What Yale Got Right That Other Nonprofits Keep Getting Wrong
The nonprofit sector's instinct when public trust declines is to improve its messaging. Yale tried something harder and more honest — self-examination.
By Greg Berman
Contributor
Foundations Created the Jargon Crisis. Here’s How They Can Fix It.
Every touchpoint in the grant-making process — from letters of inquiry to progress reports — trains nonprofits to write in jargon. Funders have the power to change that pattern.
By Matt Watkins
Contributor
This Nonprofit Whispers in Hollywood’s Ear About Polarization. They Hope You Tune In.
Bridge Entertainment Labs aims to be the entertainment consultancy for the bridge-building field.
By Eden Stiffman
Senior Editor
Why Jewish Staff Are Quietly Leaving Progressive Nonprofits
Talented employees are exiting because groups fail to acknowledge antisemitism as an equity issue and turn a blind eye to hurtful and one-sided rhetoric. Leaders must stop ignoring this problem.
By Sharon Leslie
Contributor
Why the Ford Foundation Has Committed $60M in New Funding to Protect Elections
Ford leader Heather Gerken, a constitutional law scholar, outlines a grant-making strategy designed to battle polarization’s gale-force winds.
By Heather Gerken
Contributor
Nonprofits Sit on a Gold Mine of Stories. It’s Time to Use Them.
Storytelling can reveal behavioral patterns and systemic failures that quantitative metrics often miss. I speak from experience. Telling my story helped me win freedom.
By David Gaspar
Contributor
‘Abolish Ice’ or ‘Lock ’em Up?’ A Nonprofit’s Middle Ground Approach to Justice
With federal funding cuts and crime declining, the Vera Institute’s new president argues philanthropy has a rare opening to advance criminal justice reform across ideological lines.
By Alex Daniels
Senior Editor, Foundations
3 Ways to Test if Your Nonprofit’s Message Is Breaking Through
Most nonprofits write for grant makers. Answering these questions will help you communicate with everyone else.
By Matt Watkins
Contributor
A Second Chance to Get Rural America Right
Philanthropy's broken promise to invest in neglected communities helped fuel Trump's rise. Now funders have a new opportunity to win their trust.
By Savannah Barrett
Contributor
Are You Addicted to “Philanthrobabble?”
Video: how the sector became so addicted to jargon and why a return to plain language can create clarity and build trust