Giving Done Right

Effective disaster giving often begins before a disaster even occurs. So says Patty McIlreavy, president and CEO of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, in this popular episode from the Giving Done Right archives. In conversation with hosts Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette, Patty offers insight into how donors can support disaster prevention by focusing on reducing vulnerabilities as well as support recovery efforts, and the most common pitfalls for donors to consider when responding to disasters. Patty shares her deep expertise on what can make disaster giving successful (or unsuccessful) and the three discuss examples that still hold lessons for donors looking to mitigate disasters — or prevent them — today. Additional Resources: Center for Disaster Philanthropy From Rapid Response to Sustainable Solutions: Disaster Response and Recovery in Post-Earthquake Haiti – Harvard Humanitarian Initiative Report “Complex Humanitarian Emergencies: Where Crisis, Conflict, Climate, and COVID Meet” – Center for Disaster Philanthropy Disasters, Dollars And Decisions: Lessons For Nonprofits To Prioritize Where And How To Help – Forbes Unprecedented Times Call For Unprecedented Actions – Forbes Asset-Based Framing: Trabian Shorters

This week on Giving Done Right, we’re introducing you to another podcast we love: Nonprofits Now: Leading Today, from The Chronicle of Philanthropy. In this episode, two leaders, Kathleen St. Louis Caliento and Nick Grono, join Chronicle CEO Stacy Palmer to explain how they have engaged their board in financial efforts. As nonprofits face economic headwinds — including losses in federal funding, rising costs, and the possibility of a global recession — nonprofit boards play an increasingly essential role. Trustees help with strategy and can also be powerful donors and fundraisers. Yet fewer than a quarter of respondents to a Chronicle survey described their board members as enthusiastic fundraisers. Grono and St. Louis Caliento share their advice on how to inspire boards to champion your mission and share insights from their shared experience of working with trustees to manage unrestricted, multimillion-dollar grants from MacKenzie Scott. St. Louis Caliento runs Cara Collective, a Chicago nonprofit that helps low-income people find jobs. Grono heads the Freedom Fund, an organization that pools funds from donors who want to fight modern-day slavery. He’s the author of “How to Lead Nonprofits: Turning Purpose into Impact to Change the World,” published in 2024.

How does the "model minority myth" impact how funders view and support Asian immigrant communities? What role do disaggregated data play in ensuring their thriving? In a conversation with Ben Hires, CEO of the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC), hosts Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette dig into the vast array of services that BCNC — and nonprofits like it — provide and the crucial role they play in mitigating the challenging realities facing Asian immigrants today, from ICE enforcement creating a climate of fear to long-standing funding gaps that leave essential services underfunded. Ben explains why translation services as well as robust and disaggregated datasets are foundational to ensuring immigrant communities are well served, and why supporting both direct services and systemic change isn't an either-or proposition, but “a both-and.” Despite mounting challenges, Ben's message is unshakably optimistic: "The immigrant community, in particular, we know is resilient and strong and is not going away." Additional Resources Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC) Pao Arts Center Overlooked, Part One: Foundation Support for Asian American and Pacific Islander Leaders and Communities The Asian American Foundation (TAAF) STAATUS Index by TAAF The Asian Community Fund at the Boston Foundation Asian Pacific Islander Civic Action Network in Massachusetts

What does it mean to tell the Muslim American story of generosity? Why is it important to talk about "religious justice" in philanthropy alongside other forms of justice? These are questions that President of the WF Fund and philanthropic advocate Dilnaz Waraich explores with hosts Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette as she shares her journey from kitchen table conversations about giving back to leading narrative change work that highlights Muslim American generosity. In this episode, Dilnaz discusses Islamic principles behind charitable giving, why trust-based philanthropy requires humility, and how interfaith bridge-building strengthens communities. She also offers candid insights about her mistakes as a donor, the power of storytelling in philanthropy, and why "you're just enough" might be the encouragement hesitant donors need to hear right now. Additional Resources WF Fund Inspired Generosity: stories of Muslim American generosity National Center for Family Philanthropy Indiana University Lilly School of Philanthropy “The Next Day” by Melinda French Gates Connections for the Homeless Equal Justice Initiative PBS documentary series: “American Muslims: A History Revealed”

As ICE raids and warrantless arrests by masked federal agents take place around the U.S., Angelica Salas, executive director of CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights), joins hosts Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette to discuss the unprecedented scale of current immigration enforcement and its implications for everyone. Angelica sheds light on what is happening on the streets and in processing and detention centers, including how individuals are being "disappeared,” due process is being denied, and the infrastructure supporting immigrant integration is being systematically dismantled. She also shares how CHIRLA and other immigrant rights organizations are fighting back through rapid response, documentation, advocacy, and in the courts. She offers hope through the remarkable story of how CHIRLA’s community stepped up to support them and the gathering tide of courage shown by advocates, activists, donors, and others. In what she calls "a defining moment for our country" with implications well beyond immigration, she urges donors to support the ecosystem of immigrant rights, and shares her optimism that the U.S. can continue to be a country “built out of the many.” Additional Resources: CHIRLA - The Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights Raids Rapid Response Network (California) Center for Migration Studies National Day Labor Organizing Network “Trump is Building His Own Paramilitary Force,” The Ezra Klein Show - The New York Times Opinion (podcast mentioned by Grace) International Institute of Los Angeles

What happens when $2.83 billion disappears from women's rights funding globally? Conversely, what is possible when donors break out of traditional silos to work collaboratively with the goal of abundance and liberation for all? Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette talk with Happy Mwende Kinyili, co-executive director of global feminist fund Mama Cash to explore this unprecedented crisis — and discover surprising reasons for hope. Happy shares powerful stories from Kenya to Argentina, explaining how participatory grantmaking creates lasting change and why "the people who've gotten us into this mess aren't going to get us out of it." For donors feeling overwhelmed by massive global needs or the frustrating retrenchments of recent years, Happy offers their own mother's wisdom: "Don't try to do everything, do something." Learn how small actions can have huge impact, why trust-based philanthropy works, and how co-leadership models are reshaping organizations. Additional Resources Mama Cash Green Girls Platform Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction Urgent Action Fund Mark Suzman on the Giving Done Right Podcast CEP’s Three Year Study on the Impact of MacKenzie Scott’s Large, Unrestricted Gifts

The dismantling of USAID has created the most profound crisis in international development in decades, threatening to reverse years of progress in public health globally. In the season five premier of Giving Done Right, Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette talk with Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation, about what this means and how donors can respond. Suzman also shares candid insights about the Gates Foundation's work, including its evolving strategy and Bill Gates' recent announcement committing to spending down $200+ billion in assets by 2045. He offers advice to donors on making a difference in large-scale, global efforts, shares why "one of the huge comparative advantages of philanthropy is being able to take a little bit of risk," and speaks to the role of AI in programs from math education to innovative HIV prevention. Additional Resources Gates Philanthropy Partners CARE Save the Children UNICEF Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria Friends of the Global Fight The End Fund YouthTruth YouthTruth report, “Making Sense of Learning Math: Insights From the Student Experience” The Gates Foundation’s announcement about spending down

Nashlie Sephus, Ph.D. brought her passion for technology and experience as an entrepreneur back to her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi to bridge the technology gap and plant the seeds for a thriving community. Nashlie joins Phil and Grace in the season four finale to share how the nonprofit she founded, Bean Path, went from informal drop-in hours at the local library to a vital community organization with event spaces, expert-taught courses, and a growing track record of success in helping people of all ages gain essential tech skills. Nashlie also shares what surprised her about moving from the business world to running a nonprofit and offers advice for other donors with a vision. Additional Resources The Bean Path Praxis Society of Women Engineers

As we begin a new year, we’re sharing a classic from the Giving Done Right archive in which Phil and Grace talk with Paul Niehaus, co-founder and chairman of GiveDirectly. Paul discusses the power of direct cash transfers – how they work, why trusting those in need with cash can be extremely effective, and when certain issue areas might warrant a different philanthropic approach. They also discuss the effective altruism movement and how to consider giving domestically versus internationally. Additional Resources GiveDirectly Cash transfer research via GiveDirectly GiveWell The Most Good You Can Do: How Effective Altruism is Changing Ideas About Living Ethically by Peter Singer Universal Basic Income project in Kenya

Jeff and Tricia Raikes, co-founders of the Raikes Foundation, join Phil and Grace to share their path to philanthropy, their focus on creating supportive systems and fostering belonging for youth, and their belief in proximity and partnership with both nonprofits and beneficiaries of their funding. They discuss what they learned as they transitioned to full-time philanthropy and how donors can avoid common pitfalls. Phil and Jeff also debate the merits of comparing giving to investing. Additional Resources Raikes Foundation CEP’s Grantee Perception Report YouthTruth Giving Compass’ Learning Center CEP’s Resources for Individual Donors Solidaire Network Women Donors Network Find your local community foundation

Father-daughter duo Mike Bontrager and Stephanie Almanza join Phil and Grace to share their approach to building both for-profit and nonprofit ventures in their local community that are rooted in trust, partnership, and shared goals. Mike offers insight into how he found success in the financial industry by putting trust ahead of profit and how that principle has informed his philanthropic and entrepreneurial ventures in his hometown of Kennett Square, Pennsylvania. The two also discuss how they chose to invest locally and the way they work in partnership with other community nonprofits, city government, and their neighbors to help build a thriving community. Additional Resources Square Roots Collective Voices Underground Project Praxis Labs The War Before the War: Fugitive Slaves and the Struggle for America’s Soul From the Revolution to the Civil War by Andrew Delbanco The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America by Richard Rothstein How the Word is Passed: A Reckoning with the History of Slavery Across America by Clint Smith

Phil and Grace invite their CEP colleagues Elisha Smith Arrillaga and Kevin Bolduc to the recording studio for a candid and lively conversation that covers nonprofit-donor relationships, big gifts, trust in philanthropy, and the challenges facing nonprofits right now. The four bring their considerable collective experience and CEP’s data-based insights to bear on crucial questions like how donors can best support the causes they believe in, what everyday donors can learn from MacKenzie Scott’s approach to giving, how to think about trust in donor-nonprofit relationships, how to be an effective nonprofit board member, and more. For donors looking to embrace nuance and up their giving ‘game,’ this episode is a must-listen. Additional Resources State of Nonprofits 2024: What Funders Need to Know CEP’s research on the impact of MacKenzie Scott’s giving: “Giving Big: The Impacts of Large, Unrestricted Gifts on Nonprofits” and “Emerging Impacts: The Effects of MacKenzie Scott’s Large, Unrestricted Gifts” More CEP research Trust-Based Philanthropy Project Candid’s insights on nonprofit leadership demographics Resources on board effectiveness from BoardSource CEP’s Grantee Perception Report and other assessments