Today's Philanthropy Pulse
UNFI Foundation’s Charity Classic hits record $1.1M for food‑access grants
The annual Charity Classic golf event raised a record $1.1M, surpassing previous years’ totals. The fundraiser will allocate $50,000 grants to each of 22 grantees, supporting both rapid emergency relief and long‑term local food‑system resilience.
Temperature-Controlled Infrastructure Helps Combat Food Insecurity
Americold Realty Trust is leveraging its temperature‑controlled logistics network to fight food insecurity ahead of the USPS Stamp Out Hunger drive and World Hunger Day. The REIT has moved more than two million pounds of food for Feed the Children and supports dozens of local food banks, especially in underserved “food deserts.” President Bryan Verbarendse says the cold‑chain infrastructure lowers spoilage, cuts costs, and improves access to nutritious food year‑round. With 13.7% of U.S. households facing food insecurity in 2024, Americold’s model showcases how REITs can turn core assets into community impact.
MDLBEAST Foundation Shares Open Call for Mentorship Programme to Support Women in Music
The MDLBEAST Foundation has opened applications for the 2026 HUNNA mentorship programme, targeting both mentees and mentors across the MENA music scene. Since its launch, HUNNA has helped more than 100 women through mentorship, leadership courses, and industry programming. The...
Aldi Thanks Shoppers for Helping to Raise £13 Million for Teenage Cancer Trust
Aldi announced it has raised £13 million (≈ $16.6 million) for the Teenage Cancer Trust, surpassing its original £10 million target for 2027 two years early. The fundraising effort, driven by employee challenges and shopper donations since 2017, will be celebrated with a “Walk...
The Editor's Post: Why Impact Finance Should Be Wary of Replicating Colonial Dynamics
Impact Jordan has released a report urging impact‑finance practitioners to abandon colonial‑style power dynamics and adopt locally grounded definitions of impact. The paper argues that Global North frameworks often marginalize Jordanian communities and misalign capital with real needs. It calls...
Don’t Replicate Colonial Power Dynamics in Impact Finance, Says Impact Jordan
The Arab Impact Network was launched to create an inclusive movement of impact organisations across the MENA region and to shift the narrative from scarcity to opportunity. It aims to raise the region’s impact‑investment share to more than 2% of...
Why Nonprofits and Schools Struggle with Fundraising Campaigns and How to Fix It
Private schools and nonprofits are juggling multiple fundraising campaigns using fragmented spreadsheets and siloed processes, leading to inefficiencies and inconsistent donor communication. The article argues that centralizing campaign planning, tracking, and donor data into a single system resolves these gaps....
The Impact World This Week: 8 May 2026
The EU’s deteriorating ties with the United States are opening a strategic opening for social entrepreneurs to shape the upcoming EU budget and drive a sustainable, social economy. At the same time, the UK’s Better Futures Fund, launched as the...
The Four Types of Digital Culture
Charities are turning to the Organisational Culture Assessment Instrument (OCAI) to map their internal culture before launching digital initiatives. The framework identifies four archetypes—clan, adhocracy, market, and hierarchy—and explains how each influences the adoption of digital tools. By matching culture...
Johns Hopkins Business School Receives $50M Gift
Johns Hopkins Carey Business School announced a historic $50 million donation from the W.P. Carey Foundation. The gift will fund start‑up capital for full‑time MBA students focused on entrepreneurship, support new faculty professorships, and deepen industry partnerships. It also aims to elevate...
Trump Administration Cuts CDC’s Key Role in Global Program to Stop HIV
The Trump administration’s May 5 guidance ends the CDC’s involvement in the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) for most of the 46 recipient countries. Congress has earmarked $4.5 billion for PEPFAR this fiscal year, but the State Department now wants...
GDT Podcast / Season 9 / Episode 4
The Givers, Doers, & Thinkers podcast’s ninth season features an interview with Destiny Rojo of the PY Foundation. The conversation spotlights place‑based giving in Artesia, New Mexico, where the foundation backs education, public art, economic development and nonprofit capacity. Rojo explains how...
Whitley Fund for Nature Awards: Six Global Projects Recognised for Species Conservation Efforts
The Whitley Fund for Nature (WFN) has awarded six innovative conservation projects across the globe, each receiving £50,000 (about $63,500) to protect threatened species such as rare frogs, guitar fish, lions and the Galápagos petrel. The initiatives blend scientific research...
Nonprofit Turns Short-Term Housing Into Disaster Shelter
The nonprofit spin-off from the short-term housing company gives people a place to land during climate catastrophes and other disasters. Wendy Paris Reports: https://tinyurl.com/dfthxkyn Related IP Resources: Grants for Humanitarian Aid -https://tinyurl.com/mmx8dzw8 Grants for Immigrants & Refugees -https://tinyurl.com/58p6mejn Donor Insights for Immigrants & Refugees -https://tinyurl.com/5n7x7vpj EmergencyHousing
The PG&E Corporation Foundation Funds Restaurants Care Resilience Grants
The PG&E Corporation Foundation is contributing nearly $1.3 million to the California Restaurant Foundation’s Restaurants Care Resilience Fund, its largest annual donation to date. The money will fund $5,000 grants for 213 independent restaurants and caterers in PG&E’s service area, pushing the...
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Communication and Investor Loyalty: Evidence From South African Non-Profit Organisations (NPOs)
A quantitative study of 250 employees in Gauteng‑based South African non‑profits examined how CSR communication channels affect investor loyalty. The analysis found that workshops, public relations and traditional media each have a significant positive impact on donor commitment. In contrast,...
AI Generated Info Not Swaying Some Donors
The Give.org Donor Trust Report 2026, based on a December 2025 survey of 1,500 U.S. adults, finds AI‑generated summaries influence only 7% of donors, while 27.9% would give more if directly asked. Openness to solicitation rose to 42.1%, the second‑highest...
Funding Intermediary Revamps Strategy Amid Reproductive Justice Funding Decline
Confronting a downturn in reproductive justice support at a dangerous moment, here’s how and why the funding intermediary changed up its approach. Martha Ramirez Reports: https://tinyurl.com/3vtkp83v Related IP Resources: Grants for Reproductive Justice & Health -https://tinyurl.com/yc6uzpbv What Is Capacity-Building Support for Nonprofits? -https://tinyurl.com/56favecd ReproductiveJustice
Lambert and Doris Day Foundations Fund $233K Spay/Neuter Grants
Miranda Lambert's MuttNation Foundation and the Doris Day Animal Foundation have awarded $233,000 in spay and neuter grants to 63 shelters and clinics across Southern California through the It Takes Balls campaign. https://t.co/c9XD42jgE6
$1 Million In Grants Will Support Appalachian Trail Conservation Projects
The Appalachian Trail Conservancy’s Wild East Action Fund announced a $1 million grant program for 2026, the largest allocation in its history. The funding, supplied by the Dunleavy Foundation, more than doubles the 2025 award pool. Grants will support land protection,...
‘95 per Cent of Charities Don’t Move the Needle’: What the 5 per Cent Are Doing Differently
At Spear’s 500 Live, panelists examined why only 5 % of UK charities achieve measurable impact despite high‑net‑worth donors contributing roughly £8 bn ($10 bn) a year. They argued that rigorous data‑driven measurement, like the DFN Project SEARCH programme, separates the effective minority...
Philea and WINGS Publish “International Philanthropy Commitment on Climate Change: Progress Report 2”
Philea and WINGS released the second International Philanthropy Commitment on Climate Change Progress Report, surveying 23 of the 48 signatory foundations. The report shows steady advancement across all seven commitment pillars, with the most notable gains in endowment and asset...
How Paywall Plus Philanthropy Saved The Philadelphia Inquirer
The Philadelphia Inquirer, once bankrupt, turned a profit in 2025 after Jerry Lenfest transferred ownership to the nonprofit Lenfest Institute and introduced a hybrid for‑profit, nonprofit structure. A $7.8 million grant and aggressive digital‑subscription strategy pushed subscriber revenue to 70% of...
UK’s Better Futures Fund Moves Step Closer to First Funding Round
The UK government‑backed Better Futures Fund, a £500 m (~$635 m) outcomes‑based initiative, is moving toward its first funding round. A competition to select a delivery partner will close on 12 June, after which the fund will open for project bids later this...
Meet Mark Stevens: The Billionaire VC, Nvidia Board Member, and Giving Pledge Signer Who Just Donated $200 Million to USC
Billionaire venture capitalist and Nvidia board member Mark Stevens and his wife Mary have pledged a $200 million gift to the University of Southern California, creating a university‑wide artificial‑intelligence initiative and renaming the Viterbi School of Computing after the couple. The...
Parker Institute Hires Former Zillow, Starbucks Exec Aimee Johnson as CMO
The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy announced Aimee Johnson, a former CMO of Zillow and senior leader at Starbucks, as its new chief marketing officer. Johnson will steer brand, marketing and digital strategy as the nonprofit seeks to expand awareness...
ACF and GCI’s Suicide Prevention Fund
The Alaska Community Foundation (ACF) and GCI have opened applications for their annual Suicide Prevention Fund, with a deadline of June 15 at 5 pm. Grants of $1,000 to $15,000 are available for projects that begin after the award is issued,...
Tech Donors Should Prioritize Overlooked AI Impact Areas
In the age of AI, the most important giving priority for tech donors may be the one they’re largely ignoring. Guest Contributor, Gabe Ziaukas Reports: https://tinyurl.com/52bkx85v Related IP Resources: Tech Philanthropists -https://tinyurl.com/bdewp5v8 Grants for Arts & Culture -https://tinyurl.com/52a2ed2b Grants for Arts Education -https://tinyurl.com/4e59uvjr TechPhilanthropy
GDT Podcast / Season 9 / Episode 3
In the latest Givers, Doers, & Thinkers podcast, host Jeremy Beer interviews Hanna Skandera, president and CEO of the Daniels Fund, about the urgent need to revitalize civics education as the United States nears its 250th anniversary. Skandera outlines the...
How Ted Turner Changed the World
Ted Turner, the media mogul who launched CNN, died at 87. In 1997 he pledged $1 billion to the United Nations, sparking the creation of the United Nations Foundation. Despite a massive loss of wealth after the AOL‑Time Warner merger, he...
Storyteller & Jessi Combs Foundation Partnership Empowers the Next Generation of Women in Skilled Trades
Storyteller Overland has teamed with the Jessi Combs Foundation to launch the Trailblazer Tour Van, a fiery red mobile platform honoring Jessi Combs’s legacy. Scholarship recipients will drive the van on a nationwide tour, delivering hands‑on workshops in welding, manufacturing...
Dad’s Fundraising Wisdom
A veteran pastor revealed that his churches consistently posted strong financial results by never framing appeals as "fundraising" but as spiritual health and tithing. By preaching the donor’s identity and values, his congregations grew to a $100,000 surplus last year....
Chicago Emerges as Nation’s Philanthropy Hotspot
With a well-established culture of giving and lots of prominent funders, the nation’s third-most populous city is a philanthropy hotspot. Katherine Don Reports: https://tinyurl.com/yd7cefcf Related IP Resources: Illinois Grants for Nonprofits -https://tinyurl.com/22bkcvf6 MacArthur Foundation -https://tinyurl.com/eduznm9r The Chicago Community Trust Trust -https://tinyurl.com/d4shc3vh Chicago
Matthew Good Foundation Expands Team To Scale Business Giving Programme
The Matthew Good Foundation announced a strategic team expansion, adding a Strategic Partnerships Manager and two administrative roles to support its Grants for Good programme. Over the past 18 months the staff grew from two to five, complemented by four...
Government Cuts Are Testing Nonprofits, Creating New Opportunity
Government cuts are tightening public budgets while demand for social services surges, leaving more than a third of nonprofits ending 2025 with operating deficits and over half with fewer than three months of cash on hand. At the same time,...
Investing in Life: Philanthropy’s Role in Divesting From Systems of Violence
Philanthropic foundations control trillions of dollars, yet many invest in fossil fuels, private‑prison companies, weapons manufacturers, and firms tied to genocide, creating a stark contradiction between their public‑good mission and financial practices. Investigations reveal the Gates Foundation’s continued stakes in...
Gulfstream Invests US$5 Million in Georgia Education Programs
Gulfstream announced a $5 million investment for 2026 to fund education programs across Savannah‑area K‑12 schools, technical colleges and universities. The annual commitment supports dual‑enrollment pathways, hands‑on aviation training and university research aimed at cultivating future business‑aviation talent. Gulfstream employs over...
990 Reform Plans Stalled by Persistent Payout Barriers
Plans to change up the 990 form notwithstanding, major factors standing in the way of genuine, payout-oriented reform remain in place. Mike Scutari Reports: https://tinyurl.com/2e2wanc7 Related IP Resources: Explainer: What is a Donor-Advised Fund? -https://tinyurl.com/mskbpxnu How to Get Grants From Donor-Advised Funds -https://tinyurl.com/4pyhff7k Key Debate:...
Gift Size Doesn’t Matter
The article argues that donation size alone doesn’t reveal a donor’s passion or long‑term potential. While larger gifts suggest a higher “relationship budget,” small contributions can come from frequent low‑engagement donors, financially constrained supporters, or high‑net‑worth prospects testing the organization....
New Data Reveals Gen Z Generosity Is Hiding in Plain Sight
A new GoFundMe report, created with GivingTuesday, shows Gen Z adults give at higher rates than older cohorts, with more than 70% reporting a donation in the past week versus 65% of adults 30‑85. Their generosity is personal, peer‑influenced and highly...
Only 25% Donate Recurring Because They Were Asked
Neon One asked 718 recurring donors what inspired them to make that ongoing commitment. Interestingly, only 25% answered that they gave because they were asked by a nonprofit: https://nptechforgood.com/2026/04/28/new-research-reveals-what-motivates-recurring-donors/ ✅
Metric Redefines Charities: Food Banks Qualify, Hospitals Don’t
My new essay. What makes a charity a charity? This metric says food banks are charities, but hospitals are not. What do you think? The case for restricting tax subsidies to only the most-deserving charities - the Giving Review https://t.co/TJcJ5DUsdl
The Case for Restricting Tax Subsidies to only the Most-Deserving Charities
The article proposes limiting tax subsidies to only the most‑deserving charities by applying a “collectiveness index” that measures the share of donations in a nonprofit’s revenue. Recent IRS data show that health‑care nonprofits generate $1.3 trillion in revenue, yet only 2%...
How Valvoline Is Driving Mental Health Support with Ronald McDonald House
Valvoline Inc. pledged $750,000 over three years to fund behavioral‑health services at Ronald McDonald House, directing $25,000 each year to ten chapters for counseling, therapy and crisis care. The partnership also launches a store‑wide donation drive through May 31, allowing customers to add...
UK Fintech Firm Targets $1 Bln for Nature Conservation with Payments-Linked Tool
A UK fintech firm has introduced a payments‑linked tool that lets consumers direct a fraction of each transaction toward nature‑conservation projects. The platform automatically rounds up purchases or adds a small optional fee, routing the funds to vetted environmental initiatives....
Renaissance Philanthropy Reshapes Science Funding with a New Model for Innovation
Renaissance Philanthropy, a nonprofit that links wealthy donors with scientific innovators, has mobilised more than $533 million in its first two years. The organization now runs over 20 active, thesis‑driven programmes covering AI, climate, energy and health, and has forged partnerships...
When Asking for Money Makes People Stop Doing Good Things
Researchers added a donation option to Swedish recycling machines and observed a sharp, lasting decline in bottle returns. The choice introduced moral tension, causing users to avoid the machine altogether rather than recycle. The same avoidance pattern appears in charitable...
Improvements Made to Child Sponsorship Marketing Following Guidance, Regulator Says
Charities that run child or orphan sponsorship programmes have revamped their websites and marketing after the UK Fundraising Regulator issued new guidance. A monitoring exercise of 53 charities showed clearer explanations of sponsorship mechanics, explicit use‑of‑fund details, and more accurate...
Manulife Pledges C$500,000 to Boost Youth Mental‑Health Prevention in Quebec
Manulife announced a C$500,000 (about $365,000 USD) donation to the Youth In Mind Foundation to broaden school‑based mental‑health prevention programs across Quebec. The funding will reach roughly 55,000 youths aged 11‑18 and provide new tools for parents and educators, underscoring...
PE Veteran Launches Foundation Boosting Cross‑Disciplinary Scholars
Private equity veteran Will Thorndike created the Cromwell Harbor Foundation to foster the careers of innovative, cross-disciplinary scholars. Paul Karon Reports: https://tinyurl.com/3jfxjtzc Related IP Resources: Grants for Higher Education -https://tinyurl.com/2dx6h3mu Grants for Science Research -https://tinyurl.com/mpdstvy2 Donor Insights for Science -https://tinyurl.com/55paf7kc HigherEducation
Usher’s New Look and Boys & Girls Clubs Launch Groundbreaking Entertainment Workforce Initiative
Usher’s New Look and the Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater Detroit have launched the Entertainment Industry Club: Live Touring Edition, a workforce‑development program tied to Usher’s 2026 North American R&B tour. The initiative will select ten interns aged 18...