Nonprofit Push on Biden Plan; Preventing Gun Violence; Vartan Gregorian Has Died – The Chronicle of Philanthropy

Good Morning.

If you’ve been ignoring the discussion about infrastructure legislation in Washington, you might want to rethink that: Nonprofits are advocating — successfully in many cases — for their priorities to become part of President Biden’s next big legislative push. Now they are seeking even more.

Already, priorities that would help the people nonprofits serve have been included in Biden’s $2 trillion plan, such as improvements for transportation, health care, and community care of the elderly.

But now nonprofits hope the next phase of the Biden plan will offer grants to help nonprofits avoid layoffs and improve the energy efficiency of their buildings. What’s more, they are seeking to make permanent the charitable deduction for people who don’t itemize on their taxes.

They’re also pressing for a permanent White House office dedicated to working with nonprofits and responding to their needs.

A sign that the advocacy has a chance to make a difference: Nonprofits say the Biden administration has reached out to them already. Charitable institutions are seen by the White House as “not just implementers,” says Dan Cardinali, CEO of Independent Sector. “They can also be valuable partners in designing smart policies.”

And in a week when the national focus is on intersecting crises of guns and race, we offer two opinion pieces that will help you think more deeply about what can be done to make a difference.

Jen Pauliukonis, head of the Coalition to Stop Gun Violence, urges philanthropy to put more focus on state and local groups. “American history is full of examples of social change that began in statehouses and made their way into federal law,” she writes. “Gun-violence prevention groups have adopted a similar approach with the backing of a small and dedicated group of grant makers. But now is the time for the larger world of philanthropy to put its full force behind building power in states.”

And Vanessa Daniel, founder of the Groundswell Fund, and Edgar Villanueva, principal of the Decolonizing Wealth Project and Liberated Capital, urge white people in philanthropy to do more to achieve racial justice. “Inviting people of color into structures in which we are accountable not to our own communities but to white millionaires and billionaires who have the power to hire and fire, to ‘take our ideas under advisement,’ is not an invitation to share power,” they write. “Real power comes from appointing people of color into top roles, including by creating new roles or encouraging some leaders to step down and step aside.” Plus they offer a valuable resource: a new discussion guide that grant makers can use to spark conversation about meaningful action.

Also notable this week: Vartan Gregorian, who has served as head of the Carnegie Corporation of New York since 1997, died on Friday at age 87. Stanley Katz, a Princeton University scholar, called Gregorian the “the senior statesperson of philanthropy in the United States” and the last of an old guard of foundation leaders.”

Gregorian was not just a grant maker: He was a prodigious fundraiser, especially in his previous roles leading the New York Public Library and Brown University. He used to joke that he had his palms open for money so much that wealthy people expressed surprise when they saw the back of his hand.

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