September 29, 2021 Feel Like Grant Applications Are Wasting Your Time? You’re Right, According to a Recent Analysis September 29, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe GrantAdvisor and Technology Association of Grantmakers are on a mission to fix grant applications. After painstaking analysis of existing forms, they found that applicants are jumping through many of the same hoops, over and over.Read More
September 23, 2021 Funder Spotlight: Created by an Oscar Winner, the Jerome Foundation Backs Film and More September 23, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe Today, we’re catching up with the Jerome Foundation, which supports early-career artists in Minnesota and New York City. It was looking at ways to make life easier for grantees well before COVID.Read More
September 21, 2021 How One Funder Uses All the Tools in Its Kit—Including Advocacy—to Improve Children's Lives September 21, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe The St. Louis-based Deaconess Foundation funds efforts to support the health and well-being of young people in the region, using an array of grants, mission-related investments and advocacy.Read More
September 20, 2021 Founded to Back Movement Organizers, Funders for Justice Is Ready to “Do Something Really Badass” September 20, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe Funders for Justice got its start in the wake of Ferguson and has spent the time since ramping up its efforts to align grantmakers with social justice movement leaders. That work has garnered it some negative attention from the right.Read More
September 09, 2021 "It’s Been a Windfall For Us." Donors Rush Funding to Protect Texans’ Access to Abortion September 09, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe A Texas law banning abortion beyond six weeks into a pregnancy has sparked a wave of outrage—and donations. Individuals and institutions are responding, and some are sharpening their analysis of the nature of such laws.Read More
September 02, 2021 How a Diverse Group of Funders and Advocates Came Together for Justice Reform in Michigan September 02, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe The Michigan Justice Fund, which got its start when several advocates and funders joined forces for criminal justice reform, just made its first round of grants. Leaders hope the fund’s impact lasts long after its six-year plan.Read More
August 30, 2021 Why These Two Very Different Family Foundations Agree On the Importance of Nonprofit IT August 30, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe Based in two different parts of the Midwest, the Shavlik Family Foundation and the Pierce Family Foundation are distinct in many ways. But they’re both committed to a cause that often gets short shrift—nonprofit IT infrastructure.Read More
August 05, 2021 For a Midwestern Funder, Improving Health Means Balancing Immediate Relief With Systems Change August 05, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe The Missouri Foundation for Health has around $1 billion in assets, which it directs toward grants and partnerships to support health in local communities. Over the years, that has meant a larger focus on systemic change and equity.Read More
August 03, 2021 Need a Break? Here's the (Short) List of Funders Who Back Sabbaticals for Nonprofit Leaders August 03, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe Sabbaticals are becoming more popular at nonprofits, but philanthropic support is still hard to come by. Here’s every funder we could find that backs much-needed breaks for nonprofit leaders. Read More
July 29, 2021 Nonprofit Leaders Need a Break. Will More Funders Start Backing Sabbaticals? July 29, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe Nonprofit jobs were grueling enough, even before the past year and a half of turmoil. Only a handful of funders support paid sabbaticals, but some say that needs to change—and point to signs that more are taking an interest.Read More
July 26, 2021 This Membership Organization Strives to Make Nonprofit IT More Accessible and Inclusive July 26, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe As the ability to access and use technology becomes ever more crucial, the Technology Association of Grantmakers wants to up the nonprofit sector’s IT game. It’s also seeking more inclusive demographics among practitioners.Read More
July 13, 2021 Interested in Advancing Racial Healing and Justice? This Fund Has Lessons About How It’s Done July 13, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe Announced a month after George Floyd’s murder, this St. Louis-based participatory grantmaking fund has drawn backing from numerous funders for its racial healing and justice mission. Community members are in charge.Read More
July 02, 2021 Fidelity Charitable’s 2021 Women and Giving Report: Solid Facts With a Side of Sexism July 02, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe A recently released report from Fidelity Charitable highlights several COVID-era trends, including more parity between how much women and men value charitable giving in their lives. But it also relies on some questionable framing.Read More
June 21, 2021 McKnight, Other Minnesota Funders Answer Ford’s Call With Millions for BIPOC-led Arts Groups June 21, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe Last year, the Ford Foundation called on regional funders to step up for BIPOC-led arts. Here’s how Minnesota’s McKnight Foundation is carrying that effort forward on its home turf, alongside several other funding partners.Read More
June 17, 2021 Pursuing Social Justice, Mellon's Making Higher Learning Available to Incarcerated Americans June 17, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation is one of the few funders devoting substantial giving to education for people in prisons and jails. Its higher ed giving for incarcerated Americans is part of a larger overture to social justice.Read More
June 08, 2021 “All Things Change.” Inside a Family Foundation’s Journey Toward Sharing Power June 08, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe After 20 years of being governed mainly by family, the Panta Rhea Foundation appointed two new board members and refined its programs. Leaders hope to offer an example for family foundations looking to loosen their grip.Read More
June 02, 2021 How the Joyce Foundation Is Going Long With a New Five-Year Plan June 02, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe The Joyce Foundation made its last strategic shift just three years ago. This time around, it’s doing what it has already been doing in a more thorough way, in what it describes as a “refresh, not an overhaul.”Read More
May 26, 2021 A Midwestern Funder’s Big Racial Justice Pledge Follows Years of Work on Diversity and Equity May 26, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe The Bush Foundation made a $100 million pledge to support Black and Native American communities in the states it serves. The move is a product of nearly a decade of work to diversify its board and strengthen bonds among leaders.Read More
May 19, 2021 Fix the Form! A Campaign to Curb the Byzantine Process of Applying for a Grant May 19, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe Clunky, time-consuming grant applications are a hassle, but they also exacerbate inequity. The #FixTheForm campaign wants to improve the process, first by making full grant applications available in advance.Read More
May 18, 2021 Four Foundations Are Boosting Dozens of Groups Serving Detroit’s Communities of Color May 18, 2021/ Dawn Wolfe A group of major funders pledged $11 million to support groups led by and serving BIPOC communities in Detroit. We take a closer look at this latest example of philanthropy’s heightened focus on backing communities of color.Read More