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News Articles: Philanthropy

Melinda French Gates, billionaire philanthropist and founder of Pivotal, in Paris in 2021. Since leaving the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation earlier this year, French Gates has committed $1 billion towards women and girls.

Only 2% of charitable giving goes to women. Can Melinda French Gates change that?

The philanthropist is spending $1 billion — and leveraging her ever-growing celebrity — to call more attention to the systemic problems facing women and girls. Now she's focusing even more on women's health.

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By:
  • Maria Aspan
The $5.5 million grant to NPR comes at a time when local newsrooms are struggling to stay afloat.

NPR gets $5.5 million grant to strengthen local journalism as news deserts spread

The grant, from Eric and Wendy Schmidt, will be used to launch regional newsrooms in Appalachia and the Mountain West. It will also be used to strengthen existing public media collaboratives in New England, the Midwest and California.

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By:
  • Lola Murti
Florida A&M University announced a "transformative" donation earlier this month — but the school said it ceased contact with the donor after questions arose about the funds.

A mega-gift for an HBCU college fell through. Here's what happened — and what's next

To people who watch high-level philanthropy, Florida A&M's embarrassing incident wasn't only a shocking reversal. It was something they've seen before. The school is now investigating what went wrong.

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By:
  • Bill Chappell
Robert Hale gives an envelope with cash to a graduating UMass Dartmouth student at last week's commencement. Each of the 1,200 graduates received $1,000 onstage, half to keep and half to donate.

A billionaire surprised graduates onstage with cash, but it's not all theirs to keep

Billionaire philanthropist Rob Hale gave UMass Dartmouth graduates $1,000 each, and instructed them to donate half. He tells NPR the best cause students can support is one that matters to them.

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  • Rachel Treisman
In 2017, Sesame Workshop and the International Rescue Committee became the first winners of 100&Change for their work with children in the Middle East<em>.</em> Above, Elmo learns how to fly a kite at Azraq Camp, Jordan.

The MacArthur Foundation wants bold solutions to big problems — the prize is $100M

The MacArthur Foundation is looking for ideas that would solve one of the biggest global challenges. The winning proposal will receive $100 million.

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  • Elizabeth Blair
The $100 million comes as Spelman marks 100 years since its official naming in 1924.

Atlanta's Spelman College receives historic $100 million donation

The donation is from businesswoman and philanthropist Ronda Stryker and her husband, William Johnston, Chairman of Greenleaf Trust.

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Images from some of our most popular global stories of 2023 (left to right): A woman from Brazil's Awa people holds her bow and arrow after a hunt; an artificial intelligence program made this fake photo to fulfill a request for "doctors help children in Africa" — AI added the giraffe; researchers are learning that a stranger's hello can do more than just brighten your day.

Our top global posts might change how you think about hunters, AI and hellos

Our most popular global stories of 2023 offer insights into the stereotypes of male hunters/female gatherers, the biases of AI, the best way to end poverty and the impact of a stranger's greeting.

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  • Marc Silver
GPB News NPR

Opinion: Remembering Charles Feeney, a life richly lived

NPR's Scott Simon remembers Charles Feeney, the philanthropist who quietly gave away $8 billion before his death this week.

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  • Scott Simon
The Museo de Arte in Puerto Rico is one of 64 art museums receiving grants as part of a new initiative called "Access for All" funded by Alice Walton's Art Bridges foundation.

Walmart heir wants museums to attract more people and donates $40 million to help

Alice Walton's foundation Art Bridges will give grants to dozens of museums around the country.

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By:
  • Elizabeth Blair
runners

Parkinson’s breakthroughs remind RaceTrac runners — and Michael J. Fox — to keep going

Since 2011, Georgia’s second-largest private company has partnered with the Michael J. Fox Foundation to fight Parkinson’s disease.  

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Journalists protest outside the offices of the <em>Austin American Statesman</em> in June as part of a nationwide effort by staff at Gannett-owned newspapers to draw attention to layoffs and budget cuts. A coalition of donors is promising to bolster local news with a half-billion dollars over five years.

Philanthropies pledge $500 million to address 'crisis in local news'

The new coalition of donors, led by the MacArthur Foundation, says one out of every five Americans lives in a "news desert" with little to no reliable local news.

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By:
  • David Folkenflik
Goodwill

Goodwill of North Georgia highlights employment, economic impact for 98th anniversary

Goodwill of North Georgia has released its annual Impact Report commissioned through Elliot D. Pollack and Company

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Two of artist Dean Gillespie's miniatures in the traveling visual arts exhibition <em>Marking Time</em>, which examines mass incarceration.

'Imagining Freedom' will give $125 million to art projects focused on incarceration

Since 2020, the Mellon Foundation has given over $40 million to arts and humanities projects addressing mass incarceration. In all, it says, it will donate $125 million to such efforts.

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By:
  • Anastasia Tsioulcas
MacKenzie Scott, billionaire philanthropist. Last month she announced that her donations since 2019 have totaled more than $14 billion and helped fund around 1,600 nonprofits. But as much as the scale, it is her untraditional style of giving that is causing a stir.

MacKenzie Scott is shaking up philanthropy's traditions. Is that a good thing?

Donations often come with rigorous applications and reporting requirements. Billionaire MacKenzie Scott, who divorced Jeff Bezos in 2019 and vowed to give away most of her fortune, does it her way.

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By:
  • Andrew Connelly
Many of the women in Sangeeta Siwan's Mumbai neighborhood lost their jobs during the pandemic, but they banded together to help each other through the lockdowns. From left to right: Kalawanti Yadav, Sageeta Wadule, Sangeeta Pandey and Ambika Kalshetty.

When COVID closed India, these women opened their hearts — and wallets

Sangeeta Siwan lost her job and wasn't able to pay rent or feed her family. Her neighbors helped her survive. A study of giving in India during the pandemic shows she wasn't alone.

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By:
  • Ruchi Kumar