Over the past several weeks, we’ve witnessed what may be the very beginnings of a cross-sector, collective response from philanthropy. National and local funders alike—MacArthur Foundation, Freedom Together Foundation, and Woods Fund Chicago, among others—announced plans to substantially increase their payouts to protect the social change ecosystem. As the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s recent report, Challenging Times: How U.S. Nonprofit Leaders are Experiencing the Political Context, makes clear, now is the time for such collective courage and action—in ways that center and prioritize who our sector exists to serve: the people. As President Michelle M. has so elegantly stated about Woods Fund Chicago’s decision, “Traditionally, fiduciary responsibility emphasizes adherence to a minimal payout, protecting the corpus so that it can continue perpetually. At WFC, we believe we are fiduciarily responsible to the community and prioritize impact over returns.” https://lnkd.in/ewhYTkB3
