How to Start a Midlevel Giving Program

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August 12, 2025

From: Philanthropy Today

Subject: How to Start a Midlevel Giving Program

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Fundraising

How a Midlevel Program Can Boost Giving in a Time of Uncertainty

By Rasheeda Childress August 12, 2025

Midlevel donors are a reliable, although sometimes overlooked, source of revenue — and terrific candidates for planned gifts.
Opinion

How Funders Can Protect Grantees — and Themselves — From Civil Society Attacks

By Carroll Bogert August 12, 2025

At a time of escalating threats to journalists, grant makers should bolster the security of nonprofit media outlets but also can’t ignore their own risks.
Fundraising

Nonprofits Are Turning to AI to Save Time and Money

By Rasheeda Childress May 13, 2025

Organizations are experimenting with ways the technology can craft grant proposals, analyze donor data, improve programs, and more.

TRAINING

Today: August 14 at 2 p.m. ET | Register Now

Amid so much disruption in the nonprofit world, some funders are rethinking how to get money to the field quickly and effectively by investing in nonprofits’ capacity. Join us for the webinar How to Secure Capacity-Building Grants to learn from two funders who invest in organizational capacity as they explain ways to identify grant makers, craft compelling proposals, and build relationships with nonprofit associations that offer these grants to members.
October 8 at 1 p.m. ET | Register Now

The nonprofit sector today is under deep strain — the work feels more urgent than ever, and the way forward is anything but simple. Join us for Leading Nonprofits Through the Twists and Turns, an interactive workshop with Melanie Ho, founder of Strategic Imagination. You’ll have a chance to step out of survival mode, explore ways to manage change, and understand how to lead well as complexity becomes the norm.

FORUMS

Today — September 9 at 2 p.m. ET | Register Now

Join us for the forum Making the Case for Investments in Data to learn from Jacqueline La Gamma of Northwell Health, Lindsey Nadeau of UNICEF USA, and Kristin Richardson of the Colonial Williamsburg Foundation as they share proven ways to persuade leaders to invest in data tools and analysis. They’ll explain how to start out small and build up to bigger budgets over time, and they’ll offer tips on how to demonstrate return on investments.

Nonprofit News From Elsewhere Online

Larry Ellison, the world’s second-richest person, says the bulk of his philanthropy will be dedicated to a research institution associated with Oxford University. The institute will spin out for-profit companies to work on clean energy, food insecurity, medical science, and artificial intelligence. Ellison, who signed the Giving Pledge and has said he would dedicate 95 percent of his wealth to charity, wrote on X that he has amended his pledge to include “additional ways” he can direct his fortune. (New York Times)

More News

Sierra Club Board Fires Leader Ben Jealous (Politico)
To Tackle Homelessness, Los Angeles County Moves to Centralize Its Response (Los Angeles Times)
Why California Gave a Private Arts School $20 Million (Politico)

Harvard and Trump

Harvard and White House Move Toward Potential Landmark Settlement (New York Times)
The Harvard-Trained Lawyer Behind Trump’s Fight Against Top Universities (New York Times)

Opinion and Commentary

Book Review: The One Feat of Leadership Patagonia’s Founder Couldn’t Pull Off (Bloomberg— subscription)
Editorial: Gates Foundation Money Fills Gap in Women’s Health (Boston Globe)
- Background from the Chronicle: $2.5 Billion Pledge Makes Women’s Health a Priority in Gates Spend-Down

Note: In the links in this section, we flag articles that only subscribers can access. But because some journalism outlets offer a limited number of free articles, readers may encounter barriers with other articles we highlight in this roundup.