weigh Changing Models for Giving Away Wealth
The world’s 1,826 billionaires, many of them relatively newly minted moguls reared in Silicon Valley, are challenging traditional foundation and donation models in ways that could redefine philanthropy, the Financial Times writes.
Prison and Climate Divestment Activists Unite on Campuses
Student activists who have mounted parallel campaigns seeking to redirect their colleges’ investments are increasingly forming alliances to ratchet up pressure on behalf of their causes, reports the Associated Press.
Twin Cities Foundations Part of Influential Civic Effort
The New York Times looks at the Itasca Project, a network of Minneapolis and St. Paul business and philanthropic leaders that over the past dozen years has a played a key behind-the-scenes role in shaping the Twin Cities’ economic agenda.
Literacy Nonprofit Expands With Book Sales and More Goods
First Book, a charity founded 23 years ago in Washington, D.C., to foster early reading among low-income children, has grown into a sophisticated national organization offering discounted as well as donated books and a growing array of supplies for disadvantaged households, The Washington Post writes.
Selecting and Managing a Donor Database
Advice and templates for selecting a vendor, getting buy-in from staff members, and more.
Congressman Seeks More Data on Red Cross Downsizing
A ranking member of the House committee that oversees the American Red Cross is pressing for more information on how layoffs and chapter closures have affected the aid organization’s disaster-response mission, ProPublica reports.
Magazine Looks In-Depth at Ford Foundation’s Transformation
The New Yorker examines how the Ford Foundation shaped its strategic shift to focus exclusively on economic and social inequality as part of a lengthy profile of foundation President Darren Walker.
Arts Giving Is a Low Priority for Data-Driven Millennial Donors
A new generation of donors committed to social causes and sympathetic to the tenets of “effective altruism” could create long-term fundraising problems for cultural nonprofits, according to The Seattle Times.
Opinion: Navigating the Challenges of Nonprofit Branding
A brand strategist writes in Adweek about the paradox nonprofits face in trying to establish a strong brand without appearing profligate or overly commercial.
Israeli Leaders Advance Bill on Nonprofits’ Foreign Funding
A committee of government ministers approved legislation Sunday that would require nonprofits to disclose if they get more than half their funding from other countries, The Wall Street Journal and The Times of Israel report.
Groups Use Digital Means to Preserve Mideast Antiquities
Cultural organizations are harnessing high-tech tools like laser scanning to amass lasting 3D models of ancient sites in Iraq and Syria that could come under threat from Islamic State militants, writes The New York Times.
Reader’s Choice: This Year’s Top Resources
Topping the list are articles to help you measure results, seek grants, and appeal to millennials.