Donor Couple Urges Gifts From DAFs — Now

Plus, the Chicago financier Ken Griffin is giving a N.Y. museum $40 million, and how charities are contributing to the growing mistrust of mental-health text-message crisis lines ADVERTISEMENT [Philanthropy Today Logo]( Did someone forward you this newsletter? [Sign up free]( to receive your own copy. WHY THEY GIVE [Philanthropist Couple Urges Wealthy Donors to Give Now]( By Maria Di Mento [STORY IMAGE]( Jennifer and David Risher started the #HalfMyDAF campaign to encourage people to give more from their donor-advised funds. They also support Worldreader, a nonprofit David co-founded to provide books to young people in underserved places. ADVERTISEMENT GIFTS ROUNDUP [Chicago Financier Ken Griffin Gives $40 Million to N.Y. Museum]( By Maria Di Mento [STORY IMAGE]( Plus, the Atlantic Council and six other nonprofit institutions received big gifts. LEADERSHIP [Charities Are Contributing to Growing Mistrust of Mental-Health Text-Message Crisis Lines — Here’s Why]( By Christopher Burr, Ethics Fellow, Alan Turing Institute [STORY IMAGE]( Two charities recently faced a public backlash as a result of how they used machine learning and handled data from users who contacted their mental-health support services at a point of crisis. Webinar [Building Ties With DAF Donors: Where to Start]( [STORY IMAGE]( The number of donor-advised fund accounts in the U.S. surpassed 1 million in 2020, and grants to charities from the 10 largest DAF sponsors totaled $22.41 billion. But billions more remain in DAFs waiting to be funneled to nonprofits, in part because it can be difficult to identify and cultivate supporters who give through them. Join us on April 28, at 2 PM Eastern — or on demand — for advice on building ties with DAF donors. [Sign up today.]( SPONSOR CONTENT | GolfStatus [Attracting New Donors With Your Golf Fundraiser—And How to Keep Them]( Forum [Wednesday: General Operating Grants Can Advance Equity: a Conversation With Foundation and Nonprofit Leaders]( [STORY IMAGE]( When foundations give nonprofits general operating grants, leaders can invest in vital activities not tied to programs. How do some nonprofits succeed at attracting general operating support? Are grant makers investing more in nonprofit staffs and operations — especially in DEI efforts? Join our free briefing on Wednesday, April 6, at 2 p.m. Eastern to learn more. [Sign up today.]( SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to nonprofit news and analysis. NEWS FROM THE CHRONICLE We’re excited to announce the [winners of our inaugural fellowship]( to strengthen local reporting on philanthropy and nonprofits. Journalists from the Boulder (Colo.) Reporting Lab, Haitian Times, the Land (Cleveland) and WAMU/DCist (Washington) will spend the next year learning how to help their audiences better understand what grant makers, donors, and charitable organizations are accomplishing. This new effort is part of our in-depth collaboration with the [Associated Press]( and the Conversation to enhance public understanding of the nonprofit word, which is supported by a three-year grant from the Lilly Endowment. NONPROFIT NEWS FROM ELSEWHERE From Christians in Southern California to Buddhists in Manhattan, faith groups are mobilizing to help Ukrainian refugees coming to the United States. Believers are handing out food and water to would-be asylum-seekers in line at the Mexican border, ministering to exhausted new arrivals in churches near the border and forming committees to tackle the many needs of the newcomers, which include “homes, jobs, English classes, financial assistance, schools, and translators who will help them navigate all of that,” said Stephanie Nawyn, associate professor of sociology at Michigan State University. The efforts are attracting legions of volunteers, but refugee resettlement agencies beef up their capacity. “While getting more people of faith to help is great, not having enough resources or case managers is still going to be a problem,” Nawyn said. ([Associated Press]( Western institutions might be rethinking the philanthropy of Russia’s oligarchs, which anti-corruption activists and students of Vladimir Putin’s malign influence have for years protested. A coterie of astronomically rich Kremlin-linked figures have given between $372 million and $435 million to hundreds of nonprofits in the United States and millions more to cultural institutions in the United Kingdom, including $200 million to Harvard Medical School, the largest single gift in the school’s history. In protest over the years, activists have written open letters, and some have even resigned from recipient institutions. The recipient of a grant at Yale, funded by the Soviet-born Len Blavatnik, a serial investor in Russia’s extractive industries, called for an end to the program, which he said came with unwarranted strings. “Such ‘philanthropic’ capital enables the infiltration of the U.S. and U.K. political and economic establishments at the highest levels. It is also a means by which Blavatnik exports Russian kleptocratic practices to the West,” anti-corruption experts warned after a 2019 donation by Blavatnik to the Council on Foreign Relations. ([New York Magazine]( More News and Opinion - Battle Heats Up Over Remaining Federal Rental Assistance ([Associated Press]( - Brad Pitt’s ‘Make It Right Foundation’ No Longer Maintaining or Paying Taxes on Lower 9th Ward Lots ([Lens]( - GOP Lawmakers Want to Keep a Sharper Eye on Nonprofits That Get Most of Their Money From Minn. ([MinnPost]( - Opinion: Climate Research Funded by Fossil-Fuel Profits Discredits Universities and Hurts the Planet ([Los Angeles Times]( - The First A.I. Chief for NYU’s McSilver Institute for Poverty Policy and Research on Using the Innovation for Nonprofits ([NYN Media]( - Mo. Nonprofit Paying Millions in Corruption Probe ([Associated Press]( SPONSOR CONTENT | Funders for Real Cost, Real Change [Project Grants Need Not Be the Enemy, Part II]( Discover the impact of funders’ indirect cost recovery practices on international NGOs in ten countries across five regions of the globe. EDITOR'S PICKS GRANT MAKING [Biden Proposes Measure to Deter Foundations From Skirting Distribution Rules by Giving to DAFs]( By Dan Parks [STORY IMAGE]( Supporters say the proposal would direct more money from private foundations to charities every year. Critics say it would undermine donor privacy, among other harmful effects. OPINION [Philanthropy Needs to Own Up to Its Role in Fueling Polarization]( By Suzette Brooks Masters [STORY IMAGE]( To effectively address the toxic divisions that are stifling social change, grant makers and the nonprofits they support must acknowledge how their attitudes toward so-called opponents are contributing to the problem — and start listening to those with different perspectives. DIVERSITY, EQUITY, AND INCLUSION [One Response by Fundraisers to Racial Reckoning: an Affinity Group for Black Donors]( By Drew Lindsay [STORY IMAGE]( The antipoverty organization hopes the group will strengthen its ties to supporters and help them connect with one another. OPINION [Corrupt Financial Systems Help Russian Oligarchs and Hurt Ordinary People. Philanthropy Must Do More to Support Change.]( By Michael Jarvis and Leslie Lang Tsai [STORY IMAGE]( Money laundering doesn’t just make it harder to sanction Vladimir Putin and his cronies for the invasion of Ukraine. It depletes countries of funds needed to address the social problems that grant makers care about. There is no better time for philanthropy to do more to promote change. VIDEO [How to Make the Most of Artificial Intelligence and Other Technologies: Advice From Experts]( By Dan Parks [STORY IMAGE]( Technology is often presented as the solution to many problems for nonprofits — reducing staff burnout, better targeting of fundraising efforts, and improving budgeting, to name just a few. It can help with all those things, but there are pitfalls to avoid. ADVERTISEMENT RECOMMENDED WEBINAR [Fundraising Webinars: How to Make Virtual Events Accessible to People With Disabilities - Cover image of a woman in a virtual meeting] [Watch On-Demand]( — The number of donor-advised fund accounts in the United States surpassed 1 million in 2020, and grants to charities from the 10 largest DAF sponsors totaled $22.41 billion. That’s roughly double the amount the 10 biggest foundations gave that year. Yet billions more remain in DAFs, waiting to be funneled to nonprofits. How can your nonprofit find and strengthen ties with supporters who give through DAFs? Join us for a 75-minute session on Thursday, April 28, at 2 p.m. Eastern — or watch on demand at your convenience for expert guidance on adding DAF donors to your fundraising strategy, connecting with fund sponsors and professionals who counsel DAF donors, and handling these gifts properly. Sign up by April 21 to get the early-bird rate. 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