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PEAK Grantmaking

Weekly Reader – June 18, 2018

What we’re reading and recommending this week. We add to this post throughout the week and look for your suggestions in the comments.

Monday, June 18

Philanthropy, Groupthink, and Climate Change (Marc Gunther, Nonprofit Chronicles) The groupthink of big climate funders has helped to give us a US climate movement that is neither driven by evidence nor politically powerful. It’s also a classic example of how the lack of accountability of foundations can lead to insular thinking and ineffective grant-making.

Tuesday, June 19

Rural Funders Urge Philanthropies To Let Communities Lead The Way (Betsey Russell, Daily Yonder) Philanthropies that focus on rural communities in Colorado, Oregon and Texas say they work more through organizers and “embedded staff” and less through gatekeeping program officers. “We no longer have program officers; we have community partners,” says one foundation official.

Wednesday, June 20

U.S. Foundations Taking Action to Address Refugee Crisis, Report Finds (Philanthropy News Digest) In response to the global refugee crisis and the U.S. government’s increasingly hard-line immigration policies, foundations are taking action to support refugees and asylum seekers, a report from Grantmakers Concerned with Immigrants and Refugees finds.

Thursday, June 21

An Old Foundation with a New Strategy Expands Its Early Childhood Work (Caitlin Reilly, Inside Philanthropy) More funders keep appearing on the early childhood learning scene. We look at why a family foundation that’s been around for a half-century is now ramping up in this area, most recently with an eight-figure gift.

Friday, June 22

The Nonprofit Whisperer: Building a Culture of Philanthropy (The Nonprofit Whisperer, Nonprofit Quarterly) Is there a rule of thumb or some such guideline for how many grant staff members are needed to raise a certain dollar level of just grants? I am the only person managing, writing, researching, and submitting grants, yet I’m expected to raise a certain amount (which I have never achieved, and which gets larger every year).


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