Knight Foundation’s Alberto Ibargüen Is Retiring

Plus, the Gates Foundation has named three executives to replace its retiring COO, and a Chronicle article about conservative donor Sean Fieler has sparked a heated debate (letters to the editor) 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](. FOUNDATION GIVING [Knight Foundation Leader to Retire, Leaving a Powerful Legacy]( By Alex Daniels [STORY IMAGE]( Alberto Ibargüen made an indelible mark by helping to save Detroit, boost the arts in Miami, and keep journalism alive and well in the internet age. ADVERTISEMENT TRANSITIONS [Gates Foundation Names 3 Executives to Replace Its Retiring Chief Operating Officer]( By M.J. Prest [STORY IMAGE]( Plus, the Whitney Museum of American Art has a new director, and a former U.S. representative from Michigan will now lead Spill the Honey, a group that examines the shared history of Black and Jewish communities in the United States. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR [Article About Conservative Donor Sean Fieler Sparks Heated Debate]( Chronicle of Philanthropy readers weigh in on profile of conservative philanthropist. ONLINE BRIEFINGS [Using Data to Improve Online Fundraising]( [STORY IMAGE]( Digital fundraisers can gain all sorts of insights from data about online campaigns. Whether its testing subject lines or social posts, analyzing email or newsletter open rates to see which messages resonate with supporters, or tracking people’s online engagement with your organization — data can take digital fundraising from good to great. Join us on March 28 at 2 p.m. Eastern to learn from your peers how to make the most of digital data, even without a big budget. [Sign up today.]( Nonprofit News From Elsewhere Online Philanthropists are starting to put serious money into mental-health research and care, after years of it receiving a tiny fraction of charitable giving. Among the largest disclosed gifts in the past few years, a group of tech and finance billionaires is pooling $450 million for research into bipolar disorder, the Ballmer Group gave $425 million to the University of Oregon to study children’s behavioral health, the Huntsman family is putting $150 million into a new mental-health institute at the University of Utah, MacKenzie Scott gave $30 million to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and the Morgan Stanley Foundation donated $20 million to children’s mental-health efforts. Experts credit changing attitudes and the pandemic, which sent many people into crisis and made their distress more visible to their locked-down families. In 2020, Candid found that only 1.3 percent of philanthropic donations went to mental-health issues. An executive with NAMI said the field is “desperate for an infusion.” ([Barron’s]( Background from the Chronicle: [More Big Donors Are Supporting — and Talking About — Mental Health]( and [How to Talk to Big Donors About Mental-Health Programs]( Seeking to lure new members and create more inviting meeting spaces for current ones, Girl Scouts USA is building multi-use hubs across the country. The first DreamLab, recently opened in a Denver storefront, has a podcast booth, a science and technology lab, a boutique, a bouldering wall, and an outdoor skills area to practice camping skills. Scouts leaders say the pandemic cut troops off from many of the spaces they typically used for meetings, such as church basements or troop leaders’ houses. They wanted to make better use of the roughly 1,000 properties held by the national organization and local councils. More DreamLabs, planned for accessible locations such as shopping centers that fit seamlessly into families’ routines, are under construction in New Jersey and Louisiana and under consideration elsewhere. The pandemic hit the Scouts’ membership and revenue figures, and “the DreamLab is an investment in reinvigorating membership numbers.” ([Fast Company]( Plus: $200 a Box? Why It Got So Hard To Find Raspberry Rally Girl Scout Cookies ([Los Angeles Times]( More News - Ford Foundation’s Darren Walker Proposes Shift in Focus of Giving in New Book ‘From Generosity to Justice’ ([PBS NewsHour]( - 2 Harvard Grads Saw Big Profits in African Education. Children Paid the Price ([Intercept]( - Tenn.’s Rejection of $8.8 Million in Federal Funding Alarms HIV Prevention Groups ([New York Times]( - How Manhattan Hotels Became Refuges for Thousands of Migrants ([New York Times]( - In Mont., It’s Youth vs. the State in a Landmark Climate Case ([New York Times]( - NPR Cancels 4 Podcasts Amid Major Layoffs ([NPR]( - In Silicon Valley Bank Collapse, Affordable Housing All Over Boston Hangs in the Balance ([Boston Globe]( Nonprofit Innovation - ‘Bringing the Treatment to Where They Are.’ Mobile Health Vans Have Boomed Since the Pandemic. ([Boston Globe]( - How Will Technology Shape the Museum of Tomorrow? 20 Museum Directors Will Convene in the Bay Area to Explore Digital Horizons ([Artnet News]( Note: In the links in this section, we flag articles that only subscribers can access. But because some journalism outlets offer a limited number of free articles, readers may encounter barriers with other articles we highlight in this roundup. SUBSCRIBE TO THE CHRONICLE Enjoying the newsletter? [Subscribe today]( for unlimited access to nonprofit news and analysis. Editor's Picks ECONOMIC OUTLOOK [Banking Failures Add to Growing Economic Uncertainty for Nonprofits]( By Sara Herschander [STORY IMAGE]( Foundation grants and gifts from individuals could be at risk as nonprofits continue to struggle to pay wages that will keep workers from seeking other opportunities. PHILANTHROPY 50 [Meet the ‘Everyday Megadonor’: 2022’s List of Top Philanthropists Includes a Host of New Names]( By Maria Di Mento and Drew Lindsay [STORY IMAGE]( The number of people worth at least $50 million has nearly quadrupled in the past decade. Meet the big givers hiding in plain sight. GIVING [How Philanthropy Helps Coal Communities Access Historic Levels of Federal Funding]( By Sono Motoyama [STORY IMAGE]( Thanks to the good ideas of local nonprofits — and to an influx of federal and state funds — projects such as turning West Virginia coal mines into greenhouses, launching training programs in sustainable trades on the Crow Reservation in Montana, and expanding West Virginians’ access to broadband have seen the light of day. OPINION [As Threats to Abortion Access Grow, Emergency Philanthropic Funding Isn’t Nearly Enough]( By Judy Wright and Charlene Bencomo [STORY IMAGE]( A new collaborative effort in New Mexico among nonprofits, philanthropy, and government is showing what effective responses to the reproductive health care crisis can look like. CAREERS [New Report Details How to Level the Playing Field for Women Fundraisers]( By Rasheeda Childress [STORY IMAGE]( A key recommendation is to create a code of conduct that lays out expectations for donors and for organizations to back fundraisers up when they’ve been sexually harassed. ADVERTISEMENT RECOMMENDED WEBINAR [Join Our Next Webinar]( — Savvy fundraisers know it’s essential to figure out which donors and potential supporters are likely to give most generously — and then decide whom to cultivate first. But at many nonprofit organizations, this process involves a lot of guesswork and missed opportunities for gifts. That’s why we've assembled an expert in donor research, along with a successful chief development officer, to show you how to gather the data you need to wisely invest your limited staff time and fundraising budget. Join us live on Thursday, April 20, at 2 p.m. Eastern for a 75-minute session (or watch on demand) to get practical guidance on creating a road map for identifying and building stronger ties with those donors who have the greatest potential to support your work. You'll get tips on mining your database to reveal promising donor behaviors and traits, tools you can use to find solid prospects, and ways to deepen relationships with your leading supporters. [Register today.]( JOB OPPORTUNITIES [Major Gifts Officer]( Cleveland Museum of Natural History [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