The Latest
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These 17 Nonprofit Leaders Want to Change How You Vote
Organizers, funders, lawyers, scholars, writers, and celebrities (Jennifer Lawrence!) aim to reboot our election system. Also, coming soon from the Chronicle: the people who want to build trust in elections. -
How Philanthropy Fails Boys and Men
Richard Reeves is fighting the prevailing view of who’s on the losing side of gender equality. Melinda French Gates is backing him with $20 million. -
Carnegie Returns to Its Roots With Millions in Grants to Public Libraries
The Carnegie Corporation of New York, founded by steel magnate and library builder Andrew Carnegie, thinks the public institutions can mend today’s societal fractures. -
Can 50 Nonprofits Really Build Something Together? A Hopeful Idea Begins to Spread
Inside an effort dubbed “mutual aid on steroids” that’s getting a tryout in cities like Atlanta, Chicago, and Lexington, Ky. -
Can Elections Ever Be Normal Again? These 22 Nonprofit Leaders Have a Plan.
After the tumult of 2020, a new set of organizations aims to reinforce how votes are tallied on November 5 as well as in 2026, 2028, and beyond. -
Philanthropist Laura Arnold on What It Takes to Reduce Polarization and Partisanship
In the launch of a new interview series for The Commons, the Giving Pledge member and influential donor talks about the keys to bringing people together on tough issues.
Fundraising and Democracy
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Relentless Fundraising Is Eroding Trust in Nonprofits. Here’s How to Fix Things.
Simple strategies to build relationships with supporters and show your organization is worthy of their backing -
The Exodus of Everyday Donors Is Bad for America. Here’s How to Stop It.
The decline in charitable giving by average Americans threatens democracy. Among the solutions: pooled micro-donations, giving incentives, and a focus on the donor relationship. -
Charity:water Breaks a Fundraising Taboo and Talks About Division — Sort Of
“These days, it seems so easy to hear opinions of what people are against,” wrote CEO Scott Harrison. “But there’s also something powerful about being for something good.”
Bad Bosses, Big Dreams, and Broken Philanthropy
The Commons Collaboration
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Democracy
Can Your Volunteer Program Bring America Together? This Screenwriter-Turned-Charity Leader Thinks So.
The nonprofit Big Sunday is defying the downturn in volunteerism as it pursues founder David Levinson’s dual mission: community service that builds community. -
Case Study
Charity:water Breaks a Fundraising Taboo and Talks About Division — Sort Of
“These days, it seems so easy to hear opinions of what people are against,” wrote CEO Scott Harrison. “But there’s also something powerful about being for something good.” -
Tips
Advice to Keep Tough Conversations Civil
A primer for the nonprofit professional who has to keep things cool even when temperatures are rising.
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Guest Essays - How Philanthropy Stokes Division
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Opinion
Righteous Attitudes, Ideological Purity Tests, Zero-Sum Thinking: How Philanthropy Stokes Division
Privately, anti-polarization nonprofits and practitioners say philanthropy is part of the problem. -
Opinion
How Nonprofits Lose Out When Volunteer Advocates Are Asked to Do Little Real Advocacy
Nonprofits worried about their brand are asking supporters to do little more than sign petitions and write checks. They should be helping them become effective citizen-advocates. -
Opinion
Charitable Donors Operating in the Shadows Push Our Politics to the Extremes
Grant makers on the left and right finance a network of activists and advocates whose all-or-nothing, combative stances keep the political parties tethered to the poles.
There are different ways of measuring fragmentation and polarization. But however you measure it, it is extreme, and it is accelerating.
john a. powell, Othering & Belonging Institute
CONVERSATION
Veteran racial-justice advocate john a. powell talks about the limits of campaigns for equity. In a conversation with the Chronicle, Powell and racism expert Stephen Menendian discuss a hopeful new way to pursue equity.
News, Analysis, Opinion
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The Commons is financed in part with philanthropic support from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Einhorn Collaborative, and JPB Foundation. None of our supporters have any control over or input into story selection, reporting, or editing, and they do not review articles before publication. See more about the Chronicle, the grants, how our foundation-supported journalism works, and our gift-acceptance policy.