COVID-19

Spend-Out as a Marathon, Not a Sprint

By August 11, 2020

In 2015, I wrote a reflection as I concluded my first year as a funder, a timestamp in my life that goes something like this: pre-baby, pre-Trump, pre-wildfires, pre-COVID, pre-George Floyd-inspired acceleration of racial reckoning. At that time, I was preoccupied with how to keep my ego from inflating as a side effect of becoming…

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There Is No Better Time Than Now for Philanthropy to Spend Itself Out of Existence

By July 30, 2020

By Ellen Friedman , Glen Galaich, and Pia Infante Reposted with permission of The Chronicle of Philanthropy As our nation grapples with a confluence of crises, philanthropy is abuzz with how best to respond. Some are increasing payouts. Others are allowing grantees more flexibility in how they spend funds. A few have issued bonds to…

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In the Face of a Pandemic, Foundations Adopt Trust-based Principles

By March 23, 2020

Last week, in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, several of the nation’s top foundations pledged to ease or eliminate restrictions on grants, reduce asks of grantees, and support and uplift the voices of grantee partners. From the pledge: “By acting together to provide flexibility to our grantee partners, we believe we can help them…

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