Foundations Descend on Capitol Hill to Advocate for Nonprofit Causes

Plus, NYU’s Stern School of Business gets a $53.6 million commitment for global learning, and the Rales Foundation bets big on Carnegie Mellon STEM students ADVERTISEMENT [Philanthropy Today Logo]( Did someone forward you this newsletter? [Sign up free]( to receive your own copy. You can now follow The Chronicle on [Apple News]( [Flipboard]( and [Google News](. GOVERNMENT AND REGULATION [In-Person Advocacy on Capitol Hill for Nonprofit Causes Returns]( By Alex Daniels [STORY IMAGE]( After a three-year absence from Capitol Hill, more than 250 grant makers and nonprofit leaders began a three-day gathering in Washington on Monday to press lawmakers to provide donors with more incentives to give and to provide nonprofits with an official voice in federal policy discussions. ADVERTISEMENT GIFTS ROUNDUP [NYU’s Stern School of Business Gets a $53.6 Million Commitment for Global Learning]( By M.J. Prest [STORY IMAGE]( Also, the Heritage Foundation has received a pledge of $25 million to advance its policy goals, and the University of California at Los Angeles received a joint gift of $20 million to establish the Goodman-Luskin Microbiome Center. EDUCATION [Rales Foundation Bets Big on Carnegie Mellon STEM Students]( By Thalia Beaty, Associated Press [STORY IMAGE]( Some 86 women, BIPOC, and first-generation college students in master’s and doctoral programs will receive scholarships or stipends. GRANT MAKING [Foundation Giving to Ukraine Peaked at Beginning of Invasion but Has Stayed Steady Since]( By Sara Herschander [STORY IMAGE]( The nearly 275 foundations surveyed gave more than $7 million to support Ukraine over the past year, about half of which occurred in March 2022 directly following the invasion. Webinars [Make It Easy for DAF Donors to Give]( [STORY IMAGE]( Economic uncertainty may be causing anxiety, but on a bright note, it’s a good time to focus on gifts from donor-advised funds because the money is already set aside for charitable giving. To learn how to appeal to DAF donors and make it seamless for them to give, join us March 9 at 2 p.m. Eastern. Our expert guests will explain how to connect with those who hold DAFs, what motivates them to make a distribution, and how to inspire them to give. [Sign up today.]( [Build a Diverse Pool of Donors]( [STORY IMAGE]( Many fundraising leaders are figuring out how to build trust with donors who may be quite different than the people who supported their nonprofit a decade ago. Join this 75-minute webinar on March 23 at 2 p.m. Eastern (or on demand later) to learn how your nonprofit can tap into the generosity of donors of all backgrounds and broaden its support. You’ll get practical ways to create inclusive fundraising strategies that attract support from donors large and small. [Sign up today.]( SPONSOR CONTENT | Plan International [What Does Equality Look Like? Girls Have the Answer]( ONLINE BRIEFINGS [Tomorrow: Using Data Analytics to Attract and Retain Members]( [STORY IMAGE]( Trade associations and other nonprofits that rely on membership revenue employ a variety of strategies to recruit and retain people, such as hosting conferences and selling reports and research, but data from these activities often is stored in different places and can be difficult to reconcile with member records. How can nonprofits use data to maximize membership revenue and build community? Join us tomorrow, Tuesday, February 28, at 2 p.m. Eastern to learn from leaders who are putting their data to practical use with good results. [Register today.]( SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to nonprofit news and analysis. Nonprofit News From Elsewhere Online A Christian health nonprofit in Ohio faces a class-action lawsuit from members who say it was simply a scheme to enrich a few people while leaving their medical bills unpaid. Liberty HealthShare, which marketed itself as an alternative to Obamacare, collected subscriptions from members, who believed they were helping one another with health-care expenses. Because it was not classified as an insurance company, it was exempt from certain standards, such as spending at least 80 percent of revenues on customers’ medical bills. Instead, an investigation showed much of Liberty’s money went into a chain of businesses owned by people involved with Liberty or into a sprawling family compound on hundreds of acres. After repeated brushes with law enforcement and curious regulators, Liberty agreed to a settlement with Ohio prosecutors in 2021 and new management is still trying to pay off a huge backlog of members’ bills. The lawsuit, which is against Liberty and the family that formerly ran it, continues as more members file complaints. ([ProPublica]( An heiress to the Koch family fortune is funding a nascent movement to change the way people think about themselves. Elizabeth Koch, the daughter of conservative industrialist Charles Koch, has earmarked at least $100 million for a nonprofit, Unlikely Collaborators, and its related Tiny Blue Dot Foundation to help people see themselves and others more clearly. The ultimate aim of her efforts, which include making grants to like-minded organizations, is to get people to “lower their emotional defenses so that contentious issues can be turned into constructive conversations.” She has found partners and beneficiaries in respected brain-research organizations, and the nonprofit counts a corporate executive and former banker and private-equity investor among its leaders. Unlike her father, Koch said she is not political, and the idea for this enterprise came from growing up fearing that people hated her for the privilege into which she was born. ([New York Times]( More News - Philanthropic Donations to Ukraine Have Largely Dried Up ([Devex]( - AmazonSmile Is Gone — but You Can Still Donate to Charity While Shopping at Walmart, Chewy, Walgreens, and Other Retailers ([MarketWatch](. Background from the Chronicle: [Companies Seek to Jump-Start Donations From Everyday Donors as Year-End Giving Season Arrives]( - Valparaiso University to Move Forward With Artwork Sale Despite Campus, Art Community Opposition ([Chicago Tribune]( - Who’s Spending $1 Million to Attack This Struggling Hospital? ([New York Times]( - After City Bans Sleeping at Homeless Youth Centers, a Center Resists ([New York Times]( - Italy Impounds Doctors Without Borders Rescue Ship ([Agence France Presse]( - Mo. Nonprofit Confesses to False Statements, Agrees to Pay $1.8 Million ([KRCGTV]( Opinion - LDS Church Must Trust Members With the Truth About Its Money and Give More to Charity ([Salt Lake Tribune]( - High Costs for Care at Ind.’s Nonprofit Hospitals Not Very Charitable ([Indy Star]( SPONSOR CONTENT | CCS [CCS Examines Philanthropic Trends Amid Steady Giving in Eleventh-Edition]( CCS Fundraising is thrilled to share the eleventh edition Snapshot of Today’s Philanthropic Landscape report. This report compiles and contextualizes research from across the field of philanthropy to help US-based nonprofits wade through the available data and create informed fundraising strategies. Editor's Picks OPINION [On First Anniversary of Russia’s Invasion of Ukraine, Philanthropy Must Commit to Deeper, More Strategic Funding]( By Alexandra Toma [STORY IMAGE]( As in other conflicts around the globe, sustaining donor interest in the war in Ukraine is an ongoing battle. But grant makers can have a lasting impact if they focus on building strong, stable, and peaceful societies. ANALYSIS [America’s Top Donors Are Helping to Shape the Future in an Old-Fashioned Way]( By Maria Di Mento and Drew Lindsay [STORY IMAGE]( Many of 2022 largest donors hewed closely to decades-old conventions of philanthropy. Two areas that attracted significant support: scholarships and medical research. Plus: See our entire [special report]( on the Philanthropy 50. HOMELESSNESS [Can $100 Million Change San Francisco’s Response to Homelessness? One Grant Maker Tried. Here’s What Happened.]( By Eden Stiffman [STORY IMAGE]( The effort hasn’t reached its goal to reduce the city’s chronically homeless population by half, but it helped galvanize new ways of working and expand the set of solutions to address a seemingly intractable problem. OPINION [Donors Leery of Supporting Grassroots Organizing Need to Rethink How They Approach Such Work]( By Ben Naimark-Rowse [STORY IMAGE]( The perceived messy work of building movements often scares away grant makers, but these efforts are critical to creating equitable societies. Donors need to adopt new practices and strategies to measure and support them. EVENT FUNDRAISING [Top 30 Walkathons and Similar Fundraising Events Raised More Than $1 Billion in 2022]( By Rasheeda Childress [STORY IMAGE]( They took a tumble during the worst of the pandemic, with steep decreases in the amounts raised, but they’re beginning to thrive again. ADVERTISEMENT RECOMMENDED WEBINAR [Join Our Next Webinar]( — Fluctuations in the economy can be unsettling for fundraising, but now is a good time to focus on donor-advised funds because that money has already been set aside for charitable giving. How can your nonprofit appeal to DAF donors and make it seamless for them to give? During this 75-minute webinar, you'll get an insider's view of how and why wealthy individuals open DAFs at one community foundation and you'll learn directly from a wealth adviser how to connect with those who hold DAFs, what motivates them to make a distribution, and how to capture their interest. Join us March 9 at 2 p.m. Eastern or on demand at your convenience. You’ll also learn why it’s important to stay on top of changes in financial policies and trends in wealth management and how to inspire donors to give. [Register today.]( JOB OPPORTUNITIES [Managing Director]( A Noise Within [Development Manager]( Pet Sustainability Coalition [Manager, Development Operations]( Results Educational Fund [Deputy Director of Development for the Climate & Energy Program]( Third Way [Search other jobs.]( NEWSLETTER FEEDBACK [Please let us know what you thought of today's newsletter in this three-question survey](. [Chronicle of Philanthropy Logo]( This newsletter was sent to {EMAIL}. [Read this newsletter on the web](. [Manage]( your newsletter preferences, [stop receiving]( this email, or [view]( our privacy policy. © 2023 [The Chronicle of Philanthropy]( 1255 23rd Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 20037