Weekend Link Roundup (June 9-10, 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.... 

Advocacy

On the CEP blog, Tim Delaney, president and CEO of the National Council of Nonprofits, wonders how "the 501(c)(3) community expect[s] different policy results if [it] continue[s] to ignore the urgent need to protect our common interests through defensive policy work? That's not an academic question," adds Delaney. "Right now, serious policy threats loom over foundations and nonprofits and demand immediate and aggressive pushback...."

Fundraising

Facebook -- remember them? -- has made it easier for people, companies, celebrities, and others to raise money on its platform. Fast Company's Melissa Locker explains.

Can nonprofits use design thinking to improve their fundraising results? Absolutely. Kathleen Kelly Janus, a social entrepreneur, author, and lecturer at the Stanford Program on Social Entrepreneurship, explains.

Giving

"Regrettably, [it is still common to] hear researchers and media equate generosity with individuals' or groups' formal charitable giving — that is, giving in, to, through, or for a charitable organization," writes Paul Schervish, retired founder and director of the Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College. But, adds Schervish, "[f]ormal giving is just one aspect of generosity — and when looked at historically and globally, not the most pronounced."

Health

In a post on the Commonwealth Fund's blog, Timothy S. Jost, an emeritus professor at the Washington and Lee University School of Law, explains how a new Trump administration court filing could lead to denial of coverage or higher premiums for the estimated 52 million Americans with preexisting conditions.

Higher Education

Is higher education in a bubble? And what does the future hold if higher ed's trajectory is "less of a sudden pop and more of a long, slow slide, and we are already on the way down?" Adam Harris reports for The Atlantic.

Journalism/Media

In many ways, this is the worst of times for the news industry, which has experienced precipitous declines in both its revenues and levels of trust (from 72 percent in 1976 to 32 percent in 2017). What can the industry do to address the damage? Nancy Watzman, editor of Trust, Media & Democracy on Medium and director of strategic initiatives for Dot Connector Studio, shares nine takeaways from Knight Foundation-sponsored research on restoring trust in the media.

In an age when notions such as "truth" and "reality" are under assault, Booker Prize-winning novelist Salman Rushdie argues in The New Yorker that it is incumbent on us "to recognize that any society's idea of truth is always the product of an argument, and we need to get better at winning that argument. Democracy is not polite," writes Rushdie. "It's often a shouting match in a public square. [And we] need to be involved in the argument if we are to have any chance of winning it...."

Nonprofits

Nonprofit AF's Vu Le thinks basing nonprofit pay on an employee's or job candidate's salary history is a bad idea and shares four reasons why nonprofits should dump the practice.

Philanthropy

What does power have to do with equity? And how can grantmakers better leverage power to help drive lasting, positive change in our communities? The National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy's Lisa Ranghelli shares some thoughts — hers, as well as those of others — in a post on the NCRP blog.

Earlier this month, the Conrad N. Hilton Foundation announced a streamlining of its priority areas. On the Devex site, Peter Laugharn, the foundation's president and CEO, shares more details about its evolving priorities.

Racial Equity

In a new post, Meyer Foundation president Nicky Goren introduces a restatement of its equity-focused strategic plan and a new racial equity resource page that includes links to information that has guided the foundation's thinking, definitions that add clarity to the way it discusses its work, and a glimpse of the local history that contributed to the state of racial equity in the D.C. region today.

Social Change

How many thoughtful, committed citizens does it take to change the world? According to a new study form the University of Pennsylvania, cultural shifts happen when "at least 25 percent of a community’s population is committed to changing what is considered the social norm." Katherine Wei reports for Sierra magazine.

Social Media

And on the GuideStar blog, Richard Nolan, a professional educator and team-building coach, shares eight simple things nonprofits can do to attract more social media followers.

(Photo Credit: Mike Segar/Reuters)

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