Friday Rewind

1. Last week President Trump released his budget proposal and it was clear that science was a major target for funding cuts. There is some belief that science philanthropists should remain apolitical funders of research itself. But this article argues that is might be time for foundations to put their influence to good use and start taking stronger stances on the proposed budget cuts. Read the Full Story Here.
2. In this opinion piece, William Schambra argues that “American philanthropy is thoroughly, fundamentally elitist.” And in this new political era, philanthropy will be tempted to engage in activity that would make that fact even more clear and potentially begin to threaten the grounds of its legitimacy.  Read the Full Story Here.
3. The phrase “alternative facts” has been part of many conversations in the last several months. In an attempt to combat the recent rise of misinformation, the Knight Foundation announced a plan to invest up to $1 million in projects developing early-stage ideas to spread facts and improve the flow of accurate information. Read the Full Story Here.
4. Giving USA released a report, Giving and the Golden Years, about the financial stability — or lack thereof — of aging services nonprofits. This article from Nonprofit Quarterly looks at the details of that report and its implications. Read the Full Story Here.
5. Philanthropy has recently increased its interest around racial equity related work. Is this interest a trend? Will it result in real change for Black communities? To help answer this question, the Black Social Change Funders Network — a partnership between ABFE and the Hill-Snowdon Foundation — released of a report called The Case for Funding Black-Led Social Change investigating the topic. Read the Full Report Here.

Friday Rewind is published each Friday by NY Funders Alliance staff. To submit a story for the Friday Rewind, please email programs@nyfunders.org.