My Nonprofit Did So Much Right, But We Still Couldn't Raise Enough Money to Survive

As the founder of DC Central Kitchen, Robert Egger was an old hand at scaling social ventures when he arrived in Los Angeles to create L.A. Kitchen, an ambitious effort to fight hunger and poverty with a proven model. Here’s how things fell apart.

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The U.S. Faces a Severe Nursing Shortage. Who's Giving to Close the Gap?

The U.S. Faces a Severe Nursing Shortage. Who's Giving to Close the Gap?

The U.S. will need 1.5 million new nurses by 2026 to provide care for retiring baby boomers. Despite this looming public health crisis, philanthropy has been largely tuned out. Can a recent big gift out of D.C. help change the narrative?


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Take the Risk: Bolstering Health Nonprofits is the Next Stop for Impact Investing

Take the Risk: Bolstering Health Nonprofits is the Next Stop for Impact Investing

As impact investing gains steam, a broader array of foundations are exploring how this strategy can advance their missions. Health legacy funders are the latest to get in on the action, including the Atlanta-based Healthcare Georgia Foundation.

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Dept. of Fine Print: Who Benefits Most When Pharmaceutical Companies Donate Product?

Dept. of Fine Print: Who Benefits Most When Pharmaceutical Companies Donate Product?

Pharma companies donate billions in drugs, with benefits to poor people at home and abroad—but at a substantial cost to the U.S. Treasury. We dig into the tax rules and economics that surround this kind of giving to see who’s really coming out ahead.

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How a Health Legacy Funder is Addressing the Addiction Crisis in Spokane

How a Health Legacy Funder is Addressing the Addiction Crisis in Spokane

The Empire Health Foundation (EHF), a health legacy funder in Spokane, Washington, has made health equity a centerpiece of its strategy. Two areas it’s prioritizing as part of this focus are obesity and addiction.

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Arnold Makes Jails a New Front in Battle Against Opioid Addiction

Arnold Makes Jails a New Front in Battle Against Opioid Addiction

Half of state and federal prisoners have substance abuse disorders, including opioid addiction, but standard treatment options are almost never available in jails. A leading funder is partnering with the U.S. Justice Department to change that.

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This Health Funder Has Big Plans to Reduce Unintended Pregnancies Among Low-Income Women

This Health Funder Has Big Plans to Reduce Unintended Pregnancies Among Low-Income Women

Foundations have scored some notable successes in expanding access to contraception and reducing unwanted pregnancies. The latest such effort taking flight is focused on Missouri, where a local health funder is backing a $20 million initiative.

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Critical Connections: A Foundation Breaks Down Silos to Boost its Impact on Early Childhood

Critical Connections: A Foundation Breaks Down Silos to Boost its Impact on Early Childhood

The Packard Foundation has been helping give kids a strong start in life for over 50 years. But now it’s doing this work differently after adopting a new, more holistic funding approach to early childhood development that better integrates health and learning.

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With Unique Assets, Health Corporations are Poised to Have a Larger Philanthropic Impact

With Unique Assets, Health Corporations are Poised to Have a Larger Philanthropic Impact

Corporate philanthropy has been changing as more companies align their giving with their mission and get more strategic. A report looks at how this trend is playing out in the health and life sciences industry—and the potential for these firms to have far greater impact.

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The Foundations That Work on Environmental Health, with an Eye on Building Power

The Foundations That Work on Environmental Health, with an Eye on Building Power

Over recent years, more grantmakers have tuned into how environmental health hazards are far more likely to affect the poor and people of color. We talk to a key figure in this funding movement about the strategies in play and the work that lies ahead.

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Here and Now: Behind the Rise in Giving for University Public Health Initiatives

Here and Now: Behind the Rise in Giving for University Public Health Initiatives

While the impulse of funders to bankroll that next medical breakthrough is as strong as ever, growing health disparities help to explain a surge in giving for campus public health initiatives. We dig into the latest big gift in this burgeoning field.

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Out of the Shadows: What Philanthropy is Doing to Support Sex Worker Movements Around the World

Out of the Shadows: What Philanthropy is Doing to Support Sex Worker Movements Around the World

While sex work or trafficking occasionally make headlines, sex workers and their rights have been largely ignored by the public and by philanthropy. But new funding movements, giving circles, and collaboratives are seeking to change that.

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In Good Health: Another Campus Gift Finds an Alumni Couple Attuned to Market Demand

In Good Health: Another Campus Gift Finds an Alumni Couple Attuned to Market Demand

The healthcare sector plays a huge role in local economies and American life broadly. Equipped with donor dollars, more universities are looking to get in on the action by creating or expanding health schools. A case in point is a recent big gift to Loyola in Chicago.

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He Was a Young Hedge Funder with a Lucrative Job. Now He’s Working to Scale Access to Healthy Food

He Was a Young Hedge Funder with a Lucrative Job. Now He’s Working to Scale Access to Healthy Food

At the age of 30, Sam Polk walked away from a highly paid trading job to enter the social change arena. With help from the Kellogg Foundation and other backers, he’s building a social enterprise that’s focused on food equity and has big ambitions.

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“Aging is Living.” The Couple Working on Several Fronts to Confront a Graying America

“Aging is Living.” The Couple Working on Several Fronts to Confront a Graying America

They sold their company for $1.4 billion. Now, a San Diego couple is working on three fronts—philanthropy, research and policy—to make the United States’ culture and healthcare system more friendly to seniors in an era of rapid demographic transition.

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"One Step Closer." What We Can Learn From a Big Campus Gift for a Burgeoning Niche Field

"One Step Closer." What We Can Learn From a Big Campus Gift for a Burgeoning Niche Field

A gift to the University of Florida's law school encapsulates three of the big themes reshaping higher ed: increasingly specialized giving, ambitious multi-billion dollar fundraising campaigns, and the emergence of previously under-the-radar alumni mega-givers.

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How the Independence Blue Cross Foundation Casts a Wide Net to Bolster Health in Pennsylvania

How the Independence Blue Cross Foundation Casts a Wide Net to Bolster Health in Pennsylvania

This funders latest round of grants underscores its multifaceted approach to supporting Pennsylvanian’s health and well-being. We look at how this funder is setting an example in local health funding, especially in relation to the opioid crisis.

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A Foundation Looks to Curb Opioid Deaths by Improving Addiction Treatment

A Foundation Looks to Curb Opioid Deaths by Improving Addiction Treatment

At a time when Americans are dying by the thousands from opioid and other addictions, substance abuse treatment programs can save lives. Finding a good program isn’t easy, though. Arnold Ventures, along with other funders, is looking to change that.

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This Foundation Set Out to Expand Access to Healthy Food in New York City. How Did It Go?

This Foundation Set Out to Expand Access to Healthy Food in New York City. How Did It Go?

Expanding access to healthy food is a surprisingly complex challenge that requires wrestling with deeply rooted inequities. The Laurie M. Tisch Illumination Fund recently took stock of five years of food-related grantmaking that achieved some notable gains.

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The Foundation With a Laser Focus on Nursing and the Goal of Transforming Care on a Large Scale

The Foundation With a Laser Focus on Nursing and the Goal of Transforming Care on a Large Scale

While nurses are well positioned to drive systemic improvements in healthcare, very few funders focus on this group. One of them, the Rita & Alex Hillman Foundation, is supporting a nurse-driven aging-in-place model that has the potential to save billions.

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