March 06, 2023 IP Explainer: What Is a Crowdfunding Platform? March 06, 2023/ IP Staff Philanthropy is difficult to navigate. That’s why we’ve produced a series of explainers to demystify the basics. Today, we look at a relatively new, increasingly popular form of fundraising — online crowdfunding.Read More
June 21, 2022 IP Explainer: Multiyear General Operating Support vs. Project Support June 21, 2022/ IP Staff Philanthropy is difficult to navigate. That’s why we’ve produced a series of explainers to demystify the basics. Today, we look at a key debate: long-term general support versus project support.Read More
June 13, 2022 IP Explainer: What Do the Terms “Perpetuity” and “Spend Down” Mean? June 13, 2022/ IP Staff Philanthropy is difficult to navigate. That’s why we’ve produced a series of explainers to demystify the basics. Today, we look at a key distinction in the foundation world: whether or not a funder plans to stick around.Read More
June 06, 2022 IP Explainer: What is Capacity-Building Support? June 06, 2022/ IP Staff Philanthropy is difficult to navigate. That’s why we’ve produced a series of explainers to demystify the basics. Today, we look at a form of grantmaker support that can be crucial for nonprofits’ long-term sustainability.Read More
May 31, 2022 IP Explainer: What is a Funder Affinity Group? May 31, 2022/ IP Staff Philanthropy is difficult to navigate. That’s why we’ve produced a series of explainers to demystify the basics. Today, we look at the diverse array of funder groups organized around shared causes and interests.Read More
May 23, 2022 IP Explainer: What is Multiyear Funding? May 23, 2022/ IP Staff Philanthropy is difficult to navigate. That’s why we’ve produced a series of explainers to demystify the basics. Today, we look at grant commitments that last for two or more years — and why they’re valuable for nonprofits.Read More
April 11, 2022 Crowdfunding Criminal Justice: Lots of Promise, Lots of Pitfalls April 11, 2022/ Philip Rojc Taking advantage of the exponential growth of genealogical databases, donors are zeroing in on decades-old cold cases and funding DNA analysis in the hopes of resolving them. It’s an appealing prospect, but it comes with caveats.Read More
March 07, 2022 Philanthropy Responds: A Round-up of Efforts to Support Ukraine March 07, 2022/ Liz Longley The conflict in Ukraine has sparked a humanitarian crisis at a scale the region hasn’t seen since World War II. Here are some of the ways philanthropic funders have stepped up for refugees and people staying in country.Read More
January 26, 2022 How Hispanics in Philanthropy Is Serving Latin America—with a Big Boost from MacKenzie Scott January 26, 2022/ Liz Longley Hispanics in Philanthropy acts as an affinity group, a donor network, a grantmaker, a crowdfunding platform, and more, and a big portion of its work serves communities in Latin America. Here’s how this work is evolving.Read More
September 16, 2021 5 Things To Know About the Wikimedia Foundation’s First Round of Racial Equity Grants September 16, 2021/ Liz Longley Wikimedia Foundation is devoted to the free flow of information, but that doesn’t always translate to equal representation or access. The organization is funding work “at the intersection of free knowledge and racial justice.”Read More
May 11, 2021 Charles Best Mobilized Millions for Teachers and Students. Here's What He Learned May 11, 2021/ Caroline Bermudez The founder of DonorsChoose changed philanthropy with a crowdfunding site that raises money for requests from public school teachers. As he steps down as CEO, Charles Best reflects on how it started and why it’s been so successful.Read More
April 29, 2020 Women Give More Online. Will They Keep it up During COVID? April 29, 2020/ Julia Travers New research shows women are giving more gifts and dollars online. How do they give on different platforms? And how might this virtual giving help nonprofits sustain their fundraising with events and other activities on hold?Read More
March 11, 2020 Want to Raise More Money Online? Stop Endlessly Pestering Your Donors March 11, 2020/ Elisa Shoenberger Face it, the vast bulk of your fundraising emails go unread or get deleted. And many donors and prospects are so tired of a blizzard of solicitations that they’re unsubscribing from mailing lists more often. Here’s how to turn things around. Read More
November 07, 2019 Tapping its Vast Reach, a Retailing Giant Commits to Cancer Research November 07, 2019/ Liz Longley A partnership that brings together Walgreens, which serves 8 million customers a day, and two leaders in cancer research aims to raise $25 million at a time when retailers are having growing success with crowdfunding gifts at checkout. Read More
July 05, 2019 Pitching in While Checking Out: Retail-driven Fundraising is Growing July 05, 2019/ Elisa Shoenberger At checkouts across the country, people are asked to make a $1 or $5 gift to a charity of the retailer’s choice. These efforts are spreading, often raising substantial sums through many tiny donations. How do the campaigns work?Read More
April 06, 2019 Torch: Behind a Business Intelligence Platform for Philanthropy and the Social Sector April 06, 2019/ Philip Rojc For funders and fundraisers alike, keeping track of stakeholder conversations can be hard in an era of digital overload. We connect with a tech firm that’s built a new tool to help organizations navigate an increasingly noisy nonprofit landscape. Read More
January 23, 2019 “Philanthropy Made Easy.” A Platform to Help Small Donors Engage in Smarter Giving January 23, 2019/ Philip Rojc While wealthy donors often get professional help to find grantees, smaller donors can have a tougher time figuring things out. We look at one of the new intermediaries, ALMA, that aims to guide givers of modest means by curating portfolios of nonprofits. Read More
December 20, 2018 Moved to Act: A TV Star Creates a Platform to Teach Students How to Give December 20, 2018/ Ade Adeniji Canadian-born actress Serinda Swan co-founded Deedly, an education platform that empowers students to learn about global problems and the charities that strive to fix them. We recently sat down with Swan in Los Angeles to learn more.Read More
December 08, 2018 Help Wanted: What Will It Take to Make Workplace Giving More Effective? December 08, 2018/ Philip Rojc Traditional workplace giving campaigns are on the decline. Reversing that trend means tapping into the digital era’s culture of personal engagement, value alignment and racial and gender diversity.Read More
November 27, 2018 Brave New World: How Cryptocurrencies and the Blockchain Are Changing Philanthropy November 27, 2018/ Julia Travers Blockchain technology and cryptocurrencies are showing up more and more in philanthropy. We look at some of the main crypto-giving methods at play, as well as some of the risks involved.Read More