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Philanthropy Has Been Trying to Buy Buildings for the Arts for Years. Now We Know It Works.
San Francisco’s CounterPulse shows how arts organizations can take advantage of a lease-to-own model.
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Darren Walker, President, Ford Foundation
We first met Darren Walker about 15 years ago while planning an issue on faith-based development. Darren was the chief operating officer of the Abyssinian Development Corporation, the storied community development arm of the Abyssinian Baptist Church in New York City. We asked Darren to write an article that was not simply a cheerleader’s promotion of church-based CDCs, but a realistic assessment of the benefits and challenges to an institution embarking on that path.
Darren was optimistic and enthusiastic about the work he was doing at Abyssinian creating hundreds of units of affordable housing in Harlem. But he was pragmatic and realistic also. His article encouraged organizations to temper the enthusiasm necessary to even consider this work with a realistic analysis of an organization’s capacities and a clear-eyed examination of their assumptions about the rewards of creating a CDC.
Darren approached his work enthusiastically, I think, because he had visceral understanding of the challenges low-income folks had and the opportunities that were available to them with the right help. The kind of help that the stability of an affordable home could provide. His understanding came from personal experience that would inform his work wherever it took him, from law school to international finance, from a storefront afterschool program and Abyssinian to the Rockefeller and Ford foundations.
When we sat down with Darren on March 18 to conduct this interview, we were glad to see that enthusiasm, optimism, and pragmatism were as strong as ever as he starts his leadership of one of the world’s largest foundations.
What Is Philanthropic Equity? A Roundtable Discussion
As we prepared this issue, the term “philanthropic equity” kept surfacing. What is this new concept in philanthropy, and how is it different from both traditional grantmaking and program-related investments? In December we gathered a group of people from foundations and nonprofit intermediaries to explore the concept, its promises and pitfalls.
Students Push Universities to Invest Locally
In response to my earlier post about anchor institutions and community development, Andrew Frishkoff, executive director of LISC Philadelphia, commented “Too often we have seen beneficent anchor institutions acting paternalistically on […]
Part II: What If Someone Gave You $5M, Then Asked for It Back?
When was the last time you sat down with your financial manager and the actually considered the various tranches of capital you would need?
Part I: What If Someone Gave You $5M, Then Asked for It Back?
There are wealthy people and institutions out there in the world right now who are willing to give your nonprofit a lot of money. As a matter of fact, that number appears to be growing.
Aligning Grants with Impact Investments
Impact investing—the deployment of capital with the intent of not only generating financial return, but also producing measurable social and environmental impacts—is not new. Living Cities has engaged in impact […]
The (In)Efficiencies of Scale
ArtsBlog (the blog of Americans for the Arts) recently hosted a forum called: “So, Does Size Matter?” The short answer is hell yes it does, but I disagree with most […]
The Intersection of Health Philanthropy and Housing
Health philanthropy and community development have historically worked on separate tracks. That’s changing.
Oprah Donates to Newark Nonprofits and Schools
A handful of Newark, New Jersey, nonprofits received some much-needed relief in a time of reduced donations from a surprising benefactor — Oprah Winfrey. In February, the talk show host […]
Homes That Last
Counter-cyclical stewardship is the only way to ensure that lower-income families are neither nudged out by rising costs nor forced out by foreclosure.
Do or Die for Nonprofits
In a time of great economic peril for the communities they serve, nonprofit grassroots organizations must push the federal government to raise foundations’ payout requirements.
MacArthur Foundation Earmarks $25 Million for Housing Research
The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation plans to invest $25 million over the next five years in research into the causes, effects and solutions to the nation’s affordable-housing […]