The Commons in Conversation Podcast
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InterviewLISTEN NOW: Reid Hoffman’s $10 Million Contest to Restore Trust in Institutions
Introducing our Commons in Conversation podcast! The LinkedIn co-founder joins Lever for Change’s Cecilia Conrad to talk about his open call to lift up new ideas — and attract funding — for reforms of government, the media, higher education, and more. -
Interview
JULY 8: Barbara Kingsolver on How Urban and Rural America Became Enemies
A conversation with the Pulitzer-Prize-winning author on Appalachia, her own nonprofit work, and how philanthropy can better serve the region. -
Interview
JULY 15: La June Montgomery Tabron’s ‘Powerful Journey’ Toward Racial Healing
The head of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation and author of two new books talks about how organizations and communities can close the “empathy gap.” -
Interview
JULY 22: ‘Taking Action With Your Neighbors’: Inside a $30 Million Funder Collaborative
A conversation with Rockefeller Brothers Fund CEO Stephen Heintz and Katie Loudin of the West Virginia Community Development Hub about a national effort to strengthen democracy by improving life in rural communities.
The Latest
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Civil Resistance vs. Pluralism
In Defense of Noisy, Disruptive Movements
Efforts to pursue common ground with MAGA members aim to muzzle advocates for our most vulnerable. Yet history is filled with illustrations of how direct action is essential to social change. -
Opinion
Word Jumble: When Nonprofits Talk Fancy, America Tunes Out
Our language is packed with elite-sounding jargon. It is ineffective — and dangerous — amid today’s heightened distrust of institutions and growing hostility to the sector. -
Grant Making
As Washington Brawls, Betting on Communities to Fix What’s Broken
National funders back efforts to repair sewage, schools, civic health, and more. Is that a better investment than trying to stop polarization in politics? -
Essay
I Am a Gay Man and a Foundation Chief. Here’s How I Find Unlikely Allies
Philanthropy — dominated by the wealthy and highly educated — has become rigid in tone, exclusive in culture, and ineffective in tactics, says the outgoing CEO of the Gill Foundation. -
Fundraising
Direct Mail Rewired Nonprofits — and America — for the Worse. Here’s How to Do Better.
Audience segmenting and Zip-code targeting trained nonprofit supporters to accept a passive role in causes they care about. The way forward puts them back at the center of the work. -
Advice
You Need Conservatives. Here’s How to Engage Them in Your Mission.
Insights and tips from a conservative who believes nonprofits will fail in their mission if they muster support only from people who think — and vote — like they do.
What If We’re Not Hopelessly Divided?
Research points to common ground on controversial issues, the country’s priorities, and America’s values — terrain from which nonprofits and philanthropy can work for change.
Essays
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I Grew Up Poor and Learned Early: Charities Aren’t Always So Charitable
As a young girl, the author found nonprofits often stereotyped her family. Now, as a journalist, she reports on how they can do better. -
‘While I Breathe, I Hope': A Black Nonprofit Leader and Daughter of the South Returns Home
A veteran fundraiser takes up a new job as CEO and pursues the American ideals that she, her family, and generations of Black philanthropists hold dear. -
What Nonprofits Can Learn From My Fellow Firefighters
America’s divisions can roil even efforts for the common good, but my Maine firehouse is a testament to the power of unity and shared purpose.
Podcasts
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Podcast | Nonprofits Now: Leading Today
Listen Now: Steps Leaders Can Take Today to Bridge Divides
Tim Dixon, co-founder of More in Common, joins Chronicle CEO Stacy Palmer to offer research-based strategies leaders can use to bridge divides in the workplace and in their communities. Tune in as Stacy asks Tim to walk listeners through his approaches to persuading people with widely different views to unite and get things done.
Advice
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Opinion
Your Secret Weapon in These Divisive Times? Fundraisers
They have the skills to break through polarization and build bridges to donors with a wide range of views — exactly what organizations need as the new administration takes office and red-blue tensions simmer. -
Interview
‘We Meet the Bear Next Week’
Amy McIsaac of Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement talks about a post-election resource guide to help nonprofit leaders find the language to bring people together. -
Advice
What to Say on November 6 and How to Say It
The words that philanthropy and nonprofits use can stoke division, particularly in tense moments, a new study finds. Here’s how to get your message across and bring people together after the election.
Two Churches and a Quest for Racial Unity
Watch a short documentary by Alex Garcia, a Pulitzer Prize winner, on Bethel New Life and Hope Presbyterian churches outside Chicago.
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The Commons is financed in part with philanthropic support from the Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Einhorn Collaborative, and the Walton Family 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.