Read our collection of news articles and data studies to understand the role socioeconomic class plays in philanthropy and to learn what nonprofits and foundations are doing to recruit and retain people with modest economic backgrounds.
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News
On Big Foundations’ Boards, ‘Coastal Elites’ and Ivy Alumni Predominate
Trustee rosters at major grant makers sorely lack socioeconomic and geographic diversity, a Chronicle analysis shows. What does that mean for philanthropy? -
News
Inside Philanthropy’s Boardroom ‘Bubble’
At the 20 wealthiest national foundations, which control $162 billion in assets, plenty of board members have degrees from top private universities, but only a handful live in rural or poor parts of the United States. -
News
How Can Philanthropy Help the Working Class? An Answer From Minnesota
With urban-rural tensions rising, regional spinoffs of Minneapolis’s McKnight Foundation offer a model for partnership between the big city and small towns. -
News
Charities Get More Professional but Fear Losing Touch With Those They Serve
Increasingly stocked with well-paid, well-educated leaders and staffs, the nonprofit world risks disconnecting with middle- and working-class Americans. -
News
7 Ways Nonprofits Are Building Economically Diverse Staffs
These organizations are rethinking hiring, salary, and even internships to add people of modest means to their ranks. -
News
Foundation Executive Who Grew Up Poor Still Feels Like an Outsider at Times
Raised in poverty, Rodney Christopher now makes decisions on granting and investing millions. He says much of the philanthropic world places little value on his life experience. -
Opinion
Opinion: Debating Philanthropy’s ‘Elite’ Tendencies in a Populist Time
Foundations won’t survive the Trump era if they act like they have all the answers, the Hudson Institute’s William Schambra writes, but Amir Pasic of the Lilly School says philanthropy’s support of varied institutions and communities promotes pluralism and checks autocracy. -
Advice
How to Overcome Implicit Bias in Nonprofit Hiring
Experts shine a light on subtle ways prejudice creeps into hiring and offer advice on attracting a more diverse pool of candidates. -
Advice
How One Group Created a Statement on Diversity and Equity
Americans for the Arts used a model document that spoke with authority without being rigid: the U.S. Constitution. -
Opinion
Opinion: Philanthropic Leadership Shouldn’t Still Look Like the Country-Club Set
While parts of the foundation world have grown more diverse, the top leadership and program-officer jobs don’t yet reflect the diversity of America, says a report released Sunday.