Philanthropy – Page 2 – American Alliance of Museums

Monday Musing: the future of philanthropy

By Elizabeth Merritt

I included an essay by David Callahan in last week’s edition of Dispatches from the Future of Museums because I was struck by his projections of how government budget cuts may promote the rise of “crisis …
The Sustainability “Myth”

By Elizabeth Merritt

Here’s something I’ve been wondering about: are social service and cultural nonprofits really the same species? Sure, we’re united by our 501(c)3 tax-exempt status, but beyond that, what’s our family resemblance, and is it …
The Future of Funding – Revisited

By Elizabeth Merritt

One of the best things about attending the annual AAM meeting is the serendipitous networking that takes place 24/7. For example, as I ran from event to event one evening, I connected for just a nanosecond with Carl Hamm, deputy director …
On Philanthropy and Paternalism

By Elizabeth Merritt

I’m immersed in writing TrendsWatch 2015 for the rest of the month, which leaves limited bandwidth for blogging. For the next few weeks, I’m going to be sharing brief thoughts, the kind of “here’s a 15 minute essay on why I think this …
Update on Philanthropy

By Elizabeth Merritt

One of the topics we examined in TrendsWatch 2013 was the “Changing Face of Giving.” Though the economy, and giving overall, continues to rebound, there’s wide agreement that we aren’t going to return to the world that existed pre-2008. We …
Monday Musing: who’s minding the kids?

By Elizabeth Merritt

This week’s Musing is about an article features in Dispatches from the future of Museums last week: “Gates’ $100M Philanthropic Venture inBloom Dies after Parents Say “No Way” (Nonprofit Quarterly). It’s about the demise …
Monday Musing: Looking to Hawaii for the Distributed Future

By Elizabeth Merritt

Futurist William Gibson observed “the future is already here, it’s just not very evenly distributed.” In CFM’s report “Tomorrow in theGolden State” we looked to California for glimpses of the unevenly distributed future of demographic …
Why “Free” Isn’t Always a Good Thing

By Elizabeth Merritt

The charitable sector is going through a period of painful self-examination about the unintended side effects of well-intentioned philanthropic efforts. TOMS, the popular “profit for good” shoe company that donates a pair of shoes to a …
The Fourth Sector

By Elizabeth Merritt

The second flight of “Test Pilots” is winging their way through the CFM Digital Badging project. Besides helping the Alliance test the potential of this form of microcredentialing to serve our members, and providing some training on …
Who Makes the Best Advocate for the Future of Museum Funding?

By Elizabeth Merritt

Good futures scanning should include all the STEEP categories. As I’ve confessed before, I sometimes have trouble with the P—political/policy trends. Today, Gail Ravnitzky Silberglied, the Alliance’s vice president of government relations …