February 2023
Things We’re Loving This Month
The Center for Effective Philanthropy’s (CEP) recent examination of MacKenzie Scott grantees, along with complementary research by Panorama Global proves what nonprofits have been saying for years - unrestricted gifts make a difference. For grantmakers looking to move into this direction (please!) check out Funding for Real Change for a spectrum of practices and resources that vary in flexibility: starting with increasing indirect cost coverage all the way to multi-year flexible funding.
Nonprofit Registry Launches New Dot-Giving Domain to Help Charities Raise Money
Charities can now register websites under a new digital domain: dot-giving. The Public Interest Registry — the nonprofit that operates the popular dot-org domain — created the new domain with the goal of making dot-giving a home for online fundraising.
Dead billionaires whose foundations are thriving today can thank Henry VIII and Elizabeth I
For my fellow philanthropy history nerds - “Industrial titans like oil baron John D. Rockefeller, automotive entrepreneur Henry Ford and steel magnate Andrew Carnegie established massive foundations that to this day have big pots of money at their disposal despite decades of charitable grantmaking. This kind of control over funds after death is usually illegal because of a you-can’t-take-it-with-you legal doctrine that originated 500 years ago in England. Known as the Rule Against Perpetuities, it holds that control over property must cease within 21 years of a death. But there is a loophole in that rule for money given to charities, which theoretically can flow forever.” (The Conversation)
Nonprofit pickup lines you can use this Valentine’s Day (and year-round)
This month, the NonprofitAF Blog has consolidated a list of nonprofit-themed pickup lines for this year’s Valentine’s Day. You can follow along using the Twitter hashtag #NonprofitPickupLines.
Articles and News
Who decides what is effective in Effective Altruism?
Effective Altruism, or EA, continues to be a big topic in the Philanthrosphere, and this article by Margaux Day touches on some of what has always made me an EA skeptic. “Everything from EA’s philosophical underpinnings to the causes it supports have been questioned following the loss of the movement’s most significant donor. Instead of asking whether to condemn or support the movement, however, the more crucial question is one that applies far beyond EA: who defines what effective giving is in the first place?” (Alliance Magazine) See also:
Effective Altruism Has a Sexual Harassment Problem, Women Say
“The women allege EA itself is partly to blame. They say that effective altruism’s overwhelming maleness, its professional incestuousness, its subculture of polyamory and its overlap with tech-bro dominated “rationalist” groups have combined to create an environment in which sexual misconduct can be tolerated, excused, or rationalized away. Several described EA as having a “cult-like” dynamic.” (Time)
Donor-Advised Fund Numbers Still Obscure Who’s Giving and How Much
Dan Petegorsky writes about how DAF data reported by the National Philanthropic Trust includes hundreds of thousands of workplace giving accounts that are administered as donor-advised funds by American Online Giving Foundation (AOGF), and argues these small workplace giving accounts are diluting data reflecting the average size of DAF accounts, presenting a more optimistic picture of DAF payout rates than accurate. (Inequality.org) For more, see Dan’s other article How the DAF Industry Controls the Data and Attempts to Control the Narrative in Inside Philanthropy.
Nonprofits Boost the Economy. But the Industry Needs Help
Stanley Litow calls for reform within government contracting processes which are often extraordinarily slow and bloated. Writing about New York, “70% of the organizations delivering these vital services experienced significant delays in contract payments for services already provided. Nearly half of such organizations in the city reported having to take out loans, at escalating interest rates, to survive. The serious delay in receiving their contract payments often approached or exceeded six months after the delivery of invoices.” We have seen this first hand affecting our clients here at Purpose Possible. (Barrons)
End of AmazonSmile charity donations ‘could not come at a worse time’ for nonprofits
The average amount donated to a U.S. charity in 2022 through AmazonSmile was less than $230, the spokesman said. But that amount isn’t insignificant, others say. “That may not seem large when you’re talking about the scale of Amazon, but to that nonprofit, it probably meant helping a couple more people in that community,” said Rick Cohen, the chief communications officer at the National Council of Nonprofits. “$230 still means a lot to a small nonprofit; $50 means a lot.” (MarketWatch)
Studies and Research
How philanthropy can unlock action on climate and nature this decade
“[A] recent report by ClimateWorks Foundation reveals that, despite the pioneering efforts of philanthropic leaders in the climate and nature space, global philanthropy at large is not putting its muscle behind addressing the dual climate and nature crises. While overall giving in the sector has grown significantly and an increasing number of philanthropic institutions are making climate commitments, especially in the past few years, the share of total global philanthropy dedicated to climate mitigation remains under 2 per cent annually. Of the approximately US$810 billion of total philanthropic giving in 2021, only about US$7.5-12.5 billion was earmarked for climate mitigation. Giving for climate adaptation, just and equitable transitions, or for nature protection or restoration, is even less.” (Eco-Business)
The T-Rex and the Snowshoe Hare: What’s Next for Philanthropy in the 2020s
“Our research suggests that a handful of powerful social, economic, and political forces will continue to put pressure on funders to change. We’ve identified seven “Big Shifts” that have the potential to influence the philanthropic landscape over the next decade.” (Stanford Social Innovation Review)
Millennials Had the Biggest Increase in Giving Among the Generations, New Survey Finds
Millennial donors turbocharged their giving over the past six years, according to a new report by Giving USA and the fundraising firm Dunham+Company. In 2022, millennial households gave 40 percent more, on average, to charity than they did in 2016 — bumping their average annual contribution up from $942 to $1,323. During the same period, average annual giving by both Gen X households and boomers fell — by 4 percent and 12 percent, respectively. (The Chronicle of Philanthropy)
Social prescription in the US: A pilot evaluation of Mass Cultural Council's “CultureRx”
An evaluation of “CultureRx” in Massachusetts (MA): the first US model of arts on prescription. The program is a partnership between 20 healthcare providers and 12 cultural organizations, in which providers can offer “prescriptions” to cultural experiences to support patients' health.' Spoiler alert - it works! (frontiers)
Resources
Jemez Principles for Democratic Organizing
These ten principles were adopted at the 1996 'Working Group Meeting on Globalization and Trade' hosted by Southwest Network for Environmental and Economic Justice and serve as an important guide to grassroots power-building with equity and justice at the center. Save these, and consider adopting them within your organization. (EJnet.org)
Creativity, Culture & Capital is a collaborative project between Arts & Culture Finance (UK), Upstart Co-Lab (US) and Fundación Compromiso (Argentina), three women-led non-profit organisations, all working at the intersection of impact investment and the creative economy.
For Funders
Art.coop launched with a report, commissioned by Grantmakers in the Arts, about the ways that arts and culture grantmakers can engage in systems-change work. Visit their website for the report and ton of resources on Power-Sharing in Grantmaking, solidarity economy education, reports about inequity in funding, and more.
Racial Equity in Arts Funding Workshops
GIA’s Racial Equity workshops have been designed to help participants recognize that cultural funding is a system that has been historically racialized like so many societal systems and to help guide our approaches to re-designing cultural funding as an anti-racist system. (Grantmakers in the Arts)
How To Prioritize Corporate Philanthropy During An Economic Downturn
“‘Research suggests people only truly believe that [companies] have a purpose and clear values when they see management making a decision that sacrifices short-term profitability for the sake of adhering to those values,’ according to the Harvard Business Review. Through corporations’ willingness to get involved in their communities in meaningful ways, they became more human.” (Forbes)
Participatory Grantmaking: What Practitioners Have to Say
An article by Kelley Buhles on her research of some of the most longstanding community-led funds in the nation '“about what it takes to embed effective participatory grantmaking in philanthropic institutions and create authentic community engagement.” (Nonprofit Quarterly)
4 Ways Funders Can Build Authentic Partnerships With Trans and Nonbinary Communities
From Aldita Gallardo: “Why do this work, with its specific focus on supporting small, emerging organizations led by trans people of color? To me, the answer is clear: Because freedom and liberation for all people starts when we center trans people of color.” (Stanford Social Innovation Review)
Upcoming Events
Equity and Justice in Collective Giving Webinar Series from Philanthropy Together
“Addressing injustices in our giving circles and in our communities is complex, challenging, yet necessary work — and we need each other to keep learning and growing, wherever we are in our journeys. The Equity and Justice in Collective Giving Webinar Series offers monthly content to explore themes that deepen our field’s shared commitment to equity.” Multiple dates. Click here to register.
