Tex. Nonprofit Tackles Lack of Board Diversity in One of America’s Most Diverse Cities

Plus, a 32-year-old entrepreneur is giving $50 million to MedStar Georgetown University Hospital, and governments that depend on nonprofits for vital services need to help them thrive (opinion) ADVERTISEMENT [Academe Today Logo]( Did someone forward you this newsletter? [Sign up free]( to receive your own copy. TALKING ABOUT EQUITY [A Texas Nonprofit Tackles the Lack of Board Diversity in One of America’s Most Diverse Cities]( By Drew Lindsay [STORY IMAGE]( Mando Rayo’s New Philanthropists is building a pipeline of people of color. ADVERTISEMENT GIFTS ROUNDUP [A 32-Year-Old Entrepreneur Gives $50 Million to MedStar Georgetown U. Hospital]( By Maria Di Mento [STORY IMAGE]( Plus, the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy also landed a $50 million gift, and five others received eight-figure gifts. OPINION [Governments That Depend on Nonprofits for Vital Services Need to Help Them Thrive]( By Jamie Rubin [STORY IMAGE]( A report on New York human-service groups found that many are on the brink of collapse due to decades of government underfunding exacerbated by the pandemic. It offers lessons for how city and state governments can better support these nonprofits and their workers. GRANT MAKING [Few Foundations Give Groups They Support Decision-Making Power on Funding Priorities]( By Emily Finchum-Mason, doctoral candidate in public policy and management, University of Washington [STORY IMAGE]( Foundations, which aim to serve the public interest through the money they give away, rarely give these stakeholders decision-making authority — by either letting them help set priorities or giving them a say about where grant money flows, according to a new study. Webinar ONLINE AND IN-PERSON [How to Host Hybrid Events Donors Want to Attend]( [STORY IMAGE]( Join us to learn from expert event planners how to create a program that highlights your nonprofit’s mission while entertaining online and in-person guests. You’ll get smart ways to set goals, measure results, keep expenses in check, and boost giving. Join us on [Thursday, December 9, at 2 p.m. Eastern.]( SPONSOR CONTENT | golfstatus [First-Year Golf Fundraiser Raises $215,000 for Girls, Sports and STEM.]( Nonprofit News From Elsewhere Virginia Governor-elect Glenn Youngkin donated $52.6 million, or about 40 percent of his $127 million income, over the past five years to charity, according to information his campaign made public after last week’s election. From 2016 to 2018, Form 990 filings show that Youngkin and his wife, Suzanne, gave about $23 million to the Phos Foundation, a religious nonprofit the couple founded in 2016. Almost all of Phos’s assets in 2019 were two limited-liability companies, which in turn hold the property that the Youngkins’ church sits on and a Christian retreat center. “In all but one of the Phos Foundation’s four available annual tax filings — for the years 2016, 2017, and 2018 — the foundation paid out far less than 5 percent of its total assets, potentially falling foul of the requirement that private foundations disperse at least 5 percent of the total fair market value of their assets in grants and related expenses each year,” [Forbes]( reported in September. The campaign would not disclose other recipients. Youngkin stepped down last year as co-CEO of the Carlyle Group private-equity firm. ([Washington Post]( A blockbuster gift from former Citigroup CEO and chairman Sanford I. “Sandy” Weill and his wife, Joan, to the University of California San Francisco in 2016 has already changed lives. When the Weills gave the university $185 million for brain research they aimed to create a center that married cutting-edge research with real-world applications, and they hoped to help de-stigmatize mental health. Even before the UCSF Weill Neurosciences Building was completed, scientists and doctors at the UCSF Weill Institute for Neurosciences had implanted devices in two people’s brains that allowed one to talk for the first time since he suffered a stroke in 2003 and gave relief to another with “severe treatment-resistant depression.” The Weills also gave $106 million in 2019 to form a hub where neurological researchers at UCSF, UC Berkeley, and the University of Washington could collaborate, and Joan Weill has helped researchers in neuroscience, neurosurgery, and psychiatry make informal connections. ([Forbes]( More News - What a $50 Million Donation Did for One HBCU ([New York Times](. Plus: Read more about the impact of [MacKenzie’s Scott’s gifts]( - Young Women Are Leading Climate Protests. Guess Who Runs Global Talks? ([New York Times]( - Seattle Humane Not Living Up to Promises Made in $30 Million Campaign for New Complex ([Seattle Times]( - ‘Decade of Growth Lost’: Study Shows Financial, Social Impact on Denver’s Arts, Culture, Scientific Nonprofit Organizations During Pandemic ([CBS Denver]( About Innovation - News Organizations Have a Few Things to Learn From Charities ([Nieman Lab]( - Visual Art for the Visually Impaired: Philly Museum Tests Out New Ways to Experience Paintings ([WHYY]( 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. GIVING [Muslim Americans Are More Generous Than the Overall U.S. Population]( By Dan Parks Muslim Americans gave an average of $1,400 to charities not related to faith, compared with $767 for the general population. 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. 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. SPONSOR CONTENT | INDEPENDENT SECTOR [Why Embedding an Artist in Your Nonprofit Is a Sound Investment]( Embracing art as a creative tool, learn how nonprofits are enriching communities and helping others communicate ideas, experiences, and solutions. 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](. 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