Philanthropy Today

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From senior editor Drew Lindsay: Every day, the strategic plans of nonprofits and philanthropy collapse over a single word or phrase. In our polarized world, the term “equity” engenders hope in one room and resentment in another. “Civility” may feel like a call for dialogue or a demand for silence.

That’s the argument of Matt Watkins, who has written a follow-up to his Commons essay last month about nonprofit jargon. In his new piece, the communications expert examines how words are “saturated with moral, political, and emotional meanings” that vary widely depending on the audience. He writes:

“What feels clear and affirming in one setting can feel confusing or even threatening in another.”

Watkins goes on to outline “translation strategies” to help ensure ideas resonate with all audiences. “In this environment,” he says, “the organizations that will succeed are not those with the most polished language, but those who listen hardest and translate with care.”

Read his essay for his full diagnosis and prescription.

In the third episode of our new Commons in Conversation podcast, W.K. Kellogg Foundation CEO La June Montgomery Tabron outlines how the grant maker has achieved a diversity in grant making that has eluded many foundations: In the past decade, more than 40 percent of its grant dollars have gone to organizations led by people of color.

Montgomery Tabron also discusses how nonprofit leaders can pursue racial healing within their organizations and the benefits that Kellogg has reaped from its work. “This journey is a very powerful journey,” she tells Chronicle of Philanthropy CEO Stacy Palmer. “Our engagement scores amongst our staff are the highest that they’ve ever been in this foundation. Our work and our productivity has increased. Our dialogue is rich, and we’re learning from one another.”

Listen to the conversation onApple, Spotify, or anywhere you get your podcasts.

• Despite rampant polarization, good-faith conversation can still help lower the temperature on controversial issues in national politics, according to political scientist James Fishkin, who leads Stanford University’s Deliberative Democracy Lab. Fishkin and his team put 200 Pennsylvania residents together for four days of conversations on hot topics such as immigration and climate change. “When you have long-form ability to discuss politics face to face, you can convey nuance and you can understand the emotions, drivers, and backgrounds of the people that you’re speaking to,” Henry Elkus, a co-organizer of the event and founder of Helena, a Los Angeles-based nonprofit, told Politico.
  
• Education, while one of the most polarizing issues of the moment, can bring Americans together, according to two national leaders who say they’ve seen it happen before. Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama both built bipartisan coalitions for education reform. “They didn’t always succeed,” write Margaret Spellings, Bush’s Secretary of Education, and Ted Mitchell, a top Obama education official, on Fox News. “Their policies provoked fierce debate. But they knew parents and taxpayers wanted schools and colleges to be held accountable for outcomes. They also saw access to excellent education as a fundamental civil right.”
  
• As Press Forward and other philanthropy efforts try to bolster local journalism, new research from Muck Rack illustrates just how bad things have become. It documents a 75 percent decline in the number of journalists since 2002. “Stunningly, more than 1,000 counties — one out of three — do not have the equivalent of even one full-time local journalist,” the report says. “To put that statistic in perspective, that means that if you live in a county of 10,000 people, there wouldn’t be even one full-time reporter to cover all of the schools, the town councils, the economic development projects, basketball games, environmental decisions, local businesses, and local events.”