Friday Rewind

The Friday Rewind offers a snapshot of PhilanthroNews —  that means news stories, articles, events of note, or information updates — from around our network and throughout the broad world of philanthropy. Whether you take a quick skim of the material or a deep dive through each item we hope to help inform your work and inspire your thinking.

1. Organizations are increasingly turning to system change to tackle big social problems. But systems are complex, and mastering the process requires observation, patience, and reflection. To begin, here are two approaches to pursuing system change. Stanford Social Innovation’s article discusses proposed system change archetypes, constituting effective approacehes for transforming systems on a negative trajectory, read them here
2. These are the stories of how philanthropists and the nonprofits they support are making strides addressing issues in medicine, the environment, poverty, gender equality, and the arts. Change in these areas is under way and, in some cases, accelerating, but they all need momentum and increased support from individuals and foundations to further their works. “Partnering with the private sector unleashes a whole new level of creativity and resources,” as seen in environmental initiatives, boosting low-income communities, and educating about social justice issues. Read the article here
3. Nonprofits need to take notice that Google has raised the bar when it comes to demonstrating a website is secure. Failing to make changes to comply with the new standards can hinder your ability to interact with the public, grantees, and donors. Asking individuals to enter private information on what appears to be an “insecure” website can give visitors reason to pause before engaging further. Read more about the guidelines and ways to update your website here
4. In most cases, high-capacity grant seekers are served best through non-prescriptive practices, while low-capacity nonprofits generally need a more prescriptive model. The many nonprofits that fall in the middle should be viewed on a case-by-case basis at the program- or grantee-specific levels. This is the second post from the Center for Effective Philanthropy’s series on “The Art of Philanthropy,” a high-altitude look at the power foundations hold, related issues, and potential solutions
5. What if nonprofit proposals could come from a wider pool of candidates and be easily screened, mined for ideas, linked to related information, and shared with the world? In MacArthur’s 100&Change competition, Foundation Center saw an opportunity to explore how philanthropy’s grantmaking process could be transformed in a way that would focus the field on generating and sharing knowledge, rather than simply getting and giving grants. Read more about an open data approach to transforming grantmaking 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.