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The CEP blog aims to offer a range of perspectives, experiences, and opinions related to effective philanthropic practice. We welcome submissions that address crucial issues facing individual and institutional donors and are not self-promotional in nature. The views expressed in these posts are not necessarily CEP’s own.
The Center for Effective Philanthropy’s new report, State of Nonprofits in 2023: What Funders Need to Know, reveals that the inability to invest in support systems for staff is the primary challenge facing nonprofits today, according to nonprofit leaders themselves....
When the COVID-19 emergency was declared, everything changed with our funders, clients, volunteers, and community. Suddenly, there were no volunteers, an expanded client base, and anxious staff. Most of our clients lost their jobs when the stay-at-home orders were...
There is increasing evidence that the shifts in funder practices that began in 2020 are continuing in the years since. In a new CEP research study, released today, we have documented changes in the past year in how both individual and institutional donors work with...
In June 2020, when staff members at the organization I lead — the East Bay Community Law Center (EBCLC) — asked me to designate Juneteenth as an office holiday, I said no. As a Black woman committed to advancing racial justice, this decision raised eyebrows and...
Concern about mental health has skyrocketed since the COVID pandemic. In May of this year, Dr. Vivek Murthy, the surgeon general of the USA, issued an advisory about another pandemic, one that preceded COVID-19 but was largely eclipsed by it — the issue of loneliness,...
Over the past several months, a debate has waged in articles, virtual panels, and social media over the recent op-ed in the Chronicle of Philanthropy titled, "We Disagree on Many Things, but We Speak With One Voice in Support of Philanthropic Pluralism". Creatively...
This post was originally published in July 2022. We re-share it now, not only because its message remains vital but because it continues to be critical that we listen to what students themselves share about their experiences and their needs. In the year since this...
I often ask myself the question, “What can we learn from other cultures of philanthropy that can inform the way we give today?” It’s a question borne out of curiosity about the way that philanthropy is practiced in different cultures and across different times in...
AI is here, and it is changing the way many in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors (and other fields, too, of course) work, or even think about their roles; for some, this is an exciting prospect, for others a deeply threatening one. For most of us, though, it...
Americans love a good success story and high school graduation season lends itself to tales of exceptional achievement as each spring brings a predictable stream of articles with clickbait titles like: “High school senior graduating two years early offered admission...
Philanthropy has become an increasingly important tool for individuals to drive change and express their values, with Millennial and Gen Z donors particularly engaged in addressing issues of systemic inequality and social justice. While a small number of funders...
During a conversation last month about a journalism project that needs more funding, I was explaining to a foundation program officer our policy for disclosing grant funding in the journalism we publish noting that The Associated Press maintains complete control over...
AI is here, and it is changing the way many in the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors (and other fields, too, of course) work, or even think about their roles; for some, this is an exciting prospect, for others a deeply threatening one. For most of us, though, it...
My path to philanthropy leads through the Appalachian mountains, where I grew up surrounded by a strong-knit yet financially impoverished community. Although my hometown is full of good people, it is a place that lacks economic opportunity. Through a combination of...
There is a persistent itch in the working world right now, a growing sense of deep and widely shared dissatisfaction. As part of my work with Leading Edge, an organization working to improve culture and leadership in the Jewish nonprofit field, I get to speak with...
In the past year alone, journalists from The Associated Press have explored the impact of climate change on the Jordan River and other sacred rivers in Africa, Asia, and South America; revealed hundreds of thousands of students have disappeared from U.S. public school...
In college, I had a journalism professor who taught us never to start a piece with a question. But I can’t help myself. I want to know: Who is threatening "philanthropic freedom?” And I want to know what pluralism really looks like — and who defines it? OK, that was...
The scale, speed, and innovative approach of Mackenzie Scott’s giving is unprecedented. It should energize dialog and actions among givers of all sorts, ideally moving the field toward learning and improvement. In a previous post, I highlighted the potential impact of...
This post originally appeared on the blog in October 2021. With the effects of climate change becoming starker, climate philanthropy is taking off as never before. New players like the Bezos Earth Fund are making a splash and overall funding is rising each year; a...
The challenges that nonprofits take on — hunger, disease, climate change, armed conflict, racial injustice, gender inequality, and human rights abuses, to list just a few — are amongst the toughest that societies face. The odds often seem insurmountable, particularly...