Celebrate the Wins

Growing up in Washington, DC, I never had a sense of “community” – just neighborhoods and “the city.”  When I was introduced to the concept of a community foundation, however, I immediately got it:  a group of people – a community – that gives money to support that community.  I’ve been a fan of community ever since.

Over the decades, and more recently of late, I’ve listened to and read about the marketing efforts of community banks as they compete with the big mahoffs of the Read more

Lucky Nonprofits

While many are chattering about Fidelity Charitable (which collected—don’t call it raised—philanthropic dollars totaling $4.6 billion last year) firmly bumping United Way (which only collected $3.7 billion) from the top of The Chronicle of Philanthropy’s newly released “Philanthropy 400” list, I’m having very different thoughts—though they are pretty much the same thoughts I have every year when I look at this list.

First, is there any real value in this list? Does it actually do some harm?  To the extent that the American public learns about Read more