By Andy Carroll, Exponent Philanthropy

I regularly explore trends influencing philanthropy by spotlighting articles, reports, and essays in the media. I cast a wide net, venturing beyond philanthropy and traditional topics to consider a variety of ideas, innovations, debates, and critiques. Read previous posts in the series  

Nonprofits Struggle to Endure 

The results of a study commissioned by several funders in New England underscore once again that many nonprofit organizations are stressed, and face an uncertain future.

“While nonprofits have proven to be resilient in the face of an economic downturn, many rely on operating models that are not sustainable, according to the report, based on surveys taken from 1,200 nonprofit leaders and board members throughout New England. The survey results show: leaders are overworked and stressed about cash flow; staff is underpaid and not given adequate professional development; and directors and boards do not share an understanding of their roles and responsibilities. A lack of planning for a new generation of leadership is one of the biggest issues facing the nonprofit sector, according to the report.“

Hez Norton, a co-author of the report, proposes “shifting the framework for the discussion away from succession planning, which focuses on an individual, and toward creating a sustainability plan that examines the vulnerabilities of the organization and its choices for the future.”

A Way to Strengthen Civic Participation by Young People

Writing in The Atlantic, Alia Wong reports how low voter turnout by young people in recent elections may be undermining America’s democracy. “Only one in five Americans aged 18 through 29 cast a ballot in last year’s elections, marking 2014 as having the lowest youth voter-turnout in 40 years.” Some experts blame a lack of civics education in the schools. “Just about a fourth of high-school seniors in 2014 scored ‘proficient’ on the federal-government’s civics exam. Proficiency levels were equally lousy for eighth-graders. It seems that the country’s public schools are failing to fulfill one of their core founding missions: to foster and maintain a thriving democracy.”

Several initiatives around the country are working to increase the scope and quality of “education in self-government.” One organization emphasizes a skills-based approach focusing on four key practices: “teaching kids how to write effective argumentative essays using primary sources; ‘knowledge,’ which has to do with facts and understanding how the system works; ‘dispositions,’ such as being able to engage in dialogue about difficult issues while managing their socioemotional behaviors; and ‘actions,’—putting these tools into effect by going to the polls, for example.”

Advocate Tiffany Shlain reflects, “You have to know about how the government works in order to make change, and a lot of people don’t.”

Improving Life Prospects for Many More Children

In a new report, the Nonprofit Finance Fund examines the financial barriers to expanding high-quality early education, and argues that overcoming these barriers should be an urgent priority for funders, because quality early education offers children living in poverty the best path to academic achievement and success later in life. NFF points out that early education programs are cost-effective, eliminating the need for expensive interventions down the road such as special education.

The NFF study revealed that reimbursements for early education programs don’t cover the full cost of care for children that meet the poverty guideline, with a funding gap of at least $2,000 per child per year. Another financial challenge is that there is little funding available directly to organizations that want to increase quality.

Writing in the Chronicle of Philanthropy, NFF Director Kristine Alvarez shares recommendations for philanthropists who want to take advantage of the leverage early learning offers to change lives. Among them:

• “Provide general operating support and money donated specifically to expand or improve the quality of programs.

• Help programs pursue growth wisely and equip them with enough in reserves to prepare for the financial obstacles that often accompany growth.

• Pave the way for systems that support and encourage parents to choose high-quality programs.

• Work to help shift policies so the government pays the full cost of programs and provides incentives for good outcomes and high-quality programs. Philanthropy alone cannot take on the responsibility of covering the gap.” 

A Fundamental Challenge for Our Time

 In articles and essays about philanthropy the past year, I have seen a heightened focus on something fundamental: a lack of human connection in the field, and the steep costs that result. Observers report that many donors and foundations are distant and detached from the nonprofits they support; nonprofits are detached from the beneficiaries they seek to serve; few organizations seek essential feedback; funders and nonprofits work in isolation from their peers; and a large swath of the public mistrusts nonprofit organizations. Thought leaders call for more listening and humility, and a shift in mindset from “I have the answers” to “I need your perspective and partnership.”

The discussion mirrors a conversation taking place in society-at-large about the health of social relationships, community, and our democracy.

In a new book Reclaiming Conversation, author Sherry Turkle, a clinical psychologist and M.I.T. professor, calls our attention to the fundamental role of conversation in nurturing human connection and relationships. Novelist Jonathan Franzen discusses Turkle’s work in the New York Times.

“Conversation is Turkle’s organizing principle because so much of what constitutes humanity is threatened when we replace it with electronic communication. Conversation presupposes solitude, for example, because it’s in solitude that we learn to think for ourselves and develop a stable sense of self, which is essential for taking other people as they are. (If we’re unable to be separated from our smartphones, Turkle says, we consume other people “in bits and pieces; it is as though we use them as spare parts to support our fragile selves.”)

Through the conversational attention of parents, children acquire a sense of enduring connectedness and a habit of talking about their feelings, rather than simply acting on them. When you speak to people in person, you’re forced to recognize their full human reality, which is where empathy begins. (A recent study shows a steep decline in empathy, as measured by standard psychological tests, among college students of the smartphone generation.) And conversation carries the risk of boredom, the condition that smartphones have taught us most to fear, which is also the condition in which patience and imagination are developed.”

If building human connection and community seem like daunting challenges, Turkle offers us an accessible and powerful starting point: sitting down to have face-to-face conversations with people in our communities and our lives.

Senior Program Director Andy Carroll writes resources, designs workshops, and facilitates seminars for funders. Andy also dedicates a significant portion of his time to managing our Leadership Initiative that defines, validates, nurtures, and celebrates the many ways philanthropists lead. Andy has 25 years of experience in nonprofit organizations, and he enjoys talking with funders about their questions, interests, passions, and plans for making a difference. Follow Andy on Twitter @andycarrollexpo.