Updated October 19, 2023
The Chronicle’s Standards for Accepting Philanthropic Support
The mission of the Chronicle of Philanthropy is to strengthen the nonprofit world by providing unbiased and accurate news, data, advice, and other information. We offer professional development for nonprofit executives, including online briefings and webinars.
Just as important, we work to educate the public about the nonprofit world through our collaboration with other journalism organizations.
To sustain our work, we rely mainly on revenue we earn from fees, such as advertising, subscriptions, and professional development training.
We also seek philanthropic contributions to enable us to innovate and serve our audiences and society better.
While a growing number of newsrooms are seeking philanthropic support and have set widely accepted standards to ensure donors don’t intrude on journalistic independence, we recognize that we are in a special position of covering philanthropy as journalists while also being partially supported by it.
That’s why we have crafted the policy below to explain the types of funding we accept, our processes for maintaining editorial integrity, and what our donors should expect. The Chronicle is a member of the Institute for Nonprofit News and is committed to following its standards for transparency, editorial excellence, and independence.
Nature of Support
We seek and accept selected funding to help support our work. The Chronicle will do nothing that compromises our coverage or our ability to provide the best and most accurate information.
The organization will accept gifts and grants that are unrestricted in nature or that support specific programs and projects provided that they are consistent with our mission, purpose, and priorities.
The Chronicle does not accept:
- Funding that we feel would compromise our editorial integrity or conflict with our mission
- Gifts from political parties, candidates, or 501(c)(4) organizations closely aligned with them
- Anonymous gifts
Our Independence
In the more than three decades since the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s founding, it has earned the trust of the field as an independent source of news and information. We value that trust above all else and will do nothing to jeopardize it.
- The Chronicle maintains editorial control over all of its work. As with advertisers and commercial sponsors, philanthropic donors do not direct our coverage or the planning and execution of professional-development events.
- The journalists at the Chronicle determine our coverage areas based on news and the value of the work to our mission. Donors will not have influence over the priorities of our journalists or the employment of specific staff members.
- Donors will not receive or review content produced by the Chronicle before it is made publicly available.
- Donors and their organizations, initiatives, and ideas do not receive preferential treatment.
- Accepting a gift, grant, or sponsorship is not a sign that the Chronicle endorses a donor, organization, or viewpoint.
Procedures
To protect editorial independence, donors, grant makers, and readers should address questions or concerns to the Senior Director of Development, not to reporters, editors, copy editors, web producers, designers, or others in the organization.
The Chronicle of Philanthropy reserves the right to reject any gift that we feel would compromise our editorial integrity or harm our financial sustainability.
Noncash gifts will be reviewed by the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Leadership Team.
Transparency
The Chronicle of Philanthropy discloses our relationships with donors in the following ways:
- The names of all donors making a gift or grant of $5,000 or more, and the level of their support, will be listed online at the time that the gift is made. All gifts and grants of $100,000 or more will be listed for an additional five years after the time of the award.
- The names of all donors from the previous calendar year will be listed in print in the January edition of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, with their gift level.
- We disclose the names of our financial supporters for a full year after we received a grant from the foundation.
- The disclosure will state that the donor is or has been a financial supporter of the Chronicle of Philanthropy, and it will include a link to our full list of donors. More prominent disclosures may be made in instances in which the Chronicle’s editorial leadership believes they are warranted.
- Donors supporting particular coverage areas or projects will also, at minimum, be disclosed in a note stating their support. That note will include a link to our full list of donors.
Updates to This Policy
This gift-acceptance policy will be reviewed at least once a year by the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s Leadership Team. Updates will be posted online and made available to donors.
Rights of Donors
The Chronicle of Philanthropy is guided by this amended version of the Donor Bill of Rights created by the Association of Fundraising Professionals, the Association for Healthcare Philanthropy, the Council for Advancement and Support of Education, and the Giving Institute.
Philanthropy is based on voluntary action for the common good. It is a tradition of giving and sharing that is primary to the quality of life. To assure that philanthropy merits the respect and trust of the public, and that donors and prospective donors can have full confidence in the organizations and causes they are asked to support, we declare that all donors have these rights:
- To be informed of the organization’s mission, of the way the organization intends to use donated resources, and of its capacity to use donations effectively for their intended purposes.
- To be informed of the identity of those serving on the organization’s governing board and to expect the board to exercise prudent judgment in its stewardship responsibilities.
- To have access to the organization’s summary financial data.
- To be assured their gifts will be used for the purposes for which they were given.
- To receive appropriate acknowledgment and recognition.
- To be assured that information about their donation is handled with respect and confidentiality to the extent provided by law.
- To expect that all relationships with individuals representing organizations of interest to the donor will be professional in nature.
- To be informed whether those seeking donations are volunteers, employees of the organization, or hired solicitors.
- To have the opportunity for their names to be deleted from mailing lists that an organization may intend to share.
- To feel free to ask questions when making a donation and to receive prompt, truthful, and forthright answers.