MacKenzie Scott's Decision to Withhold Details on Giving Prompts Criticism

Plus, women-led fundraising effort reaps big rewards for Dartmouth, and how to launch a campaign when everyone’s launching a campaign ADVERTISEMENT [Academe Today Logo]( Did someone forward you this newsletter? [Sign up free]( to receive your own copy. BIG GIFTS [MacKenzie Scott Is Criticized for Not Providing Details in Latest Round of Gifts]( By Maria Di Mento Philanthropy experts expressed concern about the lack of transparency by Scott but said they appreciated signs that she is open to sharing more information about her philanthropy’s results in the future. ADVERTISEMENT MAJOR GIFTS [Women-Led Fundraising Effort Reaps Big Rewards for Dartmouth]( By Maria Di Mento [STORY IMAGE]( A campaign that raised $386 million in direct gifts and pledges and $61.5 million in planned bequests illustrates the financial and leadership might of today’s women donors. FUNDRAISING LEADERSHIP [How to Launch a Campaign When Everyone’s Launching a Campaign]( By Andy Brommel [STORY IMAGE]( Time the announcement right, consider new approaches to volunteer leadership, and more. DIISPATCHES [2022 Is the Year for Grant Makers to Stop Talking and Start Doing]( By Lisa Pilar Cowan [STORY IMAGE]( Because philanthropy has so little external scrutiny, foundation officials must assess whether they are actually making enough of a difference, writes Lisa Pilar Cowan, the author of a series of essays on grant making in a time of upheaval. Webinars ONLINE AND IN-PERSON [Today: 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 [today at 2 p.m. Eastern.]( SPONSOR CONTENT | golfstatus [First-Year Golf Fundraiser Raises $215,000 for Girls, Sports and STEM.]( Nonprofit News From Elsewhere An anonymous alumna has pledged $75 million to Virginia’s Hollins University in what could be the largest donation ever to a women’s college or university and one of the largest to any Virginia college or university. To be delivered over three years, the gift will help fund financial aid and scholarships, and it will beef up considerably the Roanoke, Va., institution’s roughly $219 million endowment. Most of Hollins’s 800 students receive some financial aid to defray the annual tuition of $39,360, not including room and board. “Hollins’ mission and the value of its enduring presence and direction as a progressive institution were the catalyst for my gift and the urgency of making the money available immediately,” the donor said in a statement. ([Washington Post]( Plus: Private Girls School in Simsbury, Conn., Gets Anonymous $25 Million Gift ([Hartford Courant]( Some nonprofits and tech companies are developing apps that cut red tape for people who rely on government assistance. Tech startup Propel created its Providers app to make getting and keeping track of assistance on a mobile phone as easy as requesting an Uber or getting a date. It grew from “a few thousand users” in early 2016 to about 200,000 a year later, and it counts the Andreessen Horowitz venture-capital firm and sports stars Kevin Durant and Serena Williams among its investors. Similarly, the nonprofit Code for America, which hacked away at California’s food-stamp bureaucracy, built sites during the pandemic to help poor households claim stimulus checks and the expanded child tax credit. The tangible benefits are clear — the child tax-credit tool helped deliver nearly $400 million to recipients, and Providers’ balance-check function saves food-stamp recipients from having to make small purchases to look at their balance on a receipt — but the intangible benefits are also powerful. One Providers user said it destigmatizes the aid process and reminds her that many others are in the same boat. ([New York Times]( More News and Opinion - Supreme Court Leans in Favor of Requiring Taxpayer Funding for Some Religious Schools ([Los Angeles Times]( - The Pro-Life Movement Plans for a Future Without Roe ([New Yorker]( - Opinion: Nonprofit Journalism Finally Builds Scale ([Nieman Lab]( - America’s Black Holocaust Museum Receives $10 Million Gift, Purchases New Building ([Milwaukee Business Journal]( - Safety Nets That Sustain Community ([New York Times]( SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to nonprofit news and analysis. Editor's Picks GRANT MAKING [As Foundation Assets Grow Fast, Some Grant Makers Are Giving Much More]( By Alex Daniels [STORY IMAGE]( At their summer meeting, board members of the Prentice Foundation pondered the good news from the markets. Since the beginning of the year, their endowment had grown by nearly one-third, to reach $44 million. CRYPTO PHILANTHROPY [Crypto-Based Digital Art Frenzy Draws in Charities]( By Michael Theis [STORY IMAGE]( As collectors try to cash in on nonfungible tokens, or NFTs, nonprofits and donors are auctioning them off, some with huge success, others much less so. CLIMATE CHANGE [Bezos Earth Fund Announces Recipients of Nearly $450 Million]( By Jim Rendon [STORY IMAGE]( The grants will go to nonprofits that work on climate justice here in the United States and organizations around the world that support forest conservation by local and Indigenous communities. LEADERSHIP [DonorsChoose Taps a Crowdfunding Pioneer to Take Over for Its Departing Founder]( By Dan Parks [STORY IMAGE]( Alix Guerrier, head of GlobalGiving, will lead the organization. Together the two crowdfunding groups have channeled nearly $2 billion to schools and international projects. OPINION [More Civil-Rights Lawyers Are Needed to Fight Racial-Justice Battles. Philanthropy Can Help.]( By Sherrilyn Ifill , Anthony Romero, and Darren Walker [STORY IMAGE]( As the racial reckoning of 2020 plays out in courtrooms and state legislatures, grant makers should embrace a range of strategies, including funding law-school scholarship programs and public-interest centers, to help build a well-trained army of civil-rights attorneys. SPONSOR CONTENT | Microsoft [In the Cloud, Small Nonprofits Find the Sky's the Limit]( Learn how nonprofits are utilizing cloud technology to enhance productivity and collaboration, enabling seamless connections. 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.]( JOB OPPORTUNITIES Apply for the top jobs in philanthropy and [search all our open positions](. 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