2020 is a year most of us are happy to leave behind. Amid the many disheartening challenges we endured, there were also some positive developments in the philanthropy field that will impact giving in 2021 and beyond. Here’s some of what I’ll be looking for in this New Year: From charity to justice 2020’s racial…
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Bruce DeBoskey is an award winning, nationally-syndicated author of columns and articles in newspapers and magazines such as The Denver Post, The Miami Herald, the Chicago Tribune, the Minneapolis Star-Tribune, the Albuquerque Journal, the Sacramento Bee, the Kansas City Star, the Lexington Herald-Leader, the Charlotte Observer, the Fort-Worth Star-Telegram, 5280 Magazine, the Costco Connection, Boston College's Corporate Citizen Magazine, The Denver Foundation's Give Magazine, the Boulder Jewish News, Investments & Wealth Monitor, Company Week and many more. Bruce's columns are distributed by the Chicago Tribune News Service to over 600 newspapers and other news outlets across the U.S. and abroad.
Don’t Stand by this Holiday Season
We’re living (and dying) in a “quadfecta” of 1) A raging, unprecedented pandemic, 2) Economic inequality and hardship at the highest levels in memory, 3) Racial injustice permeating almost every aspect of American life and 4) Climate change eating away at our planet, and the lives it sustains. Although we’re all experiencing the same storm,…
Erasing hunger in America requires more than charity
The holidays are around the corner and, for tens of millions of our neighbors across the U.S., this will be a time of scarcity, insecurity, worry and, in the richest nation on earth, hunger. Consider these facts: Prior to COVID-19, 37 million people in the U.S. struggled with hunger. Feeding America, the nation’s third largest…
Start planning your year-end giving now
In 2019, U.S. giving to charity totaled nearly $450 billion. Historically, nearly one-third of that amount takes place in December, with 12% of all giving occurring in the last three days of the year. December and last-minute giving is often rushed, not well-planned, nor strategic. In order to maximize the impact of your giving, whether…
How donors can advance racial justice
George Floyd…Breonna Taylor…Daniel Prude…Jacob Blake. The long road to racial justice in this country has been rocky and painful. It started long before these four people became household names and will, tragically, go well beyond their injuries and deaths. In response to these tragedies, many donors – whether in private or public foundations, donor-advised funds,…
Communities and nonprofits need corporate giving now more than ever
Just one year ago, in 2019, U.S. corporate philanthropy increased by 13.4% over 2018 to $21.09 billion. However, those donations represented a mere 5% of the nearly $450 billion in total U.S. giving. Today, the world has changed and we are experiencing the triple whammy of the uncontrolled coronavirus, the long-overdue expansion of the racial…
Lack of accountability and transparency put philanthropy at an inflection point
Right now, the very way philanthropy works in the U.S. is being critically examined by a growing chorus of experts and scholars who are challenging some of the basic assumptions that underlie giving. The tax code, lack of accountability and transparency, scant government oversight, the outsized opportunity to influence public policy, media adulation of megadonors…
Philanthropy can spark hope and change
Discouragement, despair and anger are understandable and common responses to the current experiences of systemic racial injustice and bigotry, an advancing global pandemic and an economic train wreck. Philanthropy, however, can offer a path forward. Philanthropy is inherently optimistic, reflecting the core belief that we can repair the world and have a positive impact on…
Questions to ask about a nonprofit’s climate impact
I was in high school when America observed the first Earth Day in April, 1970. To highlight the day, I wore an M-17 military gas mask in the hallways between classes, until I was assaulted by a teacher, slammed against the lockers and dragged by my collar to the principal’s office. We argued about first…
Giving in the time of COVID-19
The role of philanthropy in responding to this pandemic is critical. Nonprofit organizations, accounting for nearly one in ten jobs in the U.S. private workforce, with more than 12 million total employees, are in crisis. For many nonprofits, especially those that provide safety net services, demand has never been higher, and is only expected to…