Weekend Link Roundup (February 17-18, 2018)

Our weekly roundup of noteworthy items from and about the social sector. For more links to great content, follow us on Twitter at @pndblog....

Education

How can we make strong learning outcomes accessible to every child in public education? Charmaine Jackson Mercer, a new member of the Education team at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, shares her thoughts.

Fundraising

Forbes Nonprofit Council member Austin Gallagher, CEO of environmental nonprofit Beneath the Waves, shares five fundraising tips for new nonprofit leaders.

Gun Control

On her Social Velocity blog, Nell Edgington argues that the pattern of social change in America — from the abolition of slavery, to women's suffrage, to the legalization of interracial marriage — should give us hope that Americans, led by moms, will come together to support commonsense gun legislation.

Health

Th real cause of the opiod epidemic that is devastating America? According to a working paper authored by Christopher Ruhm of the University of Virginia its not what you think it is. Richard Florida reports for CityLab.

Human Trafficking

Here on PhilanTopic, Catherine Chen, director of investments at Humanity United, announces that, through its Pathways to Freedom challenge, Atlanta, Chicago and Minneapolis have been invited to partner with the organization to address the urgent problem of human trafficking.

International Affairs/Development

Hungary's right-wing nationalist government has introduced legislation that would empower the interior minister to ban non-governmental organizations that support migration and pose a "national security risk" — a bill seen by many has targeting the "liberal and open-border values" promoted by U.S.-Hungarian financier/philanthropist George Soros. Reuters'Krisztina Than reports.

Nonprofits

On his Nonprofit Chronicles blog, Marc Gunther continues his series on sexual harassment in the animal welfare movement.

And on his Nonprofit AF blog, Vu Le reflects on a few things the nonprofit sector can do to facilitate discussion of and action designed to address sexual harassment.

Philanthropy

Can philanthropy help create spaces for people to come together around complex and divisive issues? Yes, say the folks at Philanthropy for Active Civic Engagement (PACE). And the key to bridging divides in society is "asset-based framing, with a focus on gifts, on associational life, and on the insight that all transformation occurs through language."

As philanthropy has embraced strategic philanthropy, the term "checkbook philanthropy" has become a pejorative, writes Rick Moyers, chair of of the board of BoardSource, on the Center for Effective Philanthropy blog, "and that's a shame. Simply writing checks to effective organizations doing important work can be an honorable approach to philanthropy and doesn't have to be mindless, haphazard, or ineffectual....Indeed,...[m]More checkbook philanthropy could go a long way toward solving some of the chronic problems with how nonprofit organizations are capitalized."

Gen Xers and millennials are reinventing what it means to do good. Sharna Goldseker and Michael Moody, authors of Generation Impact: How Next Gen Donors Are Revolutionizing Giving, share key takeaways from their book with the folks at the Knowledge@Wharton show.

Public Affairs

The Trump administration's budget for fiscal year 2019 calls for the elimination of the National Endowment for the Arts and National Endowment for the Humanities, each of which receives just under $150 million from the feds. Under the administration's proposal, the NEA and NEH would "begin" shutting down in 2019 and, from that point on, neither organization would be considered a "core" federal responsibility. The New York Times shares the AP's "highlights" of the Trump budget.

Interesting NYT analysis of the twenty legislators in the House and Senate who have received the most funding from the National Rifle Association over the course of their careers.

Transparency

On the Glasspockets blog, Whitney Tome, executive director of Green 2.0, a campaign dedicated to increasing the racial diversity of mainstream environmental NGOs, foundations and federal government agencies, explains how foundation transparency around diversity, equity, inclusion and justice "can position philanthropy to lead by example instead of just playing catch up...."

(Photo credit: Cameron Spencer, Getty Images)

Got something you'd like to share? Dro p us a line at mfn@foundationcenter.org.