Donors Leery of Supporting Grassroots Organizing Need to Rethink How They Approach Such Work
The perceived messy work of building movements often scares away grant makers, but these efforts are critical to creating equitable societies. Donors need to adopt new practices and strategies to measure and support them.
By Ben Naimark-Rowse
Contributor
Disaster Relief Efforts Must Include Support for Lawyers on the Ground
A strong legal infrastructure is needed to ensure a just and fair response for residents in the aftermath of a disaster, argues public interest lawyer.
Seeking to Boost Grants to Groups Led by People of Color, New Research Effort Gets Under Way
The goal is to create a straightforward, accessible survey so nonprofits would no longer have to provide specialized diversity information for each of their donors. It would also make it easier to measure how much money is going to minority-led groups.
By Glenn Gamboa
AP Business Writer
How to Advance Racial Equity: One Foundation Shares Lessons
The staff and board of the James Irvine Foundation participated in 18 months of training to embed racial equity into their programs, operations, and grant making.
By Charles Sidney Fields
Contributor
With community organizing and savvy advocacy, grassroots nonprofits in Birmingham, Ala., Oakland, Calif., and other cities are gaining recognition and financing for the community-based programs to reduce shootings. See more from the Chronicle's coverage of nonprofit efforts to deter gun violence, part of a collaboration with the Associated Press.
By Sono Motoyama
Contributor
A Fundraiser Rallies Donors to Loan Paintings for a Special Exhibit of Black Art at Cedars-Sinai
The exhibit was sparked by a call from a donor to a fundraiser to discuss leaving pieces by Black artists so the art would reflect more of the hospital’s patients.
By Rasheeda Childress
Senior Editor, Fundraising
A Family Fund’s Response to the Racial Reckoning: Give All Its Assets to One Black-Focused Nonprofit
A Baltimore foundation gave nearly all of its $1 million in assets to resuscitate a nonprofit newspaper. Its goal: to put the money in the hands of a Black-led charity and counter the idea it’s enough just to give to racial-equity organizations
By Alex Daniels
Senior Editor, Foundations
Called “hostile” by her board, Anne Price left as CEO after nearly doubling the budget and boosting the reserves from $69,000 to $600,000.
By Jim Rendon
Executive Editor
4 Proven Ways to Advance Racial Equity
A nonprofit that works to advance equity identified four core commitments that are critical to furthering racial equity. Here’s how one nonprofit adopted them — and how you can, too.
Fundraisers Question How Much Progress Has Been Made on DEI
In a Chronicle survey, 30 percent of respondents were somewhat or very dissatisfied with their organization’s diversity.
By Rasheeda Childress
Senior Editor, Fundraising
Author Heather McGhee Talks About Racial Inequality and Giving
The author of “The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together” discusses how racial inequality cuts across the issues that donors care about.
Philanthropy Pours More Money Into Advancing Economic Wealth of Latinos
Community foundations and other grant makers saw during Covid and the racial reckoning that Latinos were often failing to get a share of government or banking aid to build their businesses. Now they are trying to turn things around.
By Kay Dervishi
Contributor
A new study by the Council on Foundations finds that grant makers are boosting benefits to make up for lack of pay raises. Meanwhile, the boards of foundations aren’t keeping up with strides in race and gender diversity of staff.
By Alex Daniels
Senior Editor, Foundations
When grant makers turned down the author’s request 20 years ago to fund his fledgling organization, he quickly attributed it to institutionalized racism. His mentors’ response: Don’t you dare blame outside forces for preventing you from succeeding. Instead, refine your work and build something better.
By Eboo Patel
Contributor
W.K. Kellogg Foundation Awards $80 Million in Bold Plan to Curb Racism by 2030
More than 1,400 applicants were narrowed down to 10, which were each awarded $1 million to hire staff members and consultants and take other steps to refine their ideas without straining their current operations.
By Sara Herschander
Contributor
Major Federal Funding to Close the Digital Divide Won’t Succeed Without Philanthropic Support
Digital inequity touches nearly every issue grant makers care about. Yet connecting marginalize people has remained an elusive goal for decades. New government investments totaling $42 billion have the potential to finally change that picture but will require targeted donor dollars to reach their potential.
By Lynette Bell and Larry Irving