Connections
Every week Connections presents fresh links to the best the Web has to offer on issues related to the changing world of philanthropy. Subscribe to our biweekly Connections newsletter and receive two weeks' worth of links delivered to you by e-mail. If you have an item you'd like to share, drop us a line at [email protected].

January 23, 2018
The Kresge Foundation's decision to focus its arts and culture program on creative placemaking required not only agility but a sea change in its approach to grantmaking, a report from the foundation finds. The first in a series of studies focused on creative placemaking, the report, The Kresge Foundation Arts & Culture Program: The First...

January 20, 2018
While just over half (53 percent) of college students believe their course of study will lead to a good job, only about a third are confident they will graduate with the skills and knowledge to be successful in the job market (34 percent) or the workplace (36 percent), a survey from the Strada Education Network and Gallup finds. Based on...

January 17, 2018
More than a third of Asian Americans report having been subjected to racial or ethnic slurs (11 percent) and negative assumptions or insensitive or offensive comments about their race/ethnicity, a survey by National Public Radio, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation finds. According to the report,...

Public Education Funding Inequity in an Era of Increasing Concentration of Poverty and Resegregation
January 14, 2018
More than sixty years after Brown v. Board of Education ruled segregation in public education to be unconstitutional, the U.S. education system remains profoundly unequal, a report from the United States Commission on Civil Rights finds. According to the report, Public Education Funding Inequity in an Era of Increasing Concentration of Poverty...

January 11, 2018
The path to Ireland's 2015 referendum to legalize same-sex marriage required forming a consensus among the LGBTQ community, bringing in technical expertise as well as lived experience, and forging a simple message that resonated with a large part of the electorate, a case study from Atlantic Philanthropies, which funded major LGBTQ organizations...

January 8, 2018
Federal funding to support a basic level of preparedness for public health emergencies has been cut by more than half since 2002, with only nineteen states and the District of Columbia maintaining or increasing public health funding commitments in fiscal year 2016-17, a report from the Trust for America’s Health finds. The annual report, Ready...

January 5, 2018
Nearly a third of Latinos report being personally discriminated against because they are Latino when applying for jobs (33 percent), when renting or buying a home (31 percent), and in terms of being paid equally or considered for promotions (11 percent), a survey by National Public Radio, the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, and the...

January 2, 2018
Nine of the fifty highest-performing K-12 education foundations — in terms of resources, long-term sustainability, investments in programs, and human capital — in 2016 were in Florida, a report from the Caruthers Institute finds. Based on eight performance indicators — annual revenues, revenues per student, total assets, assets per student,...

December 30, 2017
The creative industries — which include nonprofit entities such as museums, symphonies, and theaters; for-profit businesses such as motion picture and design companies; and architecture firms — employ 3.48 million people across the United States, a report from Americans for the Arts finds. According to the national summary of the 2017 edition...

December 27, 2017
The California Endowment (TCE) is making progress in strengthening its "culture of equity" through a shared vision of diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI); changes in organizational policies and structure; and increased staff skill and engagement in implementing core DEI values, an audit commissioned by the foundation finds. Based on surveys of...

December 11, 2017
Providing nonprofit leaders with the time, space, and resources to pursue innovative solutions to complex challenges can strengthen networks, bolster connections, and lead to welcome results, a report from the Los Angeles-based Durfee Foundation finds. The report, What If: Insights From a Decade of Philanthropic R&D (28 pages, PDF),...

December 21, 2017
Providing quick access to general operating support is a key element of success for rapid-response funds designed to provide funding alternatives for communities facing injustice, a report from the Women Donors Network, in partnership with Solidaire, the Threshold Foundation, and the Democracy Alliance finds. The report, Visionary Resistance:...

December 18, 2017
Three-quarters of Native Americans believe there is discrimination against Native people in the United States today, while more than a third have been personally subjected to racial or ethnic slurs (35 percent) or insensitive or offensive comments about their race/ethnicity (39 percent), a survey by National Public Radio, the Harvard T.H. Chan...

December 15, 2017
Youth who are intensely involved with the juvenile justice probation system are likely to have been previously involved in the child protection system, a report from the Children’s Data Network finds. The report, Crossover Youth: Los Angeles County Probation Youth With Previous Referrals to Child Protective Services (8 pages, PDF), found that...