Weekend Link Roundup (December 21-22, 2019)

We're back with a special solstice edition of our roundup of noteworthy items from and about the social sector. For more links to great content, follow us on Twitter at @pndblog....

Criminal Justice

In a post that originally appeared on the Heinz Endowments' blog, Heinz Endowment president and Center for Effective Philanthropy board chair Grant Oliphant examines some of the myths and fears behind the system of mass incarceration that has characterized American criminal justice for the last forty years.

Fundraising

With a handful of working days left in the year, lots of folks are feeling overwhelmed, panicky, and guilty. Instead of giving in to negative feelings, Kris Putnam-Walkerly tells her clients "to get clear on their top three priorities, block out time on their calendar to tackle their priorities, and get them done." It's good advice, she adds, any time of the year.

On the theory that good advice is better received late than never, check out Vu Le's sample annual appeal letter before you close the books on 2019.

Health

On the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Culture of Health blog, Monica Hobbs Vinluan looks at an RWJF-supported multi-state initiative that explores how programs and policies can be integrated to make it easier for all families to thrive.

Philanthropy

Writing on the HistPhil blog, Gara LaMarche, president of the Democracy Alliance and the former head of U.S. Programs for the Open Society Foundations and president of Atlantic Philanthropies, reflects on the importance of serendipity in philanthropy.

On the NCRP blog, Walter Howell, a senior consultant, and Lauri Valerio, communications manager at Community Wealth Partners, share four questions that funders should "sit with" as they learn to let communities lead.

Fingertip giving, humane tech, philanthrosophizing, and billionaire are a few of the words on Lucy Bernholz's list of the top buzzwords for 2020. Check out the Chronicle of Philanthropy for the rest and Lucy's always-interesting explanations.

On the Alliance magazine blog, Daniel Ferrell-Schweppenstedde and Cleodie Rickard, policy manager and policy and public affairs executive, respectively, at the Charities Aid Foundation, share highlights of a recent Alliance panel discussion dedicated to feminist philanthropy. Questions discussed at the event included: What is feminist philanthropy? How does it differ from purely funding women and girls? What role do women’s funds play? And how can the sector achieve gender equality?

Transparency

"Strong systems for financial transparency and accountability on both sides of the funding process are critical for organizations to achieve their programmatic goals," writes Skyler Badenoch, CEO of Hope for Haiti, on Glasspocket's Transparency Talk blog. For donors, that means being transparent about what they want to fund, and why; investing in strategic partnerships and giving greater consideration to multiyear funding; and insisting on good governance, accountability, and transparency in the organizations they decide to fund. Check out the rest of Badenoch's post for more good advice.

That's it for now. Drop us a line at Mitch.Nauffts@Candid.org if you have something you'd like to share. And Happy Thanksgiving to all! We'll be next Sunday with another roundup.