Advocacy and policy

How Family Philanthropy Can Support Free, Fair, and Representative Elections in 2024

Posted on February 7, 2024 by Keara Mendez, Marilyn Carpinteyro, Tomas Lopez, Nicholas A. Tedesco, Joe Goldman

In this salon conversation, family philanthropy donors will have the opportunity to learn about critical election-related areas of giving and major 501(c)(3) funding opportunities associated with each area. After every election cycle, nonprofit leaders working on strengthening democracy and civic engagement report that the funding they received often came too late to have meaningful impact. The goal of field leaders… Read More

Meeting the Moment Part One: Philanthropic Vehicles to Fund Democracy

Posted on December 4, 2023 by Dr. Lourdes Rodríguez, Kathleen Doffermyre, Estevan Muñoz-Howard, Adam Simon

What are the models and vehicles available for investing in and strengthening democracy? How are family philanthropies using them successfully? This webinar will equip participants with an understanding of the types of vehicles and strategies that can be used to fund this work. You will hear from family foundations with direct experience funding in this area, including the Aviv Foundation,… Read More

Effective Family Philanthropy: Roy and Patricia Disney Family Foundation

Posted on May 17, 2023 by Ade Adeniji

How Multiple Generations of the Disney Family Come Together to Fund Social Justice in LA and Beyond It all began at Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio in October 1923. Here, bright young cartoonist Walt Disney and his older brother Roy O. Disney established the upstart studio in Hollywood, California. Walt arrived in Los Angeles from the Midwest after his previous effort,… Read More

Sixteen Grantmaking Characteristics to Effectively Support Public Policy Advocacy

Posted on July 6, 2022 by Sara Watson, Alliance for Justice

illustrated image of US Capitol building in red on a blue background; Bolder Advocacy report cover
Created by Bolder Advocacy in partnership with Dr. Sara Watson, this resource outlines the sixteen characteristics of grantmaking that best supports effective policy education and advocacy.  Grantmaking that effectively supports the difficult task of informing and advancing policy change has specific characteristics. Learn about the 1) technical funding structures, 2) the content of what gets funded, and 3) considerations across… Read More

Nonpartisan Advocacy in Partisan Times

Posted on June 6, 2022 by Christine Chen, Natalie Roetzel Ossenfort, Stacey Faella

Black and white photo of the United States Capitol building
Election years provide a great opportunity for foundations and their grantees to highlight issues and interact with candidates and the voting public. However, 501(c)(3)s cannot support or oppose candidates, and must avoid the appearance or reality of electioneering and other partisan activity. This salon will highlight some common pitfalls and provide suggestions and tips for avoiding them. Participants will learn:… Read More

Families Funding Advocacy and Policy Change

Posted on July 17, 2020 by Julie Fernandes, Sara Watson, David Addams

Hands in air_protesting_advocacy
Advocacy is an important tool for funders seeking to address systemic inequalities ingrained in our policies and practices, and it can be the sole focus of an organization or an additional strategy employed to create lasting change. Many families pursue advocacy because of a founder’s interest or legacy, while others have introduced advocacy into their grantmaking portfolio after listening to… Read More

Policy Influence: What Foundations Are Doing and Why

Posted on June 8, 2020 by Center for Effective Philanthropy

Among its key findings, Policy Influence shows that foundation leaders clearly believe in influencing policy as an important lever for change. This report seeks to provide foundation staff, leaders, and boards with data and insights that will spur them to candidly discuss philanthropic involvement in public policy — and help guide their own practices to engage in policy efforts more thoughtfully as they work to achieve their goals… Read More

“Pretty Good Tools” for Collaboration, Strategy, and Partnership

Posted on May 1, 2017 by Audrey Haberman, Lisa Galaites

If you’re a philanthropy practitioner — staff member or trustee — these tools should be useful. The Giving Practice works with foundations and philanthropy organizations of all types and sizes, and they hear common questions and dilemmas. The Giving Practice's consultants are developed Pretty Good Tools to help you with the more challenging aspects of your job… Read More

The Story of How the Civil Marriage Collaborative Helped America Embrace Marriage Equality

Posted on July 21, 2016 by Proteus Fund

There were many forces at work in this historic change: tenacious leaders and litigators, coalitions of diverse lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) organizations, straight individual and organizational allies, elected officials, celebrities, and most important, hundreds of thousands of individuals, couples and families at the grassroots level… Read More

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