Can Philanthropy Embrace Opponents as Allies?

Building common ground at a unusual foundation gathering; plus, the scholar nonprofits should heed [Philanthropy Today Logo]( This is a special weekly edition of Philanthropy Today featuring stories and content from [The Commons](. You can also [read this newsletter on the web](. If you no longer want to receive the Philanthropy Today newsletter, [unsubscribe](. [This Week in the Commons]( - Unlikely allies within philanthropy - The social scientist nonprofits should listen to - Who’s your toughest conversation? Love Thine Enemies — and Make Them Allies? From senior editor Drew Lindsay: This week’s annual meeting of the Council on Foundations in Chicago didn’t come with an instruction manual, but it could have. It was the council’s first annual meeting devoted to a single topic: building common ground. That’s a sign of the seriousness with which the organization views division in philanthropy and the need to work across differences — and disagreements, particularly with those you might consider opponents. “When we are so divided, we can’t work together on basic things that make communities better,” CEO Kathleen Enright told me before the conference. The council used the event to deliver hefty doses of training (nearly four-hour sessions!) designed to give grant makers tools to engage and communicate with a wide array of organizations and people. The goal: help them build bigger, more influential coalitions. - Read our full story: [“Opponents as Allies: The Thorny Proposition of an Unusual Foundation Gathering”]( Several experts at the conference pointed to Robert Putnam’s research as a guiding force. The Harvard scholar is famous for his book Bowling Alone, which documented Americans’ withdrawal from civic life. Less well known is The Upswing, which published during the pandemic and received far less attention amid the crisis. Yet the book proposes cures for today’s civic malaise that Putnam believes nonprofits would do well to heed. - Putnam delivers his message for philanthropy in his Commons conversation with Citizen University’s Eric Liu. [Watch video snippets]( read an excerpt, or listen to the full discussion. - Also: Eboo Patel, a Chronicle columnist and founder of Interfaith America, writes about how Putnam’s research is the foundation of his organization’s work in his essay [“Why My Nonprofit Relies on the Ideas of an 83-Year-Old Scholar.”]( Tough Talk Politics and the country’s divides can lead to difficult conversations for nonprofit leaders, whose jobs require them to talk a host of people daily. Our Rasheeda Childress talked to experts for [advice to guide those conversations]( but we also wondered: Who makes for the toughest conversations — board members, donors, staff, or the public? We’d love to get your answer. If you have a minute, [take the one-question poll posted in our Commons LinkedIn group](. SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE [Chronicle of Philanthropy Subscription] Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to nonprofit news and analysis. Of the Moment Noteworthy news and items: - Listen: Angela Glover Blackwell, founder of PolicyLink and renowned racial-justice advocate, has launched a new podcast, [Reimagining Democracy for a Good Life]( which uses Los Angeles as a case study for how to build a multiracial democracy. - Read: The Carnegie Corporation [announced a new class of 28 Andrew Carnegie Fellows]( who will study political polarization to help build a body of research that will inform grant making and policy to strengthen democracy in the United States. Editor's Picks OPINION [Righteous Attitudes, Ideological Purity Tests, Zero-Sum Thinking: How Philanthropy Stokes Division]( By Kristen Cambell [STORY IMAGE]( Privately, anti-polarization nonprofits and practitioners say philanthropy is part of the problem. OPINION [How Nonprofits Lose Out When Volunteer Advocates Are Asked to Do Little Real Advocacy]( By Sam Daley-Harris [STORY IMAGE]( Nonprofits are feeding supporters a steady stream of petitions to sign and checks to write. They should be helping them become effective citizen-advocates. OPINION [Charitable Donors Operating in the Shadows Push Our Politics to the Extremes]( By Daniel Stid [STORY IMAGE]( Grant makers on the left and right finance a network of activists and advocates whose all-or-nothing, combative stances keep the political parties tethered to the poles. [Chronicle of Philanthropy Logo]( This newsletter was sent to {EMAIL}. [Read this newsletter on the web](. [Manage]( your newsletter preferences, [stop receiving]( this email, or [view]( our privacy policy. © 2024 [The Chronicle of Philanthropy]( 1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037