In 2016, we added 80 new posts to NCRP’s blog. Below are the 10 most popular posts during the past 12 months. Thank you to all of our excellent contributors and our readers for helping us keep a close eye on philanthropy! Stay tuned for more exciting posts from staff and guest contributors in 2017!
10. Local foundation provides surprising support for right-wing campaign
Whiskers isn’t the only one who was surprised to learn about the unexpected contributions to the radical right-wing agenda by the M. J. Murdock Charitable Trust, which NCRP Senior Fellow and Director of Public Policy Dan Petegorsky detailed in this post from March.
In May, NCRP President & CEO Aaron Dorfman authored this tribute to Niki Jagpal, former NCRP senior director of research and policy, who moved on from NCRP in 2016.
8. Community foundations as catalysts for community-led change
PT Partners Program Director Kate Kelly, M.S.W., explained how Fairfield County’s Community Foundation is fostering change that is more responsive to the needs of its residents in this popular post from March.
7. “The Self-Help Myth” tells an important story about philanthropy
In this post from January, Craig McGarvey, a former foundation program officer, reviewed The Self-Help Myth: How Philanthropy Fails to Alleviate Poverty by Erica Kohl-Arenas, assistant professor of nonprofit management at The New School.
6. Let’s talk about race, baby
NCRP Senior Associate for Learning and Engagement Caitlin Duffy called on foundations to use explicit racial equity language in their work in this post from mid-May.
5. Rethinking the funding equation: Can general operating support become the new normal?
In this February repost from the National Center for Family Philanthropy’s blog, Jennifer Teunon, executive director of the Medina Foundation, asked this question to encourage philanthropy to increase unrestricted grants.
4. Three steps foundations should take to address racial equity
After foundation leaders expressed outrage over the police shooting deaths of Philando Castile and Alton Sterling in July, NCRP Senior Associate for Learning and Engagement Ben Barge detailed how grantmakers can back up their words with action.
3. Dear white folks in philanthropy: My “Miley, what’s good?” moment
NCRP Senior Associate for Learning and Engagement Caitlin Duffy makes her second appearance on the list with this post from September, describing her learning journey after experiencing discomfort with Black rage.
2. Place-based philanthropy is people-powered
In one of our first posts of 2016 (and the most popular post of the first six months of the year), Laura Zabel, executive director of Minnesota nonprofit Springboard for the Arts, provided five tips for how foundations can build leadership and relationship capacity in the communities they serve.
1. The email that changed everything
In September, Alissa Hauser, executive director of The Pollination Project, told the story of how her foundation developed an Applicant Bill of Rights after receiving a critical email from a grant applicant.
Peter Haldis is NCRP’s senior associate for communications. Follow @NCRP on Twitter.
Images by labusa, Michelle Tribe, Kevin Jump, Marc Wathleu, Fibonacci Blue and eflon. Used under Creative Commons license.
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