Venture Shows How Critical Arts Are to Building Community

Plus, charity advocates push to extend expiring tax breaks for giving, and GivingTuesday donors tend to give again later ADVERTISEMENT [Academe Today Logo]( Did someone forward you this newsletter? [Sign up free]( to receive your own copy. MISSION AND ADVOCACY [You Say the Arts Don’t Matter? A 10-Year, $150 Million Venture Set Out to Prove You Wrong]( By Drew Lindsay [STORY IMAGE]( ArtPlace America, funded by some of the country’s largest grant makers, argued that arts and culture are community builders and not just some esoteric good. Plus, see the rest of our [December issue]( posted online today. ADVERTISEMENT LEGISLATION [Charity Advocates Push to Extend Expiring Tax Breaks for Giving]( By Dan Parks [STORY IMAGE]( The most likely path to enactment would be inclusion in a broader package of year-end tax provisions. INTERVIEW [GivingTuesday Donors Tend to Contribute Again Later, Says Group’s CEO]( By Haleluya Hadero, Associated Press [STORY IMAGE]( The one-day event has shown double-digit increases in donations every year since it started and also results in “acts of kindness,” says Asha Curran. OPINION [On GivingTuesday, a Plea for Congress to Pass Legislation That Would Make a Difference to Charities Nationwide]( By John Arnold and Ray D. Madoff This day reminds us that donors pay attention to deadlines. Now is the time to impose them on donor-advised funds. Webinars 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 | Microsoft [In the Cloud, Small Nonprofits Find the Sky's the Limit.]( Nonprofit News From Elsewhere Minnesota tech entrepreneurs John and Denise Graves, who have focused their giving on people in need, will channel $100 million to their family foundation to continue their philanthropy. Their inspiration has flowed from Denise Graves’s years of volunteering to help vulnerable young people, including as an advocate for children entering the foster system. Most recently, the couple helped create an affordable-housing complex with 45 units for low-income young people. One-third of those will be reserved for people aging out of foster care, who have a higher risk of facing homelessness. The money, which represents most of the Graves’s fortune, will go into the Graves Foundation, which each year gives more than the required 5 percent of its assets to charity. ([Star Tribune]( Amazon billionaire Jeff Bezos may have just pledged $100 million to the Obama Foundation, but his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, has far outpaced him in publicly announced donations to the Chicago area. In addition to the Obama grant, the sometimes-world’s richest man has given $100 million to the Chicago-based Feeding America food-bank network and a total of $9 million to three groups fighting homelessness. Scott, on the other hand, has written checks worth $318 million to 12 organizations, including $162 million to Easterseals, which is based in Chicago, and gifts to three colleges and universities, three arts groups, the Community Investment Corporation, and larger charities such as the local United Way, YWCA, and YMCA. ([Crain’s Chicago Business]( More News - She Ran a Bronx Homeless Shelter. Here’s What She Spent Millions On. ([New York Times]( - Report: N.Y. State Charitable Donations Rose in 2020 With Large Portion Retained by Professional Fundraisers ([News 10 Albany]( - Jonathan Sackler Has Donated Millions to R.I. Charter-School Company ([GoLocalProv]( - 2 American Indian tribes in Delaware Get Help in Buying Back Ancestral Homelands ([Washington Post]( - Opinion: Maryland’s Universities and Foundations Are Plagued by a Little-Known Diversity Problem ([Washington Post]( Giving - Celebs Gone Good: How Black Philanthropists Are Giving Back ([Grio]( - Donate Crypto for a Tax Break ([Kiplinger]( - This Poker-Playing, Bond-Trading Orthodox Jew Is Giving All His Winnings to Charity. But Is It Kosher? ([Wall Street Journal]( — subscription) SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to nonprofit news and analysis. Briefings and Forums ONLINE BRIEFING [Leading Courageously in Unparalleled Times]( [STORY IMAGE]( Nonprofit leaders have shown resilience since the Covid-19 crisis hit, but how can they stay energized and continue to lead with courage and conviction? How do great leaders respond when faced with the test of a lifetime, especially one that grinds on? Join Chronicle host Stacy Palmer for a conversation with Nancy Koehn, historian and Harvard business professor, and Phil Buchanan, president of the Center for Effective Philanthropy, on Wednesday, December 8, at 2 p.m. Eastern. [Sign up now.]( 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. Editor's Picks YEAR-END GIVING [Some Charities Are Raising Money for Other Nonprofits This GivingTuesday]( By Emily Haynes [STORY IMAGE]( More nonprofits than before are raising money together, but some people are warning against the downsides of the event. YEAR-END FUNDRAISING [What You Need to Know Going Into Year End: the Latest News and Research on Giving]( By Eden Stiffman [STORY IMAGE]( For many nonprofits, the biggest fundraising days of the year will fall over the next month. We’ve rounded up recent Chronicle reporting to help you plan and forecast as 2021 comes to a close. GOVERNMENT AND REGULATION [Fight Erupts Over Whether Donor-Advised Fund Bill Would Help or Hurt Community Foundations]( By Dan Parks [STORY IMAGE]( The Senate measure has special provisions designed to make it easier for community foundations to compete against commercial sponsors of donor-advised funds. But leaders of the foundations say they fear the measure will dampen giving and add new regulatory burdens. BIG-GIFT FUNDRAISING [Clear Communication Is Essential to Keep Pandemic-Weary Big Donors Engaged and Giving]( By Maria Di Mento [STORY IMAGE]( Experts say the nonprofits mostly likely to win repeat gifts are those that provide detailed information about how past donations made a difference and convincingly make the case for what future support can do. WORK AND CAREERS [Nearly Half of Higher-Education Fundraisers Now Have Hybrid Work Arrangements]( By Emily Haynes Just 15 percent of gift officers and alumni-relations staff members said they were working remotely all or most of the time, according to a new survey. In January that share was 91 percent, and in May it was 81 percent. ADVERTISEMENT RECOMMENDED WEBINAR [Join Us On-Demand]( — With some people ready to gather in person and others preferring to stay socially distanced, nonprofits are experimenting with hybrid events to engage donors and hit fundraising goals — and even attract attendees from around the country. How can your nonprofit create a hybrid gathering that appeals to supporters, inspires giving, and keeps everyone safe? Join this 75-minute webinar to get proven advice from a consultant who helps nonprofits develop events and the head of fundraising at the Houston Ballet, which held a hybrid ball this year that raked in nearly $850,000, far exceeding its $500,000 goal. Plus, you’ll get tips for setting goals and measuring the results of a hybrid event and proven ways to boost giving during the event. Join us on December 9 at 2 p.m. Eastern. [Register today for the early-bird rate.]( JOB OPPORTUNITIES Apply for the top jobs in philanthropy and [search all our open positions](. 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