The genius of movements like #MeToo, #TimesUp, and #BlackLivesMatter is that while each had its creators and drivers, who spark and tend the flame, no one has really been in charge of making it all happen. That makes them messy and unpredictable. But it also gives them their power to change culture.
Artists often gravitate toward social causes. But increasingly, those causes are gravitating toward artists and arts audiences to better tell their stories and to raise money.
PREMIUM CONTENT | As McCambridge writes, “When conversations that are meant to advance the work of nonprofits get stuck, it can take years, even decades, to get them moving again.” So, how can we get—and keep—change-oriented conversations advancing?
Nancy Cantor, chancellor of Rutgers University-Newark, lays out her vision of an engaged “anchor institution” at a conference in South Africa. Engagement, Cantor says, is not just about good intentions; rather, the university must change its character to reflect and meet the educational needs of the full diversity of the community it serves.
With the support of artist Shepard Fairey, the new Seattle-based organization Amplifier is leveraging art to amplify social change messages. Its goal: to help save democracy.
Kim Klein walks us through the necessary steps to starting a major gifts program, from setting goals to preparing solicitation materials to asking for renewals.
This co-founder of a small foundation discusses how their very personal philanthropic vehicle builds on what many might consider a limited grants budget.
I want to suggest that you set the time aside for a really extraordinary webinar we have planned for the 27th of September. Julie Sweetland will be joining us from the FrameWorks Institute to help us all get our heads straight for the social change tasks we have ahead of us before and after the upcoming election. FrameWorks’ expertise is in communication, addressing the issues we care most about in productive ways. That’s one of the biggest core responsibilities we share. Here is the description for the session, and I will tell you that even in prepping for this session with Julie, I had any number of “Aha!” moments.
If we’ve learned anything from landmark legal victories of the past—the ratification of women’s suffrage, the Civil Rights Act and the Voting Rights Act—it is that a major legal victory like marriage equality is only the beginning of a much longer and more challenging struggle.
Does philanthropy play a useful role in transformative social movements? It can, and does in some cases.
