PhilanTopic is now part of the Candid blog

Since 2007, Philanthropy News Digest’s blog, PhilanTopic, has been a “platform for a broad range of opinion and commentary from foundation staff, nonprofit practitioners, and those who simply enjoy a good debate.” After 15 years—and more than 3,000 posts—we are...read more

Closing the digital divide: A commentary by Christopher Worman

An unlikely hero of the COVID-19 pandemic? The parking lot. Sitting in cars by shuttered schools, fast food restaurants, and libraries across America, children without internet at home were able to connect to Wi-Fi to access online classes and continue... read more

Review: ‘Benjamin Franklin’s Last Bet’

Philanthropy is about betting on the future. And while certainly not unique to America, American philanthropy has a peculiar and enduring capacity to shape our world and the lives of generations hence. Whether we are supporting disaster relief, refugee resettlement,... read more

Shift power to Black-led change: A commentary by Chera Reid and Lulete Mola

The uprising for racial justice that was ignited by the murder of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police still reverberates today. Notably, people with power and wealth seemingly took note, with institutions, companies, and organizations vowing to change... read more

Review: 'How to Prevent the Next Pandemic'

If only I led a government or a nongovernmental organization, then maybe I would be cheering with the same unabashed optimism that Bill Gates reveals in his passionate book about the world’s preparedness—or lack thereof—to prevent the next pandemic. As... read more

Stop false narratives that sow division and bias: A commentary by Fred Blackwell

The last few weeks, as monkeypox cases continue to rise, I’ve been noticing a disturbing trend start to resurface. The fearmongering we’ve seen targeted at the LGBTQIA+ community around this virus—I have to say, it feels like Groundhog Day. I’m... read more

The sustainable nonprofit: Addressing challenges in leadership recruitment and retention

While serving constituents in need has always been challenging, today’s food banks face a new post-pandemic and rapidly shifting socio-economic landscape that is impacting how they recruit and retain leadership. We need to consider fresh strategies that food bank executives... read more

Parental involvement in decision making is key to ending the cycle of poverty: A commentary by Anne Mosle

There is an essential ingredient that gives us a real shot at ending the cycle of poverty forever: parents. It is an election year, and we will hear a lot about “doing right by our families,” but one of the... read more

The Black community finds ways to restore dignity: A Q&A with Garnesha Ezediaro, Bloomberg Philanthropies

Garnesha Ezediaro leads Bloomberg Philanthropies’ Greenwood Initiative, an effort to accelerate the pace of wealth accumulation for Black individuals and families and address systemic underinvestment in Black communities. Ezediaro has worked across the public, private, and philanthropic sectors to design,... read more

Wage inequity is 'a dream deferred': A commentary by Kyra Kyles

One of my favorite poems of all time is Langston Hughes’ “Harlem,” better known by the compelling question it posits: “What happens to a dream deferred?” Far too many in the BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, and people of color) community can... read more

Recruiting and retaining employees with skills-based volunteering: A commentary by Tessa Vithayathil

The COVID-19 pandemic has spurred an unprecedented shift within the U.S. workforce. No industry or sector has escaped as a record number of people have left their jobs in what’s been called the “Great Resignation.” Perhaps you have witnessed this... read more

'Hidden obstacles' to behavior change: A commentary by Alice Ng

Organizations of all kinds often aim to change people’s behavior by offering incentives or warning of negative consequences. Foundations, governments, and NGOs often rely on lessons learned from programmatic reports or interventions that worked in similar circumstances. But these approaches... read more

Innovate and invest in communities: A commentary by Angela F. Williams

Americans are hurting. More than one million people across our nation have died from COVID-19, a staggering and profound loss. Even as we continue to grieve, the other crises we face—rising costs of living, surging gun violence, and increasing division—can... read more

Closing the wealth gap: A Q&A with Denise Scott, President, Local Initiatives Support Corporation

Denise Scott has served as president of Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) since December 2021. She joined LISC in 2001 as the executive director of the organization’s New York office and served as LISC’s executive vice president for programs from... read more

Solidarity fundraising, an equity-driven framework: A commentary by Jeff Wokulira Ssebaggala and Annie Lascoe

When Witness Radio in Kampala, Uganda, faced a government crackdown on groups protesting the World Bank-funded Lubigi Drainage Channel, the organization had to dedicate all its capacity to ensuring its team’s safety. This was in the midst of the COVID-19... read more

Review: 'Resilience That Works'

Stop me if you’ve heard this before: A longtime nonprofit manager who’s spent her entire career steeped in the inner workings of the sector becomes the head of an organization. She works tirelessly, rarely takes a vacation, successfully steers it... read more

Learning from trust-based philanthropy and participatory grantmaking: A commentary by Kim Moore Bailey and Laura Rodriguez

In 2021, Justice Outside’s Rising Leaders Fellowship program brought together 20 early-career nonprofit professionals, most of them Black, Indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC), to get hands-on experience with philanthropy. Fellows had the opportunity to design a $40,000 grantmaking program... read more

Sustaining progressive change through community-based participatory research: A commentary by Sarah Bobrow-Williams

How many of us have spent countless days producing exacting research reports informing the most salient social issues today—only to find a box of undistributed reports in the office storage closet a year later? Even the most impactful research aimed... read more

Review: 'Choose Abundance'

In his 1989 best-seller, The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, Stephen R. Covey coined the terms “abundance mindset,” the belief in a benevolent world rich in resources, and “scarcity mindset,” the belief in a competitive world lacking in resources.... read more

'Resiliency care' for unhoused people: A commentary by Kris Kepler

When we first met Kevin, he was living in a shelter, having struggled earlier in life, he says, with “poor decisions, procrastination, and self-loathing.” He came to the LavaMaeX’s site in Gladys Park, in the heart of Skid Row, once... read more

The sustainable nonprofit: An opportunity to take stock and reset

By inspiring large numbers of people to take sustained action, leaders can turn a cause into a social movement with everyone working in concert to achieve a specific change. Cultural and societal norms do not shift easily, however, so painstaking... read more

Ensuring equitable access to mental health care in communities of color: A commentary by Daniel H. Gillison, Jr.

All people deserve equitable access to quality and comprehensive mental health care. But unfortunately, some of the populations most in need of such care have historically been, and continue to be, the most underserved. According to the Health and Human... read more

Learning environments that prioritize trust building: A commentary by Cierra Kaler-Jones and Jaime T. Koppel

In the last 20 years, the U.S. Department of Justice’s Community Oriented Policing Services (COPS) office moved more than $1 billion in grants for school policing, hardening, and militarization. The Bipartisan Safer Communities Act, passed quickly in the wake of... read more

Advancing racial and social justice is a core responsibility for Christians: A commentary by Emily Jones

As the executive for racial justice for United Women in Faith, I think regularly about how to inspire our hundreds of thousands of members to make the world a more just and equitable place. United Women in Faith is committed... read more

Review: 'Nonprofit Neighborhoods: An Urban History of Inequality and the American State'

In 2014, when Massachusetts launched its “pay for success” social impact bond program—in which private investors would front the funding for nonprofit efforts to address a social issue—it was hailed as an innovative, data-driven public-private partnership that would deliver demonstrated... read more

An open ecosystem for scientific research: A commentary by Greg Tananbaum

Philanthropies aspire to lofty goals—solving seemingly intractable problems, creating a more just society, curing diseases, and deepening our understanding of our place in the universe. But the success of these missions depends not only on what we fund but on... read more

Immigrant justice is intersectional: A commentary by Birdie Soti

Every year, from all across the globe, tens of thousands of children migrate to the United States in search of safety. Their reasons for leaving home span all issues—from climate change to gender-based violence to racial injustice and religious persecution.... read more

Review: 'The Sustainable High ROI Fundraising System'

The concept of fundraising should be a simple and self-explanatory one. It’s right in the name: As a fundraiser, your job is to raise funds. But, as Joanne Oppelt points out in her book, The Sustainable High ROI Fundraising System,... read more

Supporting BIPOC-led climate work creatively: A commentary by Kim Moore Bailey, Danielle Levoit, and Michele Perch

Foundations across the United States have increased funding for racial equity and social justice over the last few years, but more needs to be done to support the organizations at the forefront of this work. A 2021 report by the... read more

Racial justice at the forefront of impact investing: A commentary by Ian Fuller

Following the racial reckoning of 2020, billions in corporate and individual donations to Black-serving and Black-led organizations changed the landscape of investment advising. If investment advisory firms are to keep up with this trend, they must adopt a community-centered, racial... read more

A path grounded in great love, a path that demands great risks: A commentary by Saida Agostini-Bostic

We are living in a time of profound crisis. In a moment when, yet again, our country has confirmed that the personhood and autonomy of Black and Brown communities, trans and gender-nonconforming (TGNC) people, migrants, and sex workers is not... read more