Foundations looking to make headway against some of the urgent challenges of the day should start, write Brest and Wolfson, by thinking differently about risk and reward....

The decline in local journalism is undermining our contributes and contributing to a national civic crisis, writes Sandorf, but philanthropy, in partnership with others, is taking steps to stem the tide....

The media landscape has changed dramatically in the years since Jeff Skoll founded Participant Media, writes Gilchrist, but like other Silicon Valley success stories, the company has demonstrated a consistent ability to adapt.... 

By examining the eight common myths of philanthropy — including who gives, how they give, and to what end — we can better comprehend the breadth and diversity of giving....

Harris, a journalist, shares details of a working paper authored by Claire Dunning, an assistant professor at the University of Maryland's School of Public Policy, that examines a high-minded but "short-lived and largely forgotten" experiment aimed at improving race relations and the living standards of African Americans in 1970s Boston....

Lack of access to capital not only prevents business growth but also perpetuates cycles of intergenerational poverty and racial inequity that affect families and communities at all levels. Brulé and Warren report on one model that is helping to change that equation in New Mexico....

According to Wang and Desouza, social entrepreneurs in the world's most populous country are using blockchain technology to create a more decentralized and autonomous philanthropic sector....

As we work to advance racial equity in philanthropy, write Reid and Dean-Coffey, four practices can help us find our "learning edge" — the boundary of our comfort zone and competencies where change is truly transformative and freeing....

Is commercial-scale torrefaction — the process of turning wood scraps from forest-thinning operations into a coal substitute — a partial solution to climate change? Gaines, a freelance science journalist living in Seattle, reports....

Low-income communities need ownership over the resources that flow into them and defenses to protect them from feckless funders and footloose capital, argues Margulies. In an age when the failure of unregulated capitalism is becoming more evident every day, options like the neighborhood trust cannot be implemented quickly enough....

With wages stagnating, benefits shrinking, and personal debt increasing, financial precarity has become widespread in the United States, writes Leana, but the philanthropic community has been and can continue to be a catalyst for solutions to the problem.... 

Whether you are doing advocacy for the first time or revamping an existing program, the recipe for success, writes van Geldern, requires a careful balance between analytical thinking and action.... 

Honig looks at new research that explores when top-down control works best in international development work and when organizations should let employees in the field navigate challenges using their own judgment....

Across the social sector, writes Twersky, there is a growing recognition of the importance of being human centered — of putting the people we seek to benefit at the center of our problem-solving efforts....

Movements such as #MeToo and Time's Up reinforce why a rapid-response fund might focus on women human rights defenders. Seo, the founder of ReaMedica and ReaMedica Health Care Kenya, reports on one such fund....

Since its creation in 2012, #GivingTuesday has spread across the world, with official movements in forty-six countries and unofficial activity in dozens more. As Curran explains, there are important lessons all nonprofits can learn from its success....

Freelance journalist Sarah Murray looks at an innovative fund in Chicago that is demonstrating how place-based impact investing can transform a community....

Social impact bonds (SIBs) do not offer a silver bullet for solving social problems, writes Murray, but they may represent the first expression of a new form of capitalism that optimizes risk for return and impact....