Henry Lucero’s Post

The Giving USA report has certainly generated some concern amongst nonprofits, but it should not be a surprise. The response to the report has involved a lot of data sifting and many questions in a search for causes. The answers, however, are not simple cause and effect; they require a more complex view of the philanthropic terrain and a deeper understanding of why people give or don’t give or, more specifically, what they are willing to give. The “generosity crisis” may even require us to redefine what constitutes generosity and what forms it takes beyond monetary contributions. This Vox article digs into some of the questions we need to ask. Well worth your time to read. https://lnkd.in/eiwtYc6C

I appreciate this writer's perspective following the release of recent Giving USA data. Giving adjusted for inflation is down and fewer Americans are giving to nonprofits than in the past, but what about the spirit of generosity in our country? Is it thriving? As the writer suggests, we see generosity expressed in the many ways that people come together to help neighbors, volunteer time, and give informally through crowdfunding campaigns. Even as we as we recognize expressions of generosity beyond charitable giving to nonprofits, I think there is some fragility to the spirit of generosity that has been a mainstay of American culture. The underpinning of generosity is community and the value that people place on the collective beyond the self. Many of the institutions that have inspired community involvement in the past, like churches and civic organizations, have dwindling membership. We need to find new ways to engage and enliven communities. Community foundations, like Arlington Community Foundation, are uniquely structured to serve as connectors and as incubators for new ideas to build and strengthen communities. And I see many, many examples of local nonprofits working hard to create real relationships, not transactional ones, to connect community members to community needs and the work they are doing to address them. What are your ideas? What inspires you or what would inspire you to get involved in your community? https://lnkd.in/eqYyuvHm

Are we in a generosity crisis? Check out this Vox article covering the state of charitable giving in the US and continue to follow JFC for #TuesdayTips on increasing your donations and more: https://lnkd.in/gGm3zjTY.

Think about what this article describes. We have to do a better job as nonprofits to sell ourselves.

How can we measure journalism’s impact? American Journalism Project (AJP) has tackled this question head-on, focusing on nonprofit news organizations. The AJP's mission is to accelerate the growth and impact of nonprofit news through venture philanthropy. Their 2022 Impact Report highlights their approach and early learnings, detailing case studies from grantees that showcase the profound impact of their work in local communities. The 2022 Impact Report highlights key metrics: 🌟 Revenue Growth: Targeting a 2.5x return on investment. 🌟 Quality Improvement: Bigger newsrooms provide better journalism. 🌟 Community Expansion: Serving more areas to combat news deserts. 🌟 Support Effectiveness: Ensuring grantees exceed benchmarks. 🌟 Local Philanthropy: Boosting local funding for news as a public good. AJP prioritizes sustainable growth and community impact over audience size, emphasizing quality journalism’s role in driving meaningful change. 📖 Read more: https://lnkd.in/e2p_EYUH #Journalism #NonprofitNews #Impact #Community #AmericanJournalismProject #GivingCompass

“[At The Pivot Fund], we believe that information is power, and we want to put more quality, credible news and information in the hands of people so that they can create the kinds of communities they want and deserve to live in.” — Tracie Powell, Founder, The Pivot Fund Tracie Powell and The Pivot Fund, part of our fourth Civic Lab cohort, are elevating community journalism, ensuring every voice is heard, and strengthening a pillar of a healthy democracy: trust in media. #DemocracyEntrepreneurship #CivicLab4 #Media #Journalism #CommunityJournalism #NonProfitJournalism #NonProfitMedia

MLK50: Justice Through Journalism turns 7 today! We’d like to think of this birthday as a mini “revolution” but as much more than the passive and literal “instance of revolving” around the sun once again. It is about our evolution as a newsroom, about producing journalism that is transformative, and about expanding our vision of change-making by inviting more Memphians into the fold. We’d like to invite you to celebrate this moment of changes propelling us forward and to support the changes we want to see. By donating to our 7th birthday campaign, you’re not just opting into this growing community of changemakers; you’re helping us produce more home-grown journalism that helps Memphians live fuller, healthier lives while holding power to account. Donate today to support our next chapter. http://bit.ly/mlk50turns7

Your support is crucial to ensuring that accurate and balanced reporting is freely accessible to the Garden State.

This week is my birthday week and in lieu of a traditional birthday fundraiser on Facebook, I want to request that you make a donation to your local PBS station. If you don’t know your station you can easily find it at pbs.org! It is a pivotal time in our American democracy and a pivotal time for media. Northwestern determined that there are 204 counties in the US that are currently news deserts, with no newspapers, local digital sites, public radio newsrooms, or ethnic publications. Another 228 counties have been identified as having substantial risk of becoming news deserts. Many, many more have only one weekly source of local information. This means that these communities are receiving no or very little information on what is going on right at home in their community. And the news they are receiving comes from national outlets or those tied to major markets…not focusing on how our regional and national issues impact them directly. And the impact of this lack isn’t just seen locally. According to the Columbia Journalism Review, “local news collapse has likely led to lower voter turnout and bond ratings, and more corruption, waste, air pollution, and corporate crime.” The bright spot in this bleak outlook is public media. We are the ONLY source that is consistently available across the country, not just in major cities but in your local community. It is our very purpose to serve locally…to be a voice for each community and to tell local stories. But public media can’t do it without the support of those very communities. So please, consider making a donation to support the future of information. I will leave you with an extremely powerful sentiment by the outgoing president of America’s Public Television Stations, Pat Butler: “We have reached a point where our divisions are so deep, our discourse so rancorous, our understanding of basic facts so contentious, and our very institutions of government so poorly understood, that our democracy itself seems endangered. No less an authority than the Father of Our Country warned in his Farewell Address of a destructive spirit of partisanship which, in his words, “agitates the community with ill-founded jealousies and false alarms, kindles the animosity of one part against another, foments occasionally riot and insurrection.” President Washington’s prescription for such civic ills was a well-informed citizenry. “Promote, then, as a matter of primary importance, institutions for the general diffusion of knowledge,” he wrote. “In proportion as the structure of government gives force to public opinion, it is essential that public opinion should be enlightened.” That’s what we do. And we do it very well.” Thank you for reading 🤍