MacKenzie Bezos and Cryptocurrency Billionaire Sign Giving Pledge

Plus, donors are seeking documents from a student journalist who wrote about a gift agreement gone bad, and a donor who faced sexism gives to women [Philanthropy Today] Was this newsletter forwarded to you? [Please sign up]( to receive your own copy. Giving Pledge [MacKenzie Bezos and a Cryptocurrency Billionaire Among New Giving Pledge Signers]( By Maria Di Mento Jeff Bezos has not signed the pledge, but his ex-wife is among the new signatories who helped push the total number above 200. PREMIUM ADVERTISEMENT Gift Agreements [Donors Demand Documents From Student Journalist Who Wrote About Gift Agreement Gone Bad]( By Maria Di Mento Euirim Choi, who wrote about efforts by Thomas and Timothy Pearson to reclaim a portion of a $100 million pledge they had paid to the University of Chicago, says the Pearsons subpoenaed his source materials. PREMIUM Why They Give [After Decades of Fighting Sexism in the Workplace, a Philanthropist Gives Big for Women]( By Kellie Woodhouse For decades, men tried to demean and undermine Anne Welsh McNulty as she excelled in the world of high finance. Now she’s pouring millions of dollars into helping younger women succeed. PREMIUM Gifts Roundup [UVA Business School Receives $68 Million, Ala. Abortion Law Prompts $1 Million From Tumblr Founder]( By Maria Di Mento In addition, two museums, Planned Parenthood, and the University of South Florida all received big gifts Nonprofit News From Elsewhere In the six years since the school shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary, $100 million in government funds and private donations that have flowed to the community have had unintended consequences. For example, General Electric, the company that employed the gunman, built a $15 million community center that some families say just reminds them of the tragedy. A central question is whether money should go to victims’ families or be shared with the whole community. ([New York Times]( In emotional interviews, several men who were abused as Boy Scouts talk about their experience and the aftermath. Decades later, many still have psychological scars. ([Associated Press]( The Smithsonian Institution has named its first African-American secretary. Lonnie Bunch III is the founding director of the Smithsonian’s National Museum of African American History and Culture and is considered a giant in the museum field. ([Washington Post]( The Pillars Fund is trying to strengthen a network of Muslim support groups and counter negative stereotypes. The idea is similar to 19th-century benevolent societies that helped Irish, Italian, and Chinese immigrants. ([New York Times]( Plus, see a Chronicle article about [this organization and one of its leaders.]( Craigslist founder Craig Newmark is in talks to help bring back journalist Julia Angwin, who was reportedly forced out of her position at the Markup. Angwin is a co-founder of the organization and helped procure a large donation from Newmark. ([Wall Street Journal]( — subscription) Newmark recently announced that other two co-founders have left the organization. ([New York Times]( More News - Prestigious Boston Art Museum Bans Members for ‘Racist Comments’ to a Visiting School Group ([NBC News]( - We Can’t Leave Climate Change to Philanthropists ([Fast Company]( - Twitter Lifts Ban on Philly Nonprofit Mighty Writers After Algorithm Issue ([Philadelphia Inquirer]( - Noah’s Ark Attraction in Ky. Damaged by Heavy Rains, Not Floods, as Previously Reported ([Associated Press]( What Everyone Else Is Reading [Billionaire Robert Smith Pushes Plan to Boost Minority Students’ Access to Internships]( His pledge to wipe out the student debt of 400 Morehouse graduates drew big headlines, but he has even bigger goals to help minority students, including a plan to help thousands nationwide get their first crucial work experience. [Critiques of Philanthropy Are Important, but Some Have Entered the Realm of the Absurd (Opinion)]( Even Sunday’s stirring announcement from Robert Smith that he’ll pay off the loans of Morehouse’s graduating class was greeted with reflexive skepticism. We need more of that kind of compassionate giving, not lambasting. [Best-Selling Author Tim Ferriss Says His Giving for Psychedelic Research Is Deeply Personal]( His best friend from childhood died of a fentanyl overdose. An aunt became addicted to Percocet and alcohol and died last year. So Ferriss decided to fund research at John Hopkins to see if psilocybin could help treat opioid addiction. PREMIUM [I’m a Morehouse Grad, and the $40 Million Loan Pledge Doesn’t Deserve So Much Criticism (Opinion)]( It’s fair to question why college students have so much debt, but while we all work to change systems of inequity, philanthropic gestures can change lives today. [Philanthropy Must Stop Sleepwalking as Nation Faces One Outrage After Another (Opinion)]( For too long, philanthropy’s anger has been diluted, blunted, and bludgeoned by a relentless barrage on our sense of basic humanity and civic well-being — fueled by race-, gender-, LGBTQ-, and immigrant-centric attacks flying under the guise of patriotism. PREMIUM Save 20% on Our Next Webinar Learn How to Get Grants to Measure Impact Many charities find themselves in a Catch-22: Donors want to know whether charities are making a difference — but don’t want to pay for the systems (or people) needed to gather and analyze meaningful data. You'll learn how to overcome this challenge in our next webinar. Hear from: Jeannie Annan, senior director of research and evaluation at the International Rescue Committee, who will show you how to secure support to cover the full cost of monitoring and evaluation. Annan also will provide examples of how IRC communicates to donors the cost of assessing its results. Joseph Pyle, president of the Scattergood Foundation, a behavioral health grant maker in Philadelphia who will explain what he looks for when assessing nonprofits’ evaluation efforts and deciding to support them. He’ll also offer tips for talking to donors about the need for such funding and outline pitfalls to avoid when making your case for support. [Sign up today]( to join the Chronicle's Alex Daniels and our two expert guests on June 20 at 2 p.m. — and save 20 percent. Job Opportunities Find your next job in the Chronicle's jobs section, where employers have posted hundreds of the best career opportunities in the nonprofit world. Here are a few: [Director of Corporate & Foundation Relations]( University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston [Senior Development Manager, Health and Agriculture]( National 4-H Council [Director of Foundation and Government Grants]( William James College [Search the Chronicle's jobs database](. Subscribe to the Chronicle Get insight into critical issues and the actionable analysis you need with a subscription to the Chronicle of Philanthropy. Get instant access to in-depth articles, fundraising resources, and much more. [Subscribe Today]( [The Chronicle of Philanthropy]( [Stop receiving]( this email. [Sign up]( for other newsletters. [View]( our privacy policy. © 2019 [The Chronicle of Philanthropy]( 1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037