Opinion

Recent surveys showing a decrease in volunteering largely blame the pandemic, but the problem isn’t new. Nonprofits need to figure out how to turn Americans’ desire to lend a hand to neighbors into more formal commitments to help their communities.

When others doubted me, one man showed his faith in my ambition to become a business leader. Today, I’m putting that same trust in the grantees and low-income mothers my foundation supports.

Addressing myriad societal problems depends on a strong rule of law. Unfortunately, developing, promoting, and enforcing this fundamental component of healthy democracies isn’t on most donor radars.

The man who co-created “Sesame Street” also presided for decades over a foundation that has left a lasting mark on the entire field of communications and mass media.

Despite growing philanthropic recognition that the most successful movements are led by oppressed groups themselves, organizations that aid refugees remains mired in their colonial roots and a continued reliance on white so-called experts.

Relying on simple metrics to demonstrate a nonprofit’s effectiveness to potential donors creates a false narrative about how sustainable change happens.

When invoked too zealously, it can deflect attention from what grantee leaders often find most difficult about philanthropy: a lack of urgency, a failure to deliver resources expeditiously, and the imposition of burdensome restrictions.

At a time of growing distrust in philanthropy and stagnant or declining giving, it’s no longer tenable to maintain a system that allows donors to reap rewards through the nonprofits they fund.

This month, a new crop of young elected leaders is stepping into power in state houses and city council chambers nationwide. Philanthropy needs to invest in programs to help them do their jobs effectively and fulfill the promises of the campaign trail.

What does it look like to partner with those whose expertise comes largely from lived experiences? An early-childhood program shows why bringing parents to the decision-making table was critical to its work.