Common Ground From Which to Advance Change?

Welcome to the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s weekly newsletter highlighting stories and conversations from The Commons, our project exploring how philanthropy and nonprofits are working to close divides, repair the social fabric, and strengthen communities.

From senior editor Drew Lindsay: As you may have noticed, we’re expanding the ways we bring stories to you from The Commons. Most recently, we have begun dropping the occasional piece of videojournalism. (Watch our first story, a piece by Pulitzer Prize-winner Alex Garcia about two churches building community across differences in race, class, and faith.)

This week, we’ve got something altogether new — an animated video. It’s 60 seconds of counterprogramming to the onslaught of news from the nation’s capital, where the country’s very real and significant divisions are on display.?

Our video highlights data that suggests Americans agree on a lot of things — including some fundamental aspects of immigration policy, one of the most divisive issues of the moment.?

For nonprofits and philanthropy, the numbers — which come from pollsters, social scientists, and even a neuroscientist — offer particular insights about where they might find the common ground from which to advance change. Give the video a watch.

Civil Society as a Bulwark Against Tyranny?

Eboo Patel , a Chronicle of Philanthropy columnist and one of the country’s leading pluralists, was en route to Brown University earlier this month when he learned of the death of the Aga Khan IV, the spiritual leader of the Ismaili Muslim community to which Patel belongs. The news was a blow, but in the moment, he thought back to a speech the Imam had delivered at Brown a decade earlier.?

In a remembrance of the Aga Khan IV for The Commons, Patel writes of that speech and its embrace of pluralism as a defense against many of today’s ills, including the loneliness crisis, toxic polarization, tribalism, and, perhaps most importantly, populism that feeds autocracy.

Indeed, the Aga Khan IV specifically pointed to the role of civil society as a bulwark against the "frightful despotism” that George Washington warned about in his farewell address.

I hope you make time for Patel’s timely essay.

Next Week: Philanthropy’s Role in Bringing America Together

GOP pollster and CNN contributor Kristen Soltis Anderson has some counterintuitive post-election findings: that the country is in a moment where we can restore trust in institutions, including nonprofits and grant makers. I invite you to join me for a conversation about Anderson’s findings on Thursday, February 20, at 12:30 p.m. ET, when she visits The Commons in Conversation. We’ll also talk about her surveys that suggest philanthropy has an important role to play in closing America’s divides.

?? The event is free with registration. ??

Of the Moment

News and other noteworthy items:

• In the Fulcrum, Craig Helmstetter of APM Research Lab digs into new data showing that one-fifth of Americans are so fed up with the country’s institutions that they’re ready to “let them burn.” Perhaps most surprising: Nearly one-third of the Generation Z participants in the The McCourtney Institute for Democracy at Penn State 's Mood of the Nation Poll agreed with the statement: “When I think about our political and social institutions, I cannot help thinking ‘just let them all burn.’”
• As an answer to growing “hate-fueled violence toward marginalized groups in the country,” a new report highlights the work and strategies of more than a dozen arts groups that aim to build connections across different communities. “Today more than ever,” it says, “supporters and practitioners of the arts, media, and humanities have the opportunity to unite and think innovatively to deepen the impact their work has on addressing these critical issues — to build bridges and transform hate into cross-community cooperation.” A project of the National Endowment for the Arts , the National Endowment for the Humanities , and the Doris Duke Foundation , the report features groups such as the Roadside Theater in the Appalachians, the racial-justice group Race Forward , and the Muslims in Brooklyn Project.?
• A special report from the Bridging Divides Initiative at Princeton University identifies key political-violence trends from 2024, evaluates the risk of violence in 2025, and highlights effective resilience and response strategies. It says immigrants are particularly at risk, thanks in part to "bounty bills," legislation offering rewards for turning in undocumented individuals.