Jeri Eckhart Queenan

Great article by Ghada Abdel Tawab, Otto Saki & Sally Roever. Civic space has always been a powerful tool for organizing, sharing ideas, and holding power to account. It catalyzed the end of apartheid, advanced reproductive rights for Latin American feminists, and fueled global climate change movements. However, civic space is elastic: it can expand widely or be forcibly restricted. Workers, the world's largest organized movement, intuitively understand the importance of civic space. Despite facing immense challenges, they are using this space to counteract authoritarian abuses. A powerful example is the resilience of waste pickers. These 20 million "invisible environmentalists" play a critical role in urban sustainability, recycling 60% of the world's plastic and reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Yet, they face severe marginalization and unsafe working conditions. Supported by WIEGO, Latin American waste pickers spent six years building their collective voice to secure a hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. This milestone moment marked the first official recognition of waste pickers' rights by a major human rights body. Victories like these protect and expand civic space and inspire other workers to organize for better conditions. The global waste pickers' movement has influenced UN Plastics Treaty negotiations, promoted extended producer responsibility, and inspired a documentary showcasing their fight for rights. In May 2024, the International Alliance of Waste Pickers held its first Elective Congress, a vibrant civic space where waste pickers from around the world elected their leaders and united for international recognition. Hosted by Argentina’s Union of Popular Economy Workers, this historic Congress was a milestone decades in the making. Together, let's support and expand civic space for all workers, ensuring they can continue to fight for their rights with dignity and justice. #LaborRights #CivicSpace #EnvironmentalJustice #WastePickers #GlobalSouth #WorkersUnite #HumanRightshttps //https://lnkd.in/gbhayubd

17

Whilst its hard to see that any progress has been made, to the contrary - it looks like 0 progress made and everything got worse, with recent years breaking through the 1.5C targets. We mustn't give up hope that the many initiatives that have been kicked off as a result of these agreements, have prevented worse things from happening... too optimistic? maybe But working in the sustainability and SDG space has never been more exciting, with many people sharing that a just transition to a more sustainable, de-growth and circular economy is, ...possible. The questions is how fast, to prevent worse things from happening (Climate Catastrophy, Ecological Collapse, ...the list is getting longer). Currently the ANNUAL financing gap to the 2030 SDGs is (according to UN estimates), around $4 trillion. This is the same as Germany's or Japan's Gross Domestic Product. This is a staggering number and concept that the money missing to achieve the SDGs is the same as the monetary value of ALL finished goods and services made in Germany or Japan on an annual basis. And yet, the world economy is worth around $100 Trillion, so $4 trillion = 4%. That ...almost...sounds doable? too optimistic? maybe When it comes to asset managers, total discretionary assets under management (AUM) of the 500 biggest managers amounted to USD 113.7 trillion at the end of 2022, down by 13.7% from the end of 2021. The largest, BlackRock, manages $10 trillion and the next biggest 2, Vanguard ($9 trillion) and Fidelity ($4 trillion). Surely, investing into solutions on a planet that is actually liveable with resources being consumed at a sustainable pace is what its at? Otherwise, what will be managed in 20 or 30 years?

6

4 Comments

✨🏦 Seeking funding to elevate your nonprofit's impact in 2024?🏦✨ Explore these exceptional grants tailored for 501c3 organizations: 1. Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation: Known for its global efforts in public health and education, the Gates Foundation supports initiatives combating diseases like AIDS and malaria, alongside projects promoting sustainable development and women's health. They accept proposals through Request for Proposals, making it accessible for nonprofits aiming to innovate and scale. 2. Ford Foundation: At the forefront of combating inequality, the Ford Foundation invests in human rights, education, and economic justice. Beyond traditional grants, they offer program-related investments to catalyze social change and sustainability, ensuring lasting impacts in communities worldwide. 3. Open Society Foundations: Founded by George Soros, this foundation champions global democracy and justice. They provide grants for specific projects or general operating support, with a flexible application process that includes requests for proposals and letters of inquiry. Ideal for nonprofits advocating for civil rights, equity, and societal progress. 4. Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Dedicated to health equity globally, RWJF focuses on improving health outcomes for all. Their grant-making process includes calls for proposals and supports innovative solutions to complex health challenges, empowering nonprofits to lead transformative change in healthcare. 5. National Endowment for the Arts (NEA): Enhancing cultural vitality across the United States, NEA supports diverse art forms and projects that enrich communities. Nonprofits can access funding opportunities through a rigorous but rewarding application process involving registrations with SAM.gov and Grants.gov, ensuring alignment with NEA's mission to foster creativity and artistic expression. These grants not only provide financial support but also invaluable opportunities to expand your nonprofit's reach and impact. Each foundation offers unique avenues for funding, so tailor your proposals thoughtfully to maximize your chances of success. Ready to make a difference? Dive into these grant opportunities and propel your nonprofit's mission forward! Jeremy Burwell Founder/CEO Kingdom Works Giving, Inc. contact@kingdomworksgiving.org www.kingdomworksgiving.org #NonprofitFunding #GrantOpportunities #501c3 #SocialImpact

2

How can TBP advance impact? check out this webinar!

6

Which Organizational Model Is Most Facilitative of Philanthropy? Hint: Philanthropy, as measured by giving to organizations (charities, nonprofits, NGOs) is most robust in the healthiest of democracies. Democracies foster the creation of purpose-driven organizations (PDOs). PDOs address what government does not, or augment what government doesn't do as much of or as well as what many people hope, want or expect. PDOs constitute a vital part of a functioning democracies. No matter how they are formed, they won't last if don't attract, retain and re-inspire the monetary and voluntary votes of significant segments of the people. Therefore, the less democratic an organization is in its orientation, the more it will become a private club dependent on the wealthy few. The more it remembers it was once a cause born in the streets and commits itself to listening and responding, the more it will resonate and attract time, talent and treasure. The diagram below show the three dominant models of purpose driven organizations. The first mimics the church. We are the keepers of the faith. We know best. Listen to us, trust us and give generously when we pass the offering basket. It's fine as long as you have a large congregation of kindred spirits who see you as god-like and feel led by your spiritual direction. It's not fine if you don't provide the same but expect the same obedience. The second represents the adaption that many organizations made when they realized, either by experimentation or emulation, that you attract more private support when you give people choices. Some of those organizations came to realize they could attract even more private support if they defined how levels of investment would drive them closer to society-serving goals. Just changing mindsets from "gifts" to "investments" helped many organizations adapt to changing philanthropic realities including the rise of the entrepreneurial donor. The third model represents the dynamic from which many PDOs were formed years, decades or centuries ago but, as they grew larger, lost sight of. It is the dynamic to which they must return if they hope to sustain their relevance and attract a larger share of monetary and voluntary votes.

17

2 Comments

I found this article by Kristen Cambell of Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE) in the The Chronicle of Philanthropy to make a world of sense and to be very timely. The time and energy that we spend on "purity tests" where self-righteous "purists" on issues like climate change, Gaza, etc. accuse more pragmatic allies of not being committed or extreme enough are mostly divisive and harmful to the causes we believe in. In my opinion, the powerlessness people feel on issues they care about prompts them to go too far in the only thing they feel that they can control -- how extreme a position to take and the extent to which they try to impose it on others. Frankly, I am tired of being told that my position on the Gaza crisis -- which includes strong condemnation of the Israeli response, support for a Palestinian state, and opposition to terrorism and antisemitism in all of their forms -- does not go far enough. The author describes these purists well: "When speaking on issues, they may take moralistic, finite, and absolutist stances that do not leave room for other good-faith perspectives. Often, despite their best intentions, a lack of proximity to the issues means they can’t see the complexities and nuances under the surface." Most social change is incremental and is the result of years of building alliances, tactical compromises that are rooted in enduring values, and other actions that combine urgency, creativity, and pragmatism while acknowledging the kind of nuance that the author references.

5

1 Comment

The final Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP Global) Fundraising Effectiveness Project report on #donoractivity for 2023 was released April 7. There is a lot of data to interpret. 📈 📉 📊 💻 Please join us on Thursday April 25 for a conversation with Ben Miller, Chair of FEP, to do a deep dive on the data and discuss ways in which we can improve our proficiency and efficacy. While overall numbers are down, we are optimists, and appreciate the fact that there is an area of brightness and hope in last year's #nonprofitsector : an increase in new #donoracquisition – the first time since 2020! – our challenge for 2024 is to retain those donors! This presents an opportunity to revisit how we thank and engage the donors who improve the quality of the world in which we live. Register via 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eeSmPPS5 Access complete report via 🔗 https://lnkd.in/e_SnRgR4 Visionary Philanthropic Consulting, LLC Tim Smith Michael Shippam David Krause Melanie R. Sabelhaus Jason Blumenthal Jelena Spasic Ava Willis-Barksdale Linda C. Coughlin Jon Kevin Gossett, ACFRE #fundraising #philanthropy #industrytrends #dataanalytics

4

"As funders and as Jews, we have watched with increasing alarm over the past few months as our peers in philanthropy–many of whom espouse values of democracy, justice, listening, learning, and respecting the leadership and autonomy of their grantees–have issued threats, delayed funding, or withdrawn funding to organizations doing essential work at this moment in history, simply because those organizations have dared to criticize Israel’s policies, call Israel’s attacks a genocide, or even call for a ceasefire. We have also seen a dramatic ramping up of efforts in philanthropy to marginalize, discredit, and censor voices – including Jewish voices – that dissent from certain orthodoxies. It is not lost on us that the majority of the organizations that have lost funding as a result of their solidarity with Palestinian liberation are BIPOC-led, youth-led, and/or based in the Global South. Several of the groups that donors have sought to silence and/or punish are intermediary groups and public foundations–groups that play a critical role in our shared philanthropic ecosystem by providing financial and technical support to smaller, more nascent organizations that do not have direct access to consistent funding sources. Withdrawing funds from those groups has a ripple effect throughout the ecosystem we have worked so hard to nourish, punishing those doing life-saving work in exceptionally vulnerable communities and contexts."

7

1 Comment

Attn: Fellow consultants and grantmakers that work with consultants! Please take 10 minutes to complete this survey and share your insights on the role of consultants and advisors in helping grantmakers advance their philanthropy.  National Network of Consultants to Grantmakers (NNCG) and 21/64 are partnering on this survey to assess the practice of philanthropy by understanding the behavior and attitudes of grantmakers and the consultants and advisors who serve them. Start here: https://lnkd.in/g-Ggy4E

5

1 Comment

Sharing my latest blog post on GIV3: https://lnkd.in/eKjV-G9N Perhaps you have some thoughts? Our current charity ecosystem is built on donors providing resources, via intermediary foundations, into charities, and received by those in need. It is quite linear. It is a historic paradigm, with a significant imbalance of power, poor accountability, weak transparency, questionable inclusion + diversity, and with practically no voice or agency for those in need. Although we have 75,000+ charities in Canada, we clearly do not have this many unique charitable missions. There must be inefficiencies, duplications, fragmented efforts, and poor synergistic collaboration. For greater social impact, there is likely an opportunity to harmonize common efforts, leverage synergies, find cost savings, and reduce duplication.... In my mind, I am thinking about a set of independent national “Mission Centric Agencies” (MCAs); One national “MCA” for each of the 30-50 key missions deemed most important to our communities. There could be a “Homeless MCA”, a “Food security MCA”, a “Literacy MCA”, a “Domestic Animal Protection MCA”, a “Youth Sports MCA”, etc. - A simple way to determine which are of the greatest priority is to poll taxpayers and let democracy help guide what we value most. Each “MCA” would act as a central hub as to who and what ‘works best’ in solving its respective unique mission. It would conduct research and collect insights on how to best solve its mission. It would develop a network of interested parties. It would work to disseminate best-practices specific to its unique mission, to build collaboration, and to coordinate different partners. It would work to reduce duplication, de-fragment, and develop a shared hub of expertise. It is about achieving one singular harmony, while allowing organizations to continue their independence. MCAs would be established with their own boards, and working teams.  They would need some (minimal) federal funding to ensure they were resourced to succeed. The team would then engage any and all agents who could help solve the mission, including businesses, universities, grant-making foundations, government departments, different levels of governments, possibly different government departments (the armed forces, police forces, fire fighters, hospitals, and so on), social entrepreneurs who wish to make a buck while enhancing a social benefit, citizens, and certainly voices representing the recipients. Such innovation and beta testing could be one part of the efforts and investments from the new Sector Fund I have mentioned in a prior blog (#7). To put a priority to the innovations, perhaps we should start with a Sector Strategic Plan. Typically, such plans combine the WHAT, with the WHO, the HOW, and the WHEN. We need to start putting into place all of these elements. We need a new plan with a new approach. This will be the topic of my next blog. ‍

2

NEW REPORT: The Research Team at the Center for Effective Philanthropy just released today the "State of Nonprofits 2024: What Funders Need to Know." This report is based on an annual survey of U.S. nonprofits that receive foundation funding. The findings highlight ongoing issues with burnout and staffing within nonprofits. Interestingly, nonprofit leaders are now increasingly concerned about their own burnout, impacting their organization's mission achievement. Access the full report here: https://lnkd.in/gCP-sqPu Awesome work Christina Im, Seara Grundhoefer!

24

Fascinating read in Stanford Social Innovation Review on how “strategic philanthropy” has failed. https://lnkd.in/dYx9UpDK “This failure of strategic philanthropy is rooted in a set of assumptions…that the beneficiaries of philanthropic support are incapable of solving their own problems, that wealthy donors have the wisdom and incentive to solve society’s many challenges, and that the social sector is an effective alternative to government in building an equitable and sustainable society.” “Mounting evidence suggests that these assumptions are wrong.” “This mismatch between charity and well-being is not limited to the United States. Countries with the highest per capita charitable giving—the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom—tend to perform poorly on measures of social progress. The countries that perform best—Scandinavian countries, Germany, and Japan—give to charity as little as 2 percent of what the United States gives per capita, relying on government rather than philanthropy to meet their society’s needs.” “The more we highlight philanthropy as the solution, the more we excuse government and corporations from the need to change.”

79

5 Comments

Years ago, our colleagues at BoardSource wrote an advocacy manual for the nonprofit sector. They named at the time that "when it comes to our missions, the impact of changes in public policy is rarely neutral. And – as leaders of our organizations – that means that we cannot be neutral either." I submit that this call has never been more important to answer. In my latest message to the PNY community, "Building Bridges: Philanthropy’s Journey Towards Active Advocacy," I delve into the transformative power of advocacy in philanthropy and how it extends our capacity to effect real change. This is not just about funding; it's about fostering movement building, influencing policy, and standing up for the necessary systems changes that ensure nonprofits, communities and individuals thrive. The journey is ongoing, and each step forward reinforces the belief that our collective voice can lead to enduring societal benefits. I invite you to read more about how we can all contribute to this dynamic field of active advocacy. Let’s continue to push boundaries together. Your thoughts and feedback would be immensely valuable as we navigate this path forward. #Philanthropy #Advocacy #SocialChange #Leadership

38

The first phase of our anti-oppression curriculum is available for download.

4

2 Comments

Many of you already follow Donna, but everyone should read this article - slowly. Thanks for your guiding wisdom, Donna (gotta brag again, #mcgregorfundtrustee)

17

1 Comment

4 Components of a Culture of Philanthropy "Development staff are always included in organizational decisions. Program staff play an active role in relationship building. Fundraising and engagement are inextricably linked. Transformational relationships take priority over transactions." More insights and explications of these points can be found in this important article by Claire.

181

4 Comments

Grassroots organizations have critical insight for positive community change but need support in creating long-term behavior change. In Candid's Philanthropy News Digest, Multiplier's Alice Ng discusses three strategies for funders to bridge this gap and build a collaborative approach to program design. https://lnkd.in/gZKfqta7 #ThoughtLeadership #BehaviorChange #Funding

8

2 Comments