Issue Highlights
Where Strategic Philanthropy Went Wrong
Dramatic advances in the scale and sophistication of strategic philanthropy have not improved societal conditions at a national level. We propose empowerment philanthropy as a new approach to fostering political and economic self-determination by supporting people in finding their own solutions and ensuring an effective multiracial democracy.
Regression of Queer and Trans Rights Are a Global Trend, New Report Finds | Them
A report from from the ILGA tracked setbacks for LGBTQ+ rights in several countries worldwide.
Funders Must Step Up to Engage Pro-Equality Voters This Year | Inside Philanthropy
As history repeatedly shows, fomenting hatred toward specific groups is an authoritarian strategy to undermine democratic norms. In the current moment, attacks on transgender people are central to the anti-democracy strategy.
LGBTQ Social Justice
Kenya seeks to ban intersex athletes from lowering hormone levels to compete in sports
“The measures shall not require a person to alter their biological hormonal composition as a condition to participating in any sporting activity or program,” reads the bill.
Recognizing LGBTIQ+ equality champions: UNDP and ILGA World launch the International Pride Awards - International Pride Awards
The 2024 award categories are: 1) Movement building in the face of hostility; 2) Celebrating diverse lives; 3) Emerging leader; 4) Lifelong pursuit of equality; and 5) Extraordinary ally.
This year’s awardees will be announced at an event on 13 November 2024 in Cape Town, South Africa, in a special event during the 31st ILGA World Conference.
Intersectionality: buzzword or social sector game-changer?
one of the most popular and controversial DEI buzzwords, what the word actually means, how it’s misunderstood, and how the social sector can benefit from a deeper understanding of “intersectionality.”
Florida’s LGBTQ+ residents relieved after easing of DeSantis’s anti-gay laws | Florida | The Guardian
Past 12 months show evidence of radical change in political climate, starting with judge again allowing children at drag shows
EXCLUSIVE: Florida educators trained to teach students Christian nationalism
teachers were told that "Christianity challenged the notion that religion should be subservient to the goals of the state,"
Great Apes & Gibbons
What Indigenous knowledge can teach the world about saving biodiversity
With the world facing twin biodiversity and climate crises, experts emphasize the need to recognize the land rights and sovereignty of Indigenous people from a human rights perspective to protect the planet’s wildlife and ecosystems.
Fate of Retired Research Chimps Still in Limbo - The New York Times
The National Institutes of Health, which owns the chimps at the Alamogordo Primate Facility in New Mexico, has no plans to move the animals to sanctuary, despite a ruling from a federal judge.
Sierra Leone is losing its forests. This sanctuary is trying to save chimpanzees and their vital habitat | CNN
orphans, rescued from across Sierra Leone and raised at the Tacugama Chimpanzee Sanctuary.
Indonesian company defies order, still clearing peatlands in orangutan habitat
Conservationists are calling on the Ministry of Environment and Forestry to revoke the company’s permits.
People shocked to discover Michael Jackson's chimpanzee Bubbles is still alive at 40 years old
Bubbles has been living at the Center for Great Apes since 2005, where workers recently threw him a huge, bubble-themed birthday bash.
“He did get a cake, but it’s a special ape-healthy cake,” founding director of the facility, Patti Ragan, told the New York Post.
Philanthropy
The Story Behind a Donor’s Million-Dollar-Plus Gift to Back the Fight for LGBTQ+ Civil Rights | Inside Philanthropy
Lambda Legal received a $1.25 million gift from Chicago’s Steans family to support its Nonbinary and Transgender Rights Project. I recently caught up with Heather Steans, a former Democratic member of the Illinois Senate and chair of the Steans Family Foundation. In our conversation, I found out more about what motivated the gift, the personal motivations behind it, and what philanthropy can do to be a better ally to LGBTQ organizations in the coming months.
Melinda French Gates Announces $1B Commitment to Advance Women’s Power Globally | Pivotal Ventures
Melinda French Gates Announces $1B Commitment to Advance Women’s Power Globally. Lee Badgett named as member of a group of global partners.
Opinion | Melinda French Gates’s Philanthropy Will Include Abortion Rights - The New York Times
A philanthropist is focusing on gender issues around the world, including abortion access in the United States.
What Dark Money Critics Are Getting Wrong About Philanthropic Intermediaries Like Tides | Inside Philanthropy
In by far the majority of cases, an entity like Tides isn’t the prime mover — that would be the original donor — even when it furnishes funding to a cause people find objectionable.
Intermediaries are most often playing a supportive, facilitating role — an infrastructural role — and making it easier for movement groups to secure funding, by, say, acting as fiscal sponsors or hosting DAFs. In that sense, Tides and its peers may sometimes be the curtain, but they’re not the man behind the curtain.
Prioritizing Grants Management: An Unsung Key to Effective Funding - The Center for Effective Philanthropy
I’ve gained insight into the integral role that grants management staff play not only in maintaining systems, but in connecting teams within a funder, driving strong relationship-building with grantees, and assessing a funder’s grantmaking work
AI Is Here, for Better and for Worse. This Tech Funder Doesn’t Want to Leave It to the Marketplace | Inside Philanthropy
The grant recipients work in several areas where AI and data science are increasingly making inroads — climate, equity and access, education and media among them. Funding also went to organizations aiming to drive policy and research involving AI and data science. McGovern described the grants as a "landmark investment in an ecosystem of partners working to build AI for the public good."
Introducing OpenAI for Nonprofits | OpenAI
We’re launching a new initiative to enhance the accessibility of our tools for nonprofit organizations, including discounted rates for ChatGPT Team and Enterprise.
State of Nonprofits 2024: What Funders Need to Know - The Center for Effective Philanthropy
Given the vital role nonprofits play in communities across the U.S., we sought to understand how they are faring now and to shed new light on their experiences with funders.
How Foundations Are Supporting Grantee Staff Well-Being - The Center for Effective Philanthropy
Based on a survey of 283 foundation leaders, we explored:
Foundation leaders’ degree of understanding of the well-being of staff at the organizations they fund. Their concern about burnout among staff at nonprofit organizations they fund. Practices foundations are engaging in to support the well-being of staff at organizations they fund.