German Marshall Fund Taps European Policy Expert as New President

Plus, major donor Liesel Pritzker Simmons demystifies impact investing (podcast), and a new Johns Hopkins Center to end blindness is the result of a donor's personal mission ADVERTISEMENT [Academe Today Logo]( Did someone forward you this newsletter? [Sign up free]( to receive your own copy. TRANSITIONS [German Marshall Fund Taps European Policy Expert as New President]( By M.J. Prest [STORY IMAGE]( Also, a former news executive will be the first CEO of the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism, and NYC Pride has chosen its next executive director. ADVERTISEMENT PODCAST [Major Donor Liesel Pritzker Simmons Demystifies Impact Investing]( [STORY IMAGE]( The co-founder of the impact investing firm Blue Haven Initiative says impact investing can work hand-in-hand with market-based approaches to social issues. Plus, see a [Chronicle essay]( about Pritzker Simmons. MAJOR GIFTS [New Johns Hopkins Center to End Blindness the Result of a Donor’s Personal Mission]( By Marilyn Dickey The Sanford and Susan Greenberg Center to End Blindness is halfway to its $100 million goal to fund promising researchers in their 20s and 30s. SPONSOR CONTENT | The Ford Foundation [Philanthropy: Listen to the Voices, Leadership, and Lived Experiences of People]( Nonprofit News From Elsewhere Since 2017, the city of Kalamazoo, Mich., has depended on the generosity of a private foundation, but where some see a windfall, others see an anti-democratic process that further entrenches inequities. The Foundation for Excellence was launched by William Parfet and William Johnston, two of the city’s richest people, who sought to stave off a proposed income tax that they argued would keep people and businesses away from the cash-strapped city. The philanthropy has given about $26 million each year “to close budget holes, lower property taxes, and fund a wish list of projects.” The foundation’s staff and 15-member board, which includes only three elected officials, “decide exactly how the money is spent,” and the city commission votes whether to approve the money. It has never said no. Though funded projects are distributed around the city, the resulting lower property taxes have disproportionately helped white residents, who are more likely to own their homes and whose homes are worth more. On the other hand, the funds have helped 109 people stay in their homes who otherwise faced eviction over property-tax arrears. Defenders of the arrangement include a former mayor, who said Parfet and Johnston “never asked me for anything when we’ve been doing work in this community.” ([Time]( For more context, see [Should Philanthropy Fund Government? A $400 Million Gift Settles That Question in Kalamazoo, Mich., for Years to Come]( and [Kalamazoo’s $500 Million Bet on Philanthropy Raises Hopes — and Suspicions.]( Museum workers across the country are unionizing, fed up by a widening chasm between top executives’ salaries and frontline workers’ pay, years of being asked to do more with less, and pandemic-related cuts. One estimate says unionization in the museum field is at its highest point since 2013, and unions have formed at major institutions, including the Whitney, the Guggenheim, and the Philadelphia Museum of Art. Union advocates are pushing back against meager salaries that they say ensure workers must be “connected or wealthy.” Meanwhile, even institutions with major donors and large endowments, and that received pandemic-related aid from the government last year, laid off hundreds of people. Recent research found high rates of burnout and mental-health issues among museum workers, a significant number of whom cited increased workloads and cutbacks. One employee at the Art Institute of Chicago, which is going through the unionization process, said administrators were already shaving off wages and resources before the pandemic, which was “a catalyst” for administrators “to crank down the numbers more.” ([Washington Post]( More News - Using Philanthropic Dollars to Spur Global Action on Climate Change ([Barron’s]( - Nonprofit Insurer Will Pay $95 Million to Address Health Disparities in D.C., Ending Yearslong Legal Fight Over Its Surplus Funds ([Washington Post]( - Twitter ‘Feud’ Between Elon Musk and the World Food Program Raises Accountability Questions ([Devex]( - Syracuse U.'s National Veterans Resource Center Receives $30 Million Endowment at Dedication ([Military.com]( Arts and Culture - Is the Los Angeles County Museum of Art’s Sluggish Fundraising Campaign Picking Up Momentum? Here’s Where Things Stand ([Los Angeles Times]( - Vancouver Art Gallery Receives $100 Million Donation From Audain Family for New Building ([CBC]( - 7 Ways Museums are Responding to the Climate Crisis ([Art Newspaper]( - Opinion: Profiling the Met’s Leaders: Daniel Weiss and Max Hollein Might Not Be the Men for the Moment. ([National Review]( SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to nonprofit news and analysis. Editor's Picks AMERICA'S FAVORITE CHARITIES [Giving to Top Charities Rose Nearly 3.7% in 2020, Driven by Big Gifts From the Wealthy]( By Emily Haynes and Michael Theis [STORY IMAGE]( In a year beset with a public-health emergency, social unrest, natural disasters, and political upheaval, United Way Worldwide, the Salvation Army, and St. Jude Children’s Hospital won more donations than any other nonprofits. See our full report on [America’s Favorite Charities](. DONOR SURVEY [Want to Keep Your New Pandemic Donors? Listen to What They Want, Report Suggests]( By Emily Haynes Rather than make assumptions based on donor data, fundraisers should ask donors directly how they want a charity to communicate with them and what kind of information they hope to learn, says a co-author of a new report. OPINION [Creating a Diverse Board Isn’t Easy, but It’s Well Worth the Effort]( By Ernest J. Wilson III [STORY IMAGE]( To achieve greater diversity, boards need to slow down, listen to different perspectives, and actively push fellow members to take difficult and occasionally uncomfortable steps. OPINION [Colin Powell’s Nonprofit Legacy: a Belief in America’s Promise]( By Leslie Lenkowsky [STORY IMAGE]( In the course of his life, Powell was a volunteer and mentor to young people of color. Through his nonprofit organization, America’s Promise Alliance, his ideas about how to help children and young people thrive were put into practice on a large scale. VIDEO [3 Nonprofit Leaders Offer Advice on Surviving and Thriving During Crises]( By Dan Parks [STORY IMAGE]( Three nonprofit leaders share how they adapted — and even helped their organizations expand — during the pandemic. SPONSOR CONTENT | Center for Creative Leadership [Burning Bright Instead of Burning Out]( Learn what philanthropic organizations are doing to limit the nonprofit burnout rate and turnover, guiding individual and organizational resilience. ADVERTISEMENT RECOMMENDED WEBINAR [Join Us On-Demand]( — Many leaders are working hard to make their nonprofits more inclusive as the nation reckons with racial injustice. Those who also want to engage supporters from diverse communities may feel unsure how to start. This 75-minute session — the third in our series on diversifying fundraising — can help. Join us on-demand to learn from two major donors and a nonprofit executive about key challenges — and some new opportunities — for engaging donors of color, what motivates them to give, and how to develop messages and tactics that will resonate. Plus, you’ll get helpful guidance and real-world examples of how to approach potential big donors and ask them to give. [Order the recording of the webinar today.]( JOB OPPORTUNITIES Apply for the top jobs in philanthropy and [search all our open positions](. [Director of Advancement]( Knock Knock Children's Museum [Senior Portfolio Coordinator, Fiscal Sponsorship]( NEO Philanthropy [Director of Development]( The Living Desert Zoo and Gardens [Vice Chancellor for Advancement]( University of Washington Bothell [Search other jobs.]( NEWSLETTER FEEDBACK What did you think of today’s newsletter? [Strongly disliked]( | [It was ok]( | [Loved it]( [Chronicle of Philanthropy Logo]( This newsletter was sent to {EMAIL}. 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