Unfunded List Presents…A Virtual Symposium on Inclusive Philanthropy.
On October 16, 2022 over 60 guests and speakers gathered virtually to participate in a series of conversations about inclusive philanthropy. We began with a session featuring Amanda Liaw from the Catalogue for Philanthropy Greater Washington. Moderated by our own Margaret Chapman, the two discussed the IRS’s Public Support Test and what it means for an organization to be worthy of public support and tax-exemption. In the afternoon, we gathered some nonprofit veterans so that we could talk about day-to-day challenges for nonprofit employees . Then, we made some recommendations for funders and concluded with a session focused on the Administration of Generosity featuring Christina Charpentier from the Ontario Trillium Foundation in Canada and Anne Long from the Greater Charitable Foundation in Australia. Moderated by our founder Dave Moss, Christina and Anne reviewed and discussed the recommendations made in the previous sessions.
We believe that a more inclusive philanthropy means including more people. We also believe that the administration of generosity is a challenging task, that making the case for public support is an important part of fundraising, and that the inner workings of nonprofits are not always fully explored.
Whether you have recently joined a giving circle, inherited a trust, taken a job at a foundation, or as a grant writer, or if you are just curious about philanthropy we believe you will have a lot to learn about as you listen to these conversations. All of our speakers are Unfunded List evaluators and experts in philanthropy. Thank you to all who could attend. A special thanks to our host committee who made the event possible.
Host Committee
Ashley LaHoud, Northside Center for Childhood Development
Amanda Liaw, Catalogue for Philanthropy DC
Anne Long, Greater Charitable Foundation
Alex Moss, Ball State University ‘23
Arshak Teryan, Yes Armenia
Chandler Arnold, Untraditional Philanthropy
Christina Charpentier, Ontario Trillium Foundation
David Jaffe, Unfunded List
George Tsiatis, The Resolution Project
Jane Moss, Duke University
Margaret Chapman, Unfunded List
For those who could not attend, we are pleased to provide these recordings as well as session summaries and a list of complementary resources. With philanthropy there is always much to learn. Enjoy,
The Case for Public Support
To qualify as a public charity in the US, organizations must pass something called the Public Support Test. This is how the IRS determines whether a public charity is eligible for public support and tax exemption. It is an important test that all public charities must pass in order to raise charitable funds. In this conversation, Margaret Chapman takes a look into the realities of the test, reviews how Unfunded List the organization fares, and then segues into a broader discussion with Amanda Liaw from The Catalogue for Philanthropy about their own work in the public sector and what it means for an organization to have public support.
Note on captions: The software we use failed to capture them. We will fix it in the coming weeks. Our apologies.
Nonprofit Nuts & Bolts
People love inspiring stories about nonprofits, especially easily hashtagable stories. And while it is true that those of us who work at nonprofits are #blessed, it is also true that much of our day to day work is anything but inspiring. For this session, we had an indepth, fun, and dynamic conversation and focused on 5 real challenges faced by nonprofit employees. It is our hope that a better understanding of the day-to-day work will yield even more helpful and candid advice and more inclusive philanthropy sector. We ended with some specific recommendations for funders looking to help nonprofit professionals with the challenges they face at work. The conversation was moderated by Unfunded List founder Dave Moss and featured Chandler Arnold, the former Executive Vice President of FirstBook and current Founder and CEO of Untraditional Philanthropy as well as Unfunded List Board Member and Director of Development and Communications at Northside Center for Childhood Development. Despite their youthful appearance, these three have nearly 70 years of experience working at nonprofits.
The Administration of Generosity
The world has never been a more generous place. Every trillions of dollars are given without the expectation of financial return. That level of generosity creates busywork so for this session we will be joined by professionals from the world of philanthropy to discuss some of the administrative challenges that take place behind the grant making curtain. First, Christina Charptentier describes the work of the Ontario Trillium Foundation. One of the largest in Canada, they have granted nearly $3 billion. Next, we hear from Anne Long, an Australian Philanthropist who has built several corporate philanthropic projects from the ground up. She is currently the CEO of Greater Charitable Foundation and was a founding board member of the Unfunded List. After hearing about their work, Dave presents the funder recommendations from the earlier panel and we discuss each of them and what implementing them and building a more inclusive philanthropy would really look like.
Funder Recommendations
As mentioned above, the panelist in our Nonprofit Nuts & Bolts conversation came up with five tangible recommendations for funders looking to build a more inclusive philanthropy sector by supporting the day-to-day challenges faced by nonprofit employees. The funders in our final panel also discussed those same recommendations. Our five recommendations for funders are:
- Multi-year General Operating Grants
- Accept Proposals Thoughtfully
- Manage Relationships & Expectations
- Engage in Advocacy
- Trust nonprofits to tell their own story
Some of these recommendations are much easier said than done. Unfunded List and our evaluators appreciate any grant-maker taking steps to be more inclusive with their grants. Make sure to watch the conversations to hear the in depth discussions behind each of our recommendations.
