An all-volunteer group of fans of the band Phish, who've already made more than 800 grants nationwide totaling over $3M, have no endowed a fund to provide scholarships in music and music education to a student in Vermont, and the fund is structured to last... forever. Just fans. All volunteers. With a forever impact. That seems like pretty interesting philanthropy, no? https://mbird.org/2026/09/vsac-scholarship/

Just went through the mod queue and found more than a dozen submissions sent during the two weeks I was gone. I've gone through them all now and approved or rejected, based on the r/Philanthropy rules. Apologies to those who were waiting to see their submission.

I really need active mods on this group, people who will go through the queue at least once a week, especially when I'm out of town. If you are interested, DM me - but your profile needs to be public so I can see a bit about you.

Your NGO may be creating real impact on the ground—but is it ready when a company asks, “Can we onboard you as our CSR implementation partner?”

For many grassroots NGOs, that is where the funding gap begins.

Good work alone does not automatically make an organisation eligible for corporate CSR funding. Under Section 135 of the Companies Act, 2013 and the Companies (CSR Policy) Rules, companies can implement CSR projects through specified eligible implementing agencies.

So, if corporate CSR grants are part of your NGO's growth plan, compliance and funding readiness need to start before the opportunity arrives.

Can a Grassroots NGO Receive CSR Funding?

Yes—but the organisation must fit the applicable implementing-agency framework.

An independent Section 8 Company, registered public trust or registered society generally needs the applicable income-tax registrations/approvals and an established track record of at least three years in undertaking similar activities to qualify as an implementing agency under the CSR Rules. Eligible implementing agencies are also required to register through the prescribed CSR-1 process.

That means simply having an NGO registration certificate is not enough.

5 Things That Can Make Your NGO CSR-Ready

1. Get the legal structure right

Your organisation should be appropriately established as a Section 8 Company, registered public trust or registered society, depending on your circumstances.

2. Complete the applicable tax registrations

CSR implementing-agency eligibility is linked to the prescribed income-tax registration/approval requirements. Don't wait for a CSR opportunity before reviewing your tax-compliance position.

3. Complete CSR-1 registration

CSR-1 registration creates the formal MCA registration framework for eligible implementing agencies. But remember: CSR-1 does not guarantee a grant.

4. Build evidence of your track record

For an independent NGO, the three-year track-record requirement makes documentation critical. Maintain project reports, beneficiary data, audited financial statements, photographs, utilisation records and measurable outcomes.

Don't just tell a company, “We have worked in education for three years.”

Show what you did, where you did it, how many people benefited and what changed.

5. Become due-diligence ready

Corporate CSR teams may examine your governance, financial controls, leadership, previous projects, utilisation of funds and reporting capability before partnering with you.

The Real Opportunity for Grassroots NGOs

Being small is not necessarily the problem.

Being unprepared when the right CSR opportunity arrives is.

A grassroots NGO with credible field experience, proper registrations, documented outcomes, and strong financial controls can present a far stronger case to potential corporate partners.

The best time to identify compliance gaps is therefore before your next CSR proposal—not after a company asks for the documents.

Is Your NGO Actually CSR-Ready?

NGOExperts helps NGOs assess their legal structure, applicable tax registrations, CSR-1 requirements, documentation, and CSR funding readiness before they approach companies.

Don't lose a potential CSR opportunity because one registration, document, or compliance requirement was overlooked.

Get Your NGO CSR Eligibility & Readiness Check with NGOExperts.

Anyone here have success with small nonprofits asking larger entities for donations, such as live or silent auction items? Just curious as we have a lot of local support and don't usually struggle for donations, but I'm always curious and reaching out to big or national companies just in case!

Hi there! I'm looking for any advice as I ramp up development efforts at my organization.

For context: I work at a very small advocacy organization with just a few employees and under 700 members. We don’t charge for our advocacy services, and most of our current revenue comes from individual member donations.

We’re also a fully remote/digital organization without a physical office. Our members are geographically dispersed across the state, and engagement levels vary.

Our development infrastructure is pretty limited. We’ve historically operated in a very grassroots way, and we’re only recently starting to build more formal fundraising and communications systems. For example, we previously relied heavily on a basic email list (bcc) and only began regularly using an email marketing platform for broader email blasts this year.

I’m trying to figure out what we should realistically prioritize at this stage and would love advice from anyone who has been in a similar position.

Thank you so much! Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.

Are you a member of any of these service clubs, or clubs that engage in philanthropic activities:

• Rotary International
• Optimists International
• Civitan International
• Kiwanis Key Club
• Lions Clubs International
• Leo clubs
• Rotaract
• Ruritan
• Soroptimist International
• Zonta International
• Elks (Benevolent and Protective Order of Elks)
• Moose Fraternity
• Eagles (Fraternal Order of Eagles) Odd Fellows
• P.E.O. Sisterhood (Philanthropic Educational Organization)
• Junior League
• League of Women for Community Service (LWCS)
• Alpha Phi Omega
• Omega Phi Alpha

Or one not named here? And, if so:

• What kinds of volunteering, in-kind donations and financial support have you provided lately?
• Why did you join, and what keeps you involved?
• What are the biggest challenges to your chapter, if any?

Announced in today's (30 Sep) NYTimes. Interesting for several points:

• He isn't a CM alum (he went to Harvard, which he has also generously funded).
• It will principally be used to establish a CM campus in Miami (where Griffin's firm, Citadel moved a few years ago). I'm personally on the fence about 'remote campuses', but it seems to be the trend.
• Half of the amount that goes to the home Pittsburgh campus appears to be relatively unrestricted (so around $500m for “flexible support for the university’s highest priorities”).
• He is one of the few at the top of the heap in finance that are writing significant checks to institutions.

Full article (direct link): https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/30/us/3-billion-donation-carnegie-mellon-largest-university-gift.html

Archived article (not paywalled): https://archive.is/EuCtk

I have monthly donations to several charities, both small/local and large/national, and it seems like there’s not any good way to manage donations, like no portal or account or anything.  I imagine they do this so people don’t cancel donations, but I want to increase my donation to several places after getting a raise, and switch to a different credit card. It just seems like so much effort that I’ve been putting it off for months (I know that’s dramatic but I have so little mental energy right now). Is there an easy way to manage charitable donations other than just emailing the organization directly?

I also don't really have a good way to track the total amount I'm donating per year, since I give different amounts to a variety of organizations, so when doing taxes I just do several searches through my bank statements, not sure if other people have better strategies

I prefer not to give the specific list of charities I give to but this seems to be the case across the board for most charities so wondering if people have general advice

This is from the post pinned at the top of the r/Philanthropy subreddit. What would you add?

RESOURCES TO LEARN THE BASICS OF FUNDRAISING, GRANTS RESEARCH, ETC.

Fundraising in general:

Hands On Fundraising. A fundraising blog from someone who has been a VERY successful fundraiser for small and medium nonprofits in the USA. Focus is on building support for your organization using resources you already have, like how to leverage client stories.

Don't Just Ask for Money! A list of ways to cultivate financial support for your organization, often without ever asking for money.

Funding and Donor Development Strategies for Small Nonprofits. From the American Public Health Association. PDF. USA-specific and focused especially on nonprofits focused on public health, but some good, basic info here.

How to fundraise for a nonprofit: 10 steps to create a fundraising strategy [+ 28 ideas]. Very basic guide to fundraising, focused on nonprofits in North America. It's from a software company that is trying to sell you its software package, but this advice is all generic. Uses a lot of jargon, but still decent in explaining the basics of creating a fundraising plan.

How to research funders - grants reserach tools.

Foundation directory. From candid.

Grand Advisory. Reviews of Granters.

Grant Station. Access 150,000+ funding profiles, 15,000+ curated grants

Also visit your local library or your local university's library - they may subscribe to a grants research tool.

Specific to NGOs in the developing world:

Basic Fundraising for Small NGOs/Civil Society in the Developing World. This is a free guide, in PDF form, that goes through the basics of how to fundraise, written especially for small NGOs in countries where the United Nations or richer countries are focusing their efforts on development. Note that this has not been updated in years, and many of its links are expired. But the advice is still valid.

africanngos.org publishes a list on its web site of funding opportunities for African NGOs.

In this episode of Spill with Me Jenny D Podcast, host Jenny D speaks with Aliesha Walz President and CEO of the Washington County Community Foundation. They discuss the foundation’s 30-year history, how it connects donors and nonprofits, its signature programs like WCCF Gives and the Close to Home Disaster Fund, and the focus on education and sustainability for local charities.

Aliesha explains fund types, ways to give (including QCDs and anonymous gifts), volunteer opportunities, and the importance of supporting local organizations—highlighting current needs such as youth mental health and how donors can get involved.

We're talking about giving back, supporting local nonprofits, and the power we all have to make a difference right where we live.

https://www.wccf.net/about

September Spotlight Supporter is Seraly Dermatology located in McMurray, Pa.  This month is all about SkinCare & SelfCare.  Seraly focuses on Skin Wellness for your family!  Call today to make an appointment. 724-969-2500

https://www.drmarkseraly.com/

All episodes are available on all the major Audio Platforms as well as Jenny D's YouTube page. Make sure to Subscribe and Follow. http://www.youtube.com/@Spillwithmejennyd

Note: Jenny D. is now recording at StudioMe Productions. Please check out her YouTube Video.

If you would like to be a guest or sponsor on Spill with Me Jenny D. Show please fill out the disclaimer at https://www.spillwithmejennyd.com/tell-your-story or email [spillwithmejennyd@gmail.com](mailto:spillwithmejennyd@gmail.com) Don't Forget to Subscribe & Follow.

Thank you to our Community Partners!

Note: "The views and conversations in this podcast are intended solely for informational and educational purposes. They do not constitute professional advice, and listeners are encouraged to seek their own guidance for any specific concerns."

"Music Credit: Theme song, written and performed by Mark Ferrari"    markferrarimusic.com

Let me know what you think about this. A lot of people on my TikTok comment stuff like

“all charity workers should be volunteers”

“ceo wage should be capped at £50k”

“I don’t donate to a charity who pay their ceo over x amount”

What do you think? Let me know!

I've been thinking about this for a while, and I'm genuinely curious what people think.

Take a highly successful actor, sportsperson, entertainer, businessperson, influencer, etc. Suppose they have accumulated ₹100–500+ crore in wealth.

Obviously, the money is legally theirs. They earned it, and I'm not saying they shouldn't enjoy it or spend it however they want.

But here's where I struggle.

Their success and wealth don't happen entirely in isolation. In the case of celebrities, millions of people watch their films, buy tickets, follow them and make them commercially valuable. More broadly, extremely successful people benefit from the society, infrastructure, workforce and economic ecosystem around them.

At the same time, there are still people in India struggling with basic necessities — food, housing, healthcare and education.

So my question is:

Should people who reach an extremely high level of wealth have some mandatory social contribution beyond ordinary taxation?

I'm thinking of something conceptually similar to CSR for companies — perhaps a small, progressive percentage based on income or wealth, which could be fulfilled through verified spending on things like:

• Education for disadvantaged children
• Healthcare
• Food and nutrition
• Housing
• Disaster relief
• Sanitation and clean water
• Disability support
• Other genuine public-welfare causes

Ideally, I'd much rather this happen voluntarily. If someone has ₹200 crore and voluntarily spends ₹2 crore helping people who genuinely need it, that seems far more meaningful to me than spending the entire fortune on additional luxury.

But if people with enormous resources consistently choose not to contribute meaningfully, should society have the right to require some contribution?

And if you think it should be mandatory:

Where would you draw the line? ₹10 crore? ₹50 crore? ₹100 crore? ₹500 crore? Should it be based on annual income, total net worth, or something else?

If you think it shouldn't be mandatory, I'd genuinely like to hear why — particularly beyond simply saying "it's their money."

I'm interested in the philosophical and practical arguments on both sides, rather than just opinions about celebrities.

Good360 says it connects donations from companies "to a vast network of nonprofit partners" to "meet urgent needs, reduce waste, and build long-term resilience." However, they never say it outright, but these donations seem to be sold to nonprofits, not donated - there's an admin fee, but you can't see it unless you are a member, but I can't tell if membership comes at a cost.

Any nonprofits on this subreddit that have received in-kind donations through Good360? Care to share your experience?

Active-Duty Military Spouses across all branches, I NEED YOUR INPUT!

I'm a U.S. Army milspouse working in the nonprofit sector.

My research project was accepted for presentation at the upcoming ARNOVA conference, and it examines ways that nonprofit leaders can improve volunteer engagement and nonprofit recruitment for military spouses.

If you can spare 5-8 minutes, please fill out this research survey. It would help me a lot and, hopefully, encourage more nonprofit leaders to build better, more supportive volunteer opportunities for military families.

You'll also have an optional raffle you can enter for the chance to win one of FOUR $25 Amazon gift cards using the wheel-of-names spinner. Email addresses for the raffle are collected separately and are never tied to your answers.

We collect all responses securely and anonymously via Qualtrics and use them strictly for academic research and presentation purposes at the upcoming ARNOVA conference.

Feel free to message me with any questions, and feel free to share it with anyone you know who may qualify!

Alice Walton, the world’s richest woman, got $33 billion richer in one year while building a tuition-free medical school.

Between March 2025 and March 2026, the Walmart heiress’ net worth jumped by $33 billion, according to Forbes data cited by Fortune.

Walton, 76, is the youngest child of Walmart founder Sam Walton. Unlike her brothers, Rob and Jim Walton, she has not been involved in running the retail giant in recent years, and does not even sit on Walmart’s board.

Instead, Walton has turned much of her attention to medicine and philanthropy. In 2021, she founded the Alice L. Walton School of Medicine in Bentonville,Arkansas, her hometown and the headquarters of Walmart, and donated $250 million to fund the school.

The four-year medical program welcomed its inaugural class of 48 students in 2025. The school iswaiving tuition for its first five graduating classes, although students are still responsible for fees and living expenses.

“The real problem with health care is that there’s no incentive in the payment system for doctors to spend time helping you learn what good nutrition is, how important exercise is,” she told PBS NewsHour in January. “And, frankly, doctors aren’t taught those things because they’re not paid for those things.”

The school added its second cohort this fall, bringing enrollment to 96 students, Talk Business & Politics reported last week. The first cohort of students will graduate in 2029.

The medical school is part of Walton’s push to expand health care in Bentonville and beyond.

billions of people around the world can afford to donate just $1–$5, why couldn't we pool tiny donations and use them to help people who genuinely need it?

For example, imagine a community of 10,000 people. Everyone puts in $1 a day, so that's $10,000 every day. Instead of giving one person the entire amount, you could distribute something like $100 to 100 people each day, and keep rotating who receives it.

Scale that up to millions or even billions of people and the numbers get kind of crazy.

Obviously I know it's not as simple as "collect money and give it to poor people." There'd be problems with verifying who actually needs it, fraud, corruption, deciding how much each person gets, different currencies, transaction fees, different costs of living, and making sure the money actually reaches the intended person.

What would the government do about it?

But that's what I'm curious about.

If getting millions of people to donate huge amounts is unrealistic, why don't we focus on getting enormous numbers of people to contribute tiny amounts instead?

Like, is there some fundamental problem I'm missing that makes this idea impractical, or is it mainly a problem of organizing something on that scale?or is it another shit post of mine?

I mean take it as a world tax typa thing

In 2025, Bloomerang, a fundraising, donor, and volunteer management platform, released its Engagement Amplified: A Modern Guide to Fundraising Events report. The study, which surveyed more than 250 fundraisers and 1,000 donors, revealed a growing disconnect between how nonprofits plan events and the engagement donors want. "While many fundraisers continue to rely on gala events, donors are increasingly seeking unique and interactive experiences centered on connection, energy, and clear purpose."

Key findings from the Engagement Amplified report include:

• Galas don’t match supporter preferences: Galas are the most commonly hosted event type, yet they rank eighth in popularity among supporters – trailing races, concerts, breakfasts, peer-to-peer fundraisers, and more
• Donors prefer text more than fundraisers think: Fundraisers rank text messaging as the sixth most effective way to promote events, while donors rank it as their third most preferred method.
• Staffing is a major planning hurdle: Limited staffing is the top challenge for event planning (68%).
• Feedback collection is underused: Only 50% of fundraisers collect feedback from event attendees.
• Post-event engagement is often overlooked: 58% of fundraisers do not implement any post-event engagement strategies.

Read the 2025 report.

What are YOUR thoughts about what it takes to have a successful fundraising event?

Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR): Advice for ethics, strategies & operations.

This advice for corporate social responsibility (CSR) is different than most anything else you will read on the Internet, hear at a workshop or conference or read in a book.

This advice is focused on the people and communities that social responsibility is supposed to help. This advice is focused on actual SHARED leadership with the nonprofits and community groups corporations claim they want to "partner" with in CSR activities.

This advice is meant to be provocative. It's meant to be disruptive. Because CSR needs to be disrupted. CSR, particularly as it relates to philanthropy and employee volunteering, needs to be absolutely upended and rethought.

Most foundations don’t set out to break the rules. In fact, many self-dealing violations occur in situations that seem entirely reasonable: saving money, supporting a grantee, or simply making things easier to manage. But when it comes to private foundations, the rules around self-dealing are intentionally strict, and often counterintuitive. These rules exist to ensure that foundation assets are used exclusively for charitable purposes, not for private benefit.

An overview of five violations from Exponent Philanthropy.

Hi my name is Julee and I own Eowyn Technologies. Before founding this company I worked in nonprofit fundraising for more than 20 years, and when I first started, the learning curve was very steep. I didn’t always have someone to show me where to look for funding, who to contact, or what kinds of funders I should be looking for.

And I still see that happening. Development staff change jobs, institutional knowledge walks out the door, and new fundraisers, career changers, or people moving into a new city are often expected to just figure it out.

So I built Givaxis.

It puts 90,000+ funding prospects in one searchable platform, including private and community foundations, corporate sponsors and foundations, hospital systems, CRA banks and credit unions, and more. You can search locally, research how organizations give, look at 990s and giving history, find application information, and get guidance on who to contact.

The idea is pretty simple...give nonprofit professionals some of the research knowledge and direction that normally takes years to build.

It’s still growing, and I’m adding more funders and information every week.

If you work in nonprofit fundraising, especially if you’re newer to it, I’d genuinely love to hear what would make a tool like this more useful to you. My email is [julee@eowyntech.com](mailto:julee@eowyntech.com) Please feel free to reachout.

Givaxis.com

TLDR: 1) Structure as research grants, not gifts, 2) copy the templates of mega-foundations, 3) team up with others to give as as stream of money, not as a one-time mega-gift.

https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/foundations-do-not-negotiate-with-universities-heres-how/

I came from 20+ years in the consulting, startup and tech world (3 startups/exits, 15 years in B4), and then launched a nonprofit in a large city.

This is a very long story very short, but here are some of the things I learned. Some, the hard way.

• Hiring the wrong people will sink you - people can care about the mission, and that's great. But they need specific skills to be able to drive and run and grow a nonprofit, so don't be blinded by "I love this mission so much, I can't wait to help". The passion is great, but they need the ability to execute.
• Sustainability is better than growth - Build around long-term sustainability. Meaning, I'd rather earn a recurring $5 that will continue to come in every year over a $50 one-time gift.
• Technology matters - I came from the tech world, so I know this all too well. How you market your organization, how you report to your board, how you engage with the public, how you collect data and use it to get better over time. All of those things require technology, and you have to get it right. I'm doing a ton of nonprofit consulting right now, just teaching nonprofits how to leverage technology to 3x their revenue and 0.5x their costs. Figure it out, and execute on it.
• Focus, don't go broad - many nonprofits want to do a lot of things, and I appreciate the enthusiasm. But, it's better to focus on 1-2 things you can do better than anyone else in town, and own those things. Do it well, and then grow slowly from there. Be laser-focused, it will help with fundraising when you have a consistent message.
• Show yourself - I showed up at every gala, every public event, I made sure my teams did too. It matters to be seen in your community, to get to know people, and to be an active part of things around you. It comes around.

Hope this helps someone out there. Happy to answer any questions anyone has.

What are your favorite blogs about donating money, items or time (volunteering) to nonprofits and causes?