Weekend Link Roundup (November 12-13, 2016)

Our weekly roundup of noteworthy items from and about the social sector. (And what a week it was.) For more links to great content, follow us on Twitter at @pndblog....

Aging

First up, an open letter to the incoming Trump administration from Bruce A. Chernof, president and CEO of the Scan Foundation, laying out five action items it can take to make America great for older citizens.

Arts and Culture

On the Americans for the Arts site, Robert Lynch, the organization's president and CEOs, pledges to work with the incoming Trump administration to advance pro-arts policies and strengthen efforts to transform communities through the arts.

Climate Change

What does Trump's election mean for the Paris climate agreement? Humanosphere's Tom Murphy breaks it down.

Communications/Marketing

On the Packard Foundation website, Felicia Madsen, the foundation's communications director, reflects on some of the things the foundation has learned about how it uses communications to support grantees.

"Your branding efforts affect the bottom line, at least in terms of meeting goals for fundraising, volunteer recruitment, and signed petitions." So why is your logo so ugly? On FasctCoExist, Ben Paynter shares some thoughts on how to avoid a nonprofit branding nightmare.

Fundraising

#GivingTuesday is right around the corner. Is your nonprofit prepared for success?

Health

Does Trump's election mean automatic repeal of the Affordable Care Act? It's more complicated than that, writes Forbes contributor Bruce Japsen.

And be sure to check out this breakdown by the Kaiser Family Foundation of the president-elect's positions on six key healthcare issues.

International Affairs/Development

"To understand the dynamics of the current process of change we must also understand the history that gives it volume and reach," write Vassilis K. Fouskas and Bulent Gokay on openDemocracy's Transformation blog. "The long crisis that began in the 1970s remains unresolved as neoliberal globalization failed to provide a response within the remit of the Western-led global capitalist system." Bernie Sanders understood this fundamental truth, but "the declining liberal-financial establishments of Wall Street and Washington, D.C., that keep defending the bankrupt international order of neoliberal globalization prevented [Sanders' nomination]. It is for this reason that the prospects are quite bleak for the U.S. and the rest of the world. Will Le Pen and the xenophobic Right in Europe benefit from Trump's victory? Of course they will. But whose fault will that be?" And what might follow? openDemocracy editors from around the globe share their thoughts.

Nice post here on PhilanTopic by economist Claude Forthomme explaining why Kenya is an excellent laboratory for the Sustainable Development Goals. And a good post by Devex contributor Amy Lieberman on why countries are moving ahead on the SDG front without a UN framework in place.

Nonprofits

In the face of the unthinkable, NWB blogger Vu Le reminds everyone working in the nonprofit sector why there's reason for hope. And in Slate, Jordan Weissman says, Don't be depressed, get to work.

One challenge for nonprofits that not enough people are thinking about? The rent is too damn high. Regina Hopkins, staff liaison with the D.C. Bar Pro Bono Center, has some ideas that could help reduce the burden for nonprofits in the district.

In the Boston Globe (reprinted here in the Nonprofit Quarterly), Jim Schaffer asks: In what way is Dan Pallotta qualified to speak for nonprofits?

Philanthropy

How should philanthropy respond to the election of Donald Trump, given that the policies pursued by his administration are likely to have "drastic consequences in the realms of women's health, health care in general, civil rights, environmental protection, and social welfare"? Benjamin Soskis, a historian of philanthropy at the Center for Nonprofit Management, Philanthropy and Policy at George Mason University and a co-editor of the HistPhil blog, shares his thoughts in an op-ed in the Chronicle of Philanthropy.

For more reactions to Trump's election and its implications for philanthropy and the social sector, check out these statements from Judy Belk (California Wellness Foundation), Henry Berman (Exponent Philanthropy), Daniel J. Cardineli (Independent Sector), Don Howard (James Irvine Foundation), Rip Rapson (Kresge Foundation), Lorie A. Slutsky (New York Community Trust), Antony Bugg-Levine (Nonprofit Finance Fund), Maxwell King (Pittsburgh Foundation), Christine Essel (Southern California Grantmakers), Tides, United Way Worldwide, and the World Resources Institute.

And if all that is not enough, check out this Q&A with Kyle Peterson, who joined the Walton Family Foundation as executive director in September and is only the third person in the foundation's history to hold that position. 

Got something you'd like to share? Drop us a line at mfn@foundationcenter.org or post it in the comments section below....