Sharmila Rao Thakkar, MPH, MPA, CAP’s Post

Interesting piece about major donors influencing programatic/organizational decisions. Clear, upfront conversations with donors about what their support entitles them too is critical to an honest, transformational relationships. https://lnkd.in/gK_x5qjp

We’re thrilled to introduce the AmeriCorps Research Grantee Story Map! Curious about civic engagement, volunteering, and national service? Look no further! Our Story Map is your gateway to a wealth of information and data on AmeriCorps Research Grantees. These dedicated researchers are funded to conduct studies on civic engagement. We’ve designed this map to make it easier for our agency staff, partners, researchers, and the general public to access information about the funded studies. Dive into the AmeriCorps Research Grantee dataset, which includes data from each research grantee cohort (2015, 2017, 2018, 2022, and 2023). With this data, you can extract actionable insights, spot trends, and identify patterns related to civic engagement both locally and nationally. #AmeriCorps #CivicEngagement #DataDrivenInsights https://lnkd.in/ePKq9Grr

Words by Ed Kashi, who served as Ali Arkady's mentor in the #VIIMentorProgram: "Increasingly, press freedom is under threat globally, and not only in developing countries or authoritarian regimes. This is a disturbing trend that, while social media offers a chance to still report and reach people, has caused countless deaths and daily intimidations. For me, press freedom is the ability to ask anything and probe everywhere without intimidation or threat of retribution. As this is an ideal that we must all work towards and that ebbs and flows with the times, I've never felt it more important than today. "With the rise of political demagoguery and direct violence, comes the silencing of voices that ask questions of those in authority, political office, corporate officers, and often most importantly, local officials. One of the essential roles of journalism is to speak truth to power, and with the diminishment of media outlets, smaller budgets, and the aforementioned intimidation, we now live in a world with vast areas lacking information or filled with disinformation. We must always strive to find the truth, be brave enough to ask the questions and support our colleagues in countries where the practice of journalism can lead to death. "At The VII Foundation, one of the ways we do that daily is through our mentoring programs, being part of workshops, and structures that teach, support, and inform our brothers and sisters in this vital profession. One of the many ways we can help protect our profession in general, and individuals in trouble, is by creating campaigns to raise donations for those in need." The VII Mentor Program provides a structured professional environment for emerging new talents in the industry, focusing on those from the Majority World and underrepresented communities. The first-of-its-kind program was launched in 2008 by VII Photo and is now managed by VII Academy. Support The VII Foundation's work: https://lnkd.in/erkX8G35 📷 Dotun Adeyemo, 26, who recently graduated from Rutgers University and is CEO of his company Allstreet Investing, joins thousands of protesters gathered in downtown Newark, N.J. on May 30, 2020, to denounce police violence after the killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis. Photo by Ed Kashi/VII __ #PressFreedom #WPFD2024 #PressFreedomIsYourFreedom #JournalismMatters #VIIMentorProgram #MentorProgram

Without any institutional support from publications, grants from nonprofit organizations, or deep pocketed backers to provide the funding—to complete this project, I need your support. Mapping Project 2025: Investigating the GOP's Authoritarian Playbook

"Research has shown that the work of nonprofit local news organizations makes a big impact in supporting local democracy. 'Overall, we find strong support that nonprofit watchdog journalism can serve an important, supplemental role in shoring up government accountability that can help mitigate the impact of the declines of local newspapers,' scholars Nikki Usher and Sanghoon Kim-Leffingwell wrote." At EAPM, we fully believe the nonprofit model is the only way we can build an accessible newsroom that produces accessible news products while still being a watchdog and producing quality news. It's why we ask the community, grant providers, and businesses to donate and be a part of our work. We can't do this if we we put profits first. No; we're putting accessibility (and news and people) first.

Great comment from one who knows. My for-profit news startup in 1989 only helps me appreciate the workload & commitment. That said, I believe foundations should help startups evolve toward profitability, not survive indefinitely as nonprofits. I hope this is legally possible (but where there is a will there may be a loophole). In "What Works in Local News" I saw nonprofit startups concentrate, sometimes compete, in once-flourishing media markets that had become “news deserts.” But I see a news desert as a new Western town where the printing press sprang up with churches. What made both First Amendment creatures so necessary? Speaking for news, it must’ve been a useful product in the telegraph era. But what is “news” in a wired world? I think instead about journalism, which is vital to democracy but not synonymous with the product called “news.” Just as news is not the right product, desert is the wrong metaphor. Journalism must adapt to a Mars-like environment with an atmosphere poisonous to news and with a weak gravitational attraction to democracy. Grants can provide life support until journalism adapts. But only then can journalism start to terraform democracy.

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

Reposting with deep love and respect for program officers who refuse to give up on this work. The findings Magic Cabinet lists as starting points—recognizing Native intersectionality, investing in intermediaries, committing to long-term funding, and building authentic relationships—are all points staff have advocated for since before I joined the team in April 2021. It shouldn’t take 41+ months to grasp these “emerging needs” and concepts. If you’re listening to community, present in sector discussions, and examining inequitable philanthropy, it shouldn’t be a surprise how little funding goes to Native-led nonprofits or the philanthropy-constructed barriers Native-led organizations face. Unfortunately, this isn’t new. It’s only a “‘new to us’ grantmaking area” because you’ve yet to make a longterm financial commitment.
 This illustrates one of the issues that Community-Centric Fundraising advocates for: when will funders move from talking to investing in long-term, meaningful ways? This is a broader call to action for all of philanthropy: Let’s stop the endless learning phase and commit to transformative investments now. Philanthropy must do better. #philanthropy #equity #communitycentricfundraising #ccf #fundraising #grantmaking

Dear Mruthyunjaya Sastry , Just a friendly reminder about the 6th session of the alumni program: Thursday, July 25, from 16:00 to 17:30 GMT (UK Time). Here is Zoom Meeting Link: (To find the time in your local time zone click here and add your city in the blue box.) In Session 5, we introduced you to a useful framework for intervention planning and organizing, along with practical advice on defining the scope of your intervention and developing SMART objectives. Click here for the recording of the session. Session 6 is a continuation and extension of Session 5, focusing still on the design of an intervention. You were encouraged to reach out to the community you want to work with, influence, or impact, and develop some preliminary ideas for intervention, refining your thinking based on stakeholder feedback. At this point, you should be asking and answering the following for your intervention: · Why: Purpose and Need o Why is the intervention needed? · What: Objectives and Goals o What will the intervention try to achieve? · How: Methods and Strategies o How will the intervention try to achieve its goals? David Swanson, Executive Director of World BEYOND War, will lead the call in my absence. In addition to sharing your ideas about your potential intervention and gaining feedback from David and the group, this session will be an opportunity to ask David anything about WBW and the broader global movement to end all wars. As you continue planning your interventions for completion by December 2024 (Click here to visit the 2024 alumni program website for details of the program or refer to previous sessions) we invite you to leverage extra support for your interventions by connecting with Staff Organizers in your region. Contact our organizers to discuss local organizing, including starting a chapter or collaborating on campaigns happening in your area: · Canada: Rachel Small (rachel@worldbeyondwar.org) · Latin America: Gabriel Aguirre (gabriel@worldbeyondwar.org) · Africa: Guy Feugap (guy@worldbeyondwar.org) · Elsewhere: Greta Zarro (greta@worldbeyondwar.org) (FYI: Each of these are copied on this email.) Best wishes, see you next Thursday, and please let us know if we could help further meanwhile, Phill World BEYOND War is a global network of volunteers, chapters, and affiliated organizations advocating for the abolition of the institution of war. Donate to support our people-powered movement for peace. Opt-in to mobile updates. Manage email preferences. Privacy policy. Should giant war-profiteering corporations decide what emails you don't want to read? We don't think so either. So, please stop our emails from going into "junk" or "spam" by "white listing," marking as "safe," or filtering to "never send to spam." World BEYOND War • 513 E Main St #1484 | Charlottesville, VA 22902 | USA • PO Box 152 | Toronto PO E, ON, M6H 4E2 | Canada

Transfer of power to communities is ideal, yet experiences of volunteers reveal challenges in practice. Our response to #DemocracyMatters includes recs for aligning with the Volunteer Charter, Fair Funding, & accountability in power transfer. Read here: https://ow.ly/sPLM50QNscN