Philanthropy This Week

Gesi Schilling

Good morning.

When we heard a few days ago that our colleague, Alex Daniels, had a chance to spend a few hours in conversation with Alberto Ibargüen — who was getting ready to announce his retirement as CEO of the Knight Foundation — we wondered just how a career news executive ran a foundation. After all, it’s not that common for publishers to head big philanthropies.

It turns out that it makes a big difference. Ibargüen has been a leading advocate for philanthropy to do more to help journalism thrive, taking up the cause long before other foundations were eager to join in that battle. Now Ibargüen is laying the groundwork for a fund that could gather at least $1 billion from an array of grant makers to shore up journalism.

But there are less obvious ways a news publisher’s skills lead to effective philanthropy. One reason Ibargüen was so successful in advancing a wide array of priorities is his ability to tell a compelling story. Another is that he instilled a reporter’s curiosity in the people who worked for him, asking them to get out of their offices as much as possible to find out what was happening around them.

And yet another is a willingness to scuttle even the best laid plans, as Ibargüen did when he spontaneously inserted in a speech an invitation to hundreds of community-foundation leaders to head to Miami to talk about the future of media. Ibargüen told Alex with a smile that his off-the-cuff remarks sent staff members into cardiac arrest.

But the change of plans was symbolic of how Ibargüen operates, says Eric Newton, who worked with him for years.

“He keeps an open mind. And if a better idea comes by, he just switches to the better idea,” Newton says.

Here’s what else you need to know:

The banking crisis adds another layer of worry for the nonprofit world, as government aid dwindles, grant makers weigh whether to pull back on giving to protect their assets, and demand for nonprofit services continues its upward climb.

Inflation is easing, though prices remain high, and the stock market’s ups and downs continue, with the S&P dropping 2.6 percent in February, adding to investor pessimism, reports Sara Herschander.

On top of that, unemployment is still low and wages are high, making it harder for charities to stay full-staffed, and the possibility of a recession still lingers.

That may hit small charities especially hard, forcing them to close or merge, Paul Schervish, a professor at Boston College, told Sara.

“Just as there’s this clearing out of corporations and even banks at times, we might see a clearing out of nonprofits in the near future.”

Courtesy of Patrick Salazar

Fundraisers say nonprofits have a long way to go on diversity, equity, and inclusion in the workplace.

When nonprofits talk about diversity but don’t follow up, fundraisers of color notice, says Patrick Salazar (above), founder of Latinos LEAD, a nonprofit that recruits Latino candidates for nonprofit leadership, reports Rasheed Childress. Many of them have endured a lonely climb to the top as the only person of color in the room. “Their threshold for B.S. is zero,” Salazar told Rasheeda.

That remark came after a Chronicle survey found that 30 percent of respondents were unhappy with DEI at their organization, commenting that they “found themselves within hostile cultures” and even that there’s a “white supremacy culture in fundraising.”

What fundraisers need, Victoria Silverman, another recruiter, says, is good pay, professional-development opportunities, an inclusive atmosphere, and reporting procedures for when problems arise.

As Yolanda F. Johnson, founder of Women of Color in Fundraising and Philanthropy, told Rasheeda, she prefers talking about inclusion, equity, and diversity.

“We put the inclusion first because if you put diversity front of mind, you just go, ‘Oh, we need to get X number of people of color in here. But are you prepared to create an environment where a professional of color can thrive?”

A 37-year-old tech entrepreneur who gave his alma mater $50 million has devoted his giving to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics education but is now branching out to support other causes.

The contribution to the Rochester Institute of Technology came after the university rented office space to him, invited him to join its Board of Advisers, and asked him for what he describes as a “comically large” gift in the event his company, Datto, made it big, reports Nicole Wallace.

It did. In 2017, he sold Datto for $1.5 billion, remained a significant shareholder, and benefited again from its sale last summer for more than $6 billion.

He set up a foundation, started a donor-advised fund, and launched an e-sports league with fighting robots, from which he makes six-figure charitable gifts.

“This is a slightly different scale,” he says of going from the large alma mater donation to smaller ones. “I’m trying to see how big of a ripple can I make this way.” (Read more from our series The Future Is Now: Young Donors Are Challenging What It Means to Be a Philanthropist.)

Evan Agostini/Evan Agostini/Invision/AP

Good News for Small Nonprofits

The announcement of the shift in leadership at the Knight Foundation wasn’t the only big news in philanthropy this week

Our colleague Glenn Gamboa at the Associated Press reported last week that MacKenzie Scott is launching a $250 million “open call” for grant proposals from small groups.

Scott plans to make unrestricted $1 million donations to 250 nonprofits selected in the process, which she calls a “new pathway to support for organizations making positive change in their communities.”

We bet some of our readers will be thinking a lot about their plans for this challenge over the weekend. But we hope everyone also takes time to read and recharge.

— Marilyn Dickey and Stacy Palmer

WHAT WE’RE READING ELSEWHERE

Philanthropists are starting to put serious money into mental-health research and care, after years of it receiving a tiny fraction of charitable giving. (Barron’s)

Seeking to lure new members and create more inviting meeting spaces for current ones, Girl Scouts USA is building multi-use hubs across the country. (Fast Company)

The federal government plans to divide up management of its organ-donor network, run by a single charitable organization since it launched 37 years ago. (Washington Post)

After two years helping stand up the Emancipator, an online publication covering race in America, the Boston Globe is stepping away from the project. (Nieman Lab)

A collector’s landmark donation of South and Southeast Asian antiquities to the Art Institute of Chicago is caught in a tangle of questions about its provenance. (ProPublica and Crain’s Chicago Business)

Two U.S.-born conservatives have provided the money and ideas behind a proposed judicial overhaul that has convulsed Israeli society. (New York Times)

A longtime social-service nonprofit in Washington, D.C., has shut its food pantries for a month to give its staff a respite. (Washington Post)

Resignations and criticism have followed the National Audubon Society’s decision last week to keep the name of an enslaver and white supremacist. (NPR)

A report circulating in conservative media erroneously states that Silicon Valley Bank gave more than $70 million to the Black Lives Matter movement. (MarketWatch)

NEW GRANT OPPORTUNITIES

Your Chronicle subscription includes free access to GrantStation’s database of grant opportunities.

Surrogate parenting. The Brookdale Foundation Group supports services for grandparents and other relatives who have taken on the responsibility of surrogate parenting. Selected programs will receive grants of $20,000 in year one with an opportunity for a second-tier grant of $10,000 and potential for continuity in the future, as well as training and technical assistance. The application deadline is June 22.

Theater. The Venturous Theater Fund supports the production of venturous new plays at small and medium-size theaters. Grants support text-based, author-driven new plays that are challenging in form, controversial in subject matter, and ambitious in scale or scope. Grants range from $5,000 to $30,000, with grants above $25,000 awarded only in extraordinary circumstances. Deadlines for letters of inquiry are June 1 and December 1.