Issue Highlights
Philanthropy Awards, 2023 | Inside Philanthropy
Here’s the good, the bad, and the ugly. Hope you enjoy this year’s IPPYs. And then buckle up for 2024.
Great Apes & Gibbons
Incentivizing conservation shows success against wildlife hunting in Cameroon
Providing farming support to communities living near a wildlife reserve in Cameroon has been shown to lower rates of hunting, according to a three-year study.
Who protects nature better: The state or communities? It’s complicated
in general, the existing scientific literature underscores the importance of community-driven conservation
A rush for ‘green’ iron is on in Guinea. Will chimpanzees be a casualty?
Both the Simandou and Nimba mountain ranges are home to critically endangered western chimpanzees, and conservationists say that mining operations there could pose a major threat to them.
This Gorilla’s Caregivers Face Familiar Questions About Aging - The New York Times
Winston, an older silverback, is getting enviable medical treatment. Now his keepers must confront an issue that vexes doctors and older humans, too: How much intervention is too much?
Chimps Can Still Remember Faces After a Quarter Century - The New York Times
In a study, chimpanzees and bonobos shown pictures of animals on a screen consistently spent more time looking at their former companions, with even unrelated past acquaintances
Bonobos and chimps recall friends and family even after years apart: Study
The team found that the kind of relationship shared by two individuals also influences recognition; if they had a more positive relationship as group mates, the bonobo or chimp directed more attention to that individual.
Philanthropy
The 50 Most Powerful Women in U.S. Philanthropy | Inside Philanthropy
the overall trendline is clear: More women are wielding more power in philanthropy. This list seeks to capture this development by spotlighting those women at the top of the sector.
10 Funders to Watch in 2024 | Inside Philanthropy
As we gear up for what’ll likely be another tumultuous, thrilling and frustrating year in the philanthrosphere, here are some of the grantmakers we’re keeping a close eye on.
11 Trends in Philanthropy for 2024
at the core of 11 Trends in Philanthropy for 2024, readers will find a set of questions rather than answers. Each trend poses a number of moral, economic, equity-related, tactical, and other questions that the sector will have to answer.
From ‘Data Lake’ to ‘Doom Loop,’ the Philanthropy Buzzwords We’ll Be Hearing in 2024
This year’s list highlights the nonprofit world’s tension between navigating A.I. and other new technology while keeping the focus on human needs.
Foundation Assets Reach a Record $1.5 Trillion, Propelled by Investment Gains and Big Donors | Inside Philanthropy
Foundation assets rose to an all-time high of $1.5 trillion last month, according to projections by FoundationMark, as endowments posted healthy gains following 2022’s stock slump and some of the wealthiest people on earth pumped billions of dollars into their philanthropies.
“Educating and Agitating.” Six Questions for Alice Y. Hom, Executive Director at CHANGE Philanthropy | Inside Philanthropy
In 2023, CHANGE Philanthropy, a coalition of 10 philanthropic-serving organizations challenging the sector to advance equity, welcomed Alice Y. Hom, Ph.D., as executive director.
Spelman, a Historically Black Women’s College, Receives $100 Million Gift - The New York Times
The gift comes from Ronda E. Stryker, a trustee of Spelman, and her husband, William D. Johnston, chairman of the wealth management company Greenleaf Trust. Ms. Stryker serves as director of the medical equipment company Stryker Corporation, which was founded by her grandfather.
Some Funders Still Think Nonprofits Can’t Handle MacKenzie Scott’s Gifts. Nonprofits Disagree | Inside Philanthropy
funders’ main concern with Scott’s approach — a perceived inability to absorb large, unrestricted gifts — is negated by the very same report, which found that 88% of nonprofits encountered “no challenges” related to the use of Scott grants
A Conversation with Flozell Daniels Jr., CEO of the Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation | Inside Philanthropy
Based in Winston-Salem, North Carolina, the funder is committed to helping people across the South move out of poverty and achieve greater social and economic justice through its three “pathways of change” — democracy and civic engagement, supportive policies and institutions, and economic opportunity.
Lessons from the Four Freedoms Fund: How Philanthropy Can Support Immigrant Rights | Inside Philanthropy
As a steady builder of organizing infrastructure, and one that has made progress in some of the most (seemingly) hostile environments, Four Freedoms holds a rare level of insight into successful funding for immigrant rights and a potential path forward at a dangerous moment in the nation’s history
Reparations is an Investment in the Future - The Center for Effective Philanthropy
“When we ask for donors to support reparations, we are not begging for money for Black people. We’re extending a lifeline into your humanity, into your liberation and freedom, by being a part of this healing journey and process,” says Edgar Villanueva, founder and CEO of the Decolonizing Wealth Project.
More Funding is Flowing to Support Indigenous Peoples. How Much Is Making it to the Front Lines? | Inside Philanthropy
A trio of reports released last month took the latest passes at answering that question while also addressing how to correct the reality that only a tiny share of philanthropy is going directly to local organizations, with the bulk instead landing with large international nonprofits and intermediaries, a dynamic long decried by Indigenous communities.
Funders Have a New Tool to Help Navigate the Fast-Moving AI Landscape | Inside Philanthropy
Technology Association of Grantmakers (TAG) introduced Version 1 of its “Responsible AI Adoption in Philanthropy: An Initial Framework for Grantmakers” in partnership with data use consultant firm Project Evident. As the title says, the framework is primarily structured to help funders answer essential questions while planning if, whether and how to implement AI internally
It’s Already Happening: Unpacking the Authoritarian Threat to U.S. Philanthropy | Inside Philanthropy
While funders will not be able to accomplish their missions if their grantees are not safe to accomplish theirs, there are also signs of a new phase in the effort to intimidate funders directly. Unrelenting attacks have isolated some donors; Senator J.D. Vance and other leaders in the national conservative right talk about seizing the assets of large foundations, such as Ford and Gates; and efforts to vilify left-of-center philanthropic advisors and fiscal sponsors continue. In recent conversations, moreover, some funders revealed that they or their colleagues have been threatened, speculating that more may be coming.
Funders and Nonprofit Leaders: Can We Talk? - The Center for Effective Philanthropy
An ongoing independent evaluation of BUILD has yielded findings similar to what CEP is finding in its research about the Scott grants: Organizations that have received BUILD grants are better able to plan and execute on their missions than before they received BUILD support. They are more financially stable, and more successful in leveraging support from other donors. They are better able to compensate and support their staff. And as a result, the evaluation reports, BUILD has contributed to increases in social impact.
How to Move from Giving to Co-Creating: A Playbook for Program Officers - The Center for Effective Philanthropy
A co-creator mindset asks not “how can this grant achieve desired results?” but rather, “what are the collection of resources necessary to achieve desired results?” and, “what’s my part to play here and what is someone else’s part to play?”
Beyond Trust-Based Philanthropy: Ms. Foundation Report Advocates for Care-Based Giving | Inside Philanthropy
“Care requires us to consider the unique needs and experiences of historically excluded communities, particularly women and nonbinary people of color, who bear the brunt of systemic racial and gendered oppression. It means investing in their healing, wellbeing, safety and survival,” the report states.
It’s time for an honest dialogue about ‘shifting the power’ - Alliance magazine
unless we truly shift power in our philanthropy, we won’t shift much at all.