News

Colby College receives $30 million to establish AI institute
The gift from alumnus Andrew Davis ('85) and his family will support efforts to prepare students and faculty to create and apply AI and machine learning across a range of applications while establishing a precedent for how liberal arts colleges are engaged in shaping the future of AI....

Homicide rates rose 30 percent in U.S. cities in 2020, study finds
A report from Arnold Ventures and the National Commission on COVID-19 and Criminal Justice found that the aggregate homicide rate across thirty-four cities jumped 30 percent on a year-over-year basis, while rates for burglary, larceny, and drug offenses fell....

Houston Endowment awards $20 million for racial equity, social justice
Grants were awarded across five areas in the areas of anti-Black racism and systemic injustice; policy and advocacy; strong communities; art, culture, and history; education; and strong families and children....

Social Justice Legal Foundation launches with $10 million pledge
In collaboration with five prominent law schools as well as social justice organizations and bar associations, the foundation will work to bring difficult and important cases to trial, with a rotating focus on economic justice, housing/homelessness, LGBTQ+ rights, immigrant justice, discrimination against Native Americans, voting rights, and criminal justice reform....

Rockefeller awards $12 million for COVID-19 testing, tracing in Africa
Launched in August, the Partnership to Accelerate Covid-19 Testing (PACT) is working to establish global partnerships around the mobilization of technical, material, and financial resources in support of an expansion of COVID testing, tracing, and treatment in member states....

McGovern Foundation commits $40 million to advance data science
With the goal of accelerating the development of inclusive, ethical AI, the foundation will support efforts to leverage AI and data to help protect the planet, foster economic prosperity, ensure healthier communities, strengthen tech education opportunities, and create a more inclusive, equitable tech workforce....

Shirley Woodson named 2021 Kresge Eminent Artist
Awarded through the Kresge Arts in Detroit program, the award recognizes an artist's lifetime achievement and includes a $50,000 prize, production of a short film about the artist, and publication of a monograph....

United Way Worldwide CEO facing uncertain future
Even as the organization wrestles with a changed fundraising landscape, its board has met to discuss the possible exit of CEO Brian Gallagher, who, according to some former and current employees, allegedly has fostered a hostile workplace culture....

Children's Hospital LA receives $25 million for behavioral health
CHLA will use the gift from an anonymous donor to expand access to behavioral health services, expand proactive screening and interventions, and strengthen training and education for healthcare providers....

University of Chicago receives $75 million for social work school
The gift from James and Paula Crown and their family — the largest gift ever to a U.S. school of social work — will support increased student financial aid, faculty research and hiring, and community-engagement initiatives focused on the challenge of inequality....

IKEA Foundation awards $36.3 million to International Rescue Committee
The Refugees in East Africa: Boosting Urban Innovations for Livelihoods Development (Re:Build) initiative will provide employment support to twenty thousand refugees and urban residents in Nairobi, Kenya, and Kampala, Uganda....

Annie E. Casey Foundation to increase focus on youth, young adults
Over the next decade, the foundation will dedicate at least half of its philanthropic investments to ensuring that young people between the ages of 14 and 24 have the family connections, relationships, communities, and educational and employment opportunities they need to succeed....

NJ Performing Arts Center receives $20 million bequest
In honor of the gift from its longtime supporter, NJPAC will name the stage in Prudential Hall, its largest theater, the Betty Wold Johnson stage....

Weinberg Foundation awards $7.5 million to CDFIs for COVID-19 relief
The foundation awarded grants to three community development financial institutions working to support nonprofits serving low-income communities impacted by COVID-19....

Schwab Charitable facilitated $3.7 billion in grants in 2020
The San Francisco-based provider of donor-advised funds saw a 39 percent year-over-year jump in the number of grants recommended, a 35 percent increase in grant dollars awarded, and a 13 percent rise in the number of charities supported....

People in the News (01/31/2021): appointments, promotions, obituaries
The latest staff and board announcements from the philanthropic sector....

Mellon Foundation awards $15 million to Library of Congress
The largest grant ever to the library from a private foundation will fund Of the People: Widening the Path, a multiyear initiative aimed at creating opportunities for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, and other minority communities to contribute their perspectives to a more inclusive American story....

Villanova University receives $10 million from alumnus
The gift from retired chair and CEO of Mellon Financial Corporation Martin G. McGuinn will support faculty research, scholarships, and services for student-veterans....

Big Shoulders Fund commits $1.8 million for Chicago Catholic schools
The investment will ensure that high-need Catholic schools in Chicago serving nearly three thousand students remain open....

Community Foundation Update (01/30/2021)
News and staff announcements from community foundations in Connecticut, Florida, Indiana, Michigan, North Carolina, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, Virginia, and Washington....

Nearly half of nonprofit staff employees expect cost cutting in 2021
According to the 2020 Eagle Hill Consulting Nonprofit Survey of nonprofit employees, 58 percent of respondents said their employer took steps to reduce costs in 2020, while 49 percent expect their organizations to implement further cost-cutting measures in 2021....

Brown University receives $25 million for brain science research
The gift from an anonymous donor will support research in computational brain science and endow an innovation awards program....

CZI commits $450 million for criminal justice, immigration reform
The commitments include a $350 million investment in the Justice Accelerator Fund, a new criminal justice advocacy organization, and $100 million in support of FWD.us, an immigration and criminal justice reform advocacy organization that Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan helped launch in 2013....

LISC president and CEO Maurice A. Jones to step down
Jones is leaving LISC to take the helm at OneTen, a venture launched in December by thirty-seven corporations working to hire and advance a million Black Americans without four-year college degrees over the next ten years ....

ServiceNow launches $100 million Racial Equity Fund
The fund will drive more sustainable wealth creation in ten metro areas by increasing the lending capacity of local banks in the areas of homeownership, entrepreneurship, and neighborhood revitalization....

NewSchools Venture Fund launches new strategy, commits $100 million
The organization will focus its investments in four areas — diverse leaders, innovative public schools, learning solutions, and racial equity....

Gateses' annual letter focuses on equity, pandemic preparedness
In their latest annual letter, Bill and Melinda Gates reflect on their foundation's response to COVID-19, the inequities highlighted by the pandemic, and the opportunity that exists to work toward "a healthier, more equal future for all" by prioritizing equity and pandemic preparedness....

Colby-Sawyer College awarded $10.2 million for endowment, scholarships
More than half of the of the largest gift in the school's 183-year-history will be directed to the college's endowment….