Final days to apply for our Fall EPP! Apply by Wednesday, October 1 for our Education for Philanthropy Professionals program to earn your Stanford PACS Certificate of Effective Philanthropy. Explore our full list of course topics and speakers, and apply now to join us! 🔗 stanford.io/3l4C2ma

Many wise insights from Gov Spencer Cox & @ezraklein.bsky.social Gov Cox rightly notes his 2020 video w Chris Peterson was among most impactful in Strengthening Democracy Challenge, a striking example of cross-party engagement. Grateful for their commitment. Hear it: 👇 youtu.be/WJB87niNCk0

How can nonprofits and funders maximize the effectiveness of litigation? "The takeaway here is *both-and*: Fund the best legal teams to develop the best legal theories and pursue litigation where necessary. But don’t only do that part of the puzzle."

Two weeks left to apply! 🙋🏽 Our Education for Philanthropy Professionals course enables you to dig in on principles, strategy and trends to sharpen your practice and refresh your thinking. Learn more and apply now to earn your Certificate of Effective #Philanthropy this fall! 🔗 stanford.io/3l4C2ma

Should RCTs be the gold standard of impact measurement? SSIR’s Aaron Bady speaks w/ Nicole P. Marwell and Jennifer E. Mosley about their new article, “The Nonprofit Sector Has an RCT Problem.” Join us tomorrow at 10 a.m. PT! ssir.org/live-rct-conversation

Join @stanfordkingctr.bsky.social on September 30 for The Future of Aid, exploring how foreign assistance is evolving in an era where traditional donors are stepping back and new actors—from #philanthropy to the private sector—are stepping in. Details & RSVP: stanford.io/46mSRRp

Our new fall print issue is online! Subscribe now for full digital access. On the cover: An updated collection of essays on philanthropy's challenges in responding to government threats and funding cuts, including a brand new concluding essay from MacArthur Foundation president John Palfrey

"The scale and urgency of the current threat should settle a long-simmering debate about the strategic value of targeting oil and gas production directly." @earthjustice.org president @abbiedillen.bsky.social writes in SSIR on the next chapter of the climate fight:

In this age of AI, where and how does assembly take place, and who participates by choice and who by coercion? A new volume edited by Toussaint Nothias and Lucy Bernholz explores this question through a series of essays, including contributions from Ashley Lee and Danaé Metaxa.

Are you looking to level up your practice as a #philanthropy professional or new funder? Our #EPP course connects you with philanthropy leaders, scholars, and practitioners to help you learn best practices and ground your work in strategy and values. Apply by October 1! 🔗 stanford.io/3l4C2ma

"It’s time for #philanthropy to step up and step in." As Sobrato Philanthropies deploys its largest annual giving budget to date, Lisa Sobrato Sonsini shares a powerful call to action for funders to step up their giving in this pivotal moment. Read on our Philanthropy Innovation Summit blog:

On Tuesday, Oct.7 at 12:15 pm PT, the @law.ucla.edu Safeguarding Democracy Project will host a conversation with @persily.bsky.social "Lessons from the 2024 Elections for 2026 and Beyond." Visit safeguardingdemocracyproject.org to attend in person. Or for webinar: ucla.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

Announcing the Safeguarding Democracy Project’s Fall Lineup of Events and Webinars, Focused on the Fairness and Integrity of the 2028 Midterms electionlawblog.org?p=151860

We are pleased to share our 2024-25 Impact Report, showcasing our community’s field-leading research, conferences, trainings, and more over the past academic year! Thank you to each and every one of our community members for your contributions and commitment to our shared work. Explore the report:

Executive Director Priya Shanker spoke w/ @devex.com about the growing role of philanthropic advisors & collaborative funds in the sector. Collaborative funds are “a huge advantage for the sector," said Priya, as they bring funders together to tackle systemic issues through coordinated investments.

What is “psychological inoculation” theory, and what role does it play in civil society? For our latest PACS PhD Fellow spotlight, we spoke with Marijn Mado about her research on the origins of psychological inoculation and how it's deployed today by media platforms and philanthropic organizations.

How can families navigate their giving journey with poise and purpose? Join our Fall 2025 EPP course to explore the Family Giving Lifecycle, a roadmap to the key considerations a family foundation must think through—and how to incorporate principles of effective #philanthropy at each juncture.

Not sure how to act most effectively as a funder or donor right now? These 10 questions from @catherinecf.bsky.social and Philippe Sion might help you get started.

"The greatest worry that many people have about such an egalitarian future is that it would lead to an economic system in which these elements are precisely missing: innovation and change." In an excerpt from her new book, @lisamherzog.bsky.social responds to the critics of egalitarianism

Last chance for the early-bird discount! 🐦 Apply by this Friday, August 15 to receive the discounted rate of $1000 off our Fall 2025 Education for Philanthropy Professionals program, designed for #philanthropy executives, program officers, and emerging philanthropists.

"Authentically empowering young people starts with seeing them as partners in shaping the future." 🤝 On this #InternationalYouthDay, Tricia Raikes of Raikes Foundation shares lessons from Washington's successes in addressing youth homelessness to showcase why investing in young people is essential.

We spoke with Eric Weingartner, President of The Overbrook Foundation and a guest speaker for our Education for Philanthropy Professionals (EPP) course, about how #philanthropy can better connect intention to impact, why getting closer to the work matters, and more.

Is a gallon of water in a rich country worth more than a gallon of water in a poor country? That's what at least one impact accounting methodology seems to imply. But if that's the case, what does it reveal about the very concept of impact accounting?

"Whatever your first issue is, local news and journalism should be your second." 👏 Important insights on the power and purpose of investing in #LocalNews and storytelling from John Palfrey (@palfrey.org) & Karen Rundlet (@inn.org) as they highlight their work with our shared partner, Press Forward.

For #philanthropy executives, program officers, and emerging philanthropists seeking to elevate your practice, define your strategy, and stay current on sector trends and issues—apply now for our Fall 2025 Education for Philanthropy Professionals program!

"The state capacity needed to generate this abundance won’t just be a top-down federal imperative. It’ll involve building out the capabilities of a range of local public and private institutions, the system hubs and their spokes." New piece from @rohansandhu.bsky.social

"We found the LLM could make fairly accurate predictions even for entirely novel experiments." Research Fellow Luke Hewitt shared takeaways from his research on the use of LLMs to predict the results of social science experiments, authored with Ashwini Ashokkumar, Isaias Ghezae, and Robb Willer.

Does labeling AI content affect its persuasiveness? Our latest policy brief evaluates the impact of authorship labels on how people perceive AI-written policy messages. @jurafsky.bsky.social @robbwiller.bsky.social @federicobianchi.bsky.social hai.stanford.edu/policy/label...

Are you a philanthropist or investor seeking to unlock the power of your full portfolio? ✨ Join us and the Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth this October for a three-day, hands-on program designed to help you integrate and maximize your impact.

What if nonprofits treated board recruitment more like a job posting? Organizations who have tried the approach say it helps attract new talent and resources, increase board engagement, and improve strategic thinking.

Building stronger pathways out of homelessness means prioritizing not only shelter, but also belonging. In this sense, if housing is the foundation, relationships are the thing that keeps people in homes. From this, five key principles emerge.

"Programs like this help ground your work in strategy and values." We spoke with Kim Garner of the Central Valley Opportunity Fund about how our Education for #Philanthropy Professionals course helped strengthen her work to support a burgeoning #nonprofit ecosystem in Merced County.

Stanford PACS is pleased to partner with CUHK Business School to bring our effective #philanthropy training to Asia! 🌏 This hybrid, seven-day executive education program is designed for family office leads and financial advisors. Learn more and apply to attend: bit.ly/3ITKTY7

"The question is no longer whether #Japan can be philanthropic—but whether it will choose to be." In a new piece for Alliance, Haruto Okabe of @usjf.bsky.social identifies 4 key challenges for Japanese #philanthropy and offers 10 recommendations on how funders and foundations can address them.

How can we best use our limited resources for the greatest impact? 🎯 The Ethical and Effective Philanthropy for Sustainable Development course at Stanford invites students to explore this fundamental challenge as they learn firsthand about the responsibilities—and joys—of effective #philanthropy.

Mergers, acquisitions, and other organizational transitions are difficult for nonprofits no matter what—but especially when done under duress. Former GuideStar CEO @jacobharold.bsky.social has experienced and studied these restructurings and shares 7 principles for making them successful:

Can impact investing activate markets to drive social change at scale?

INN CEO Karen Rundlet and @macfound.org's @palfrey.org make a powerful case for journalism as essential civic infrastructure in their @stanfordpacs.bsky.social piece. From democracy to education to disaster response, local news connects us all. pacscenter.stanford.edu/philanthropy...

"Different people in organizations will always get different things for various reasons, but the people in an organization must trust that the processes allocating opportunities and benefits are fundamentally fair and legitimate." New article by Ahmmad Brown and @femlaw.bsky.social:

Grateful to have this chance to write with Karen Rundlet of @inn.org about the state of Local News and the #PressForward coalition of funders and those we are able to support.

New on our Philanthropy Innovation Summit blog, @palfrey.org of @macfound.org and Karen Rundlet of @inn.org discuss their efforts to strengthen local news through the #PressForward coalition and call on fellow funders to join the movement to support quality independent #journalism.

What's the path forward for the global development sector? Philosopher Peter Singer argues the answer lies in consequentialism: ssir.org/articles/ent...

The @hiddenbrain.bsky.social podcast re-shared "a favorite episode” featuring @robbwiller.bsky.social, who spoke about the common mistakes we make in trying to persuade others of our point of view—and how to break out of our echo chambers. Listen to the conversation and explore the research:

CLCL Senior Research Fellow @cbrandtner.bsky.social and co-author Patrick Bergemann shared takeaways from their new research investigating why certain communities in NYC were more likely to follow and enforce the changing social norms around measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in 2020.

The 2024–25 cohort of Digital Civil Society Lab Practitioner Fellows—Jepchumba Cheluget, Melquiades (Kiado) Cruz, @andreramiro.bsky.social, Cristina Vélez Vieira, and @seleneyang.bsky.social‬—are advancing bold, community-centered visions for a more just digital future. Read about their projects:

In this month's #Philanthropy Innovation Summit blog, Mike Schroepfer, Founder of Gigascale Capital and Outlier Projects, describes his approach to investing in flexible, fit-for-purpose teams to investigate high-potential strategies for averting the worst effects of #climate change.

New on our blog, @rhodridavies.bsky.social reflects on his session on #AI in the #nonprofit sector for our Education for Philanthropy Professionals (EPP) course and how #philanthropy professionals can bridge the gap between knowledge and action in an era of rapid change. Read the interview:

Apply now for our Fall 2025 Education for #Philanthropy Professionals course to earn your Certificate in Effective Philanthropy! Learn best practices, explore the latest trends, and connect with peers and leaders in the field. Details and application: stanford.io/3l4C2ma

Fantastic piece from @robbwiller.bsky.social and @owasow.bsky.social on nonviolent resistance published in the @nytimes.com. Bravo! www.nytimes.com/2025/06/17/o...

New in @nytimes.com, Stanford PACS Faculty Co-Director @robbwiller.bsky.social and @owasow.bsky.social of @ucberkeleyofficial.bsky.social discuss how nonviolent resistance can win hearts, minds, and elections.