Knowing What You Don't Know: A Case Study in Flexible Leadership

Editor's Note: This post comes from Linda Wood, Senior Director of Leadership and Grantmaking at the Evelyn and Walter Haas, Jr. Fund.

The Evelyn & Walter Haas, Jr. Fund Flexible Leadership Awards (FLA) Program, a Tides Center project, recently released a video case study of our work with the National Center for Lesbian Rights (NCLR). The video highlights the importance—and the impact—of investing in social justice leadership.

The video tells the story of how NCLR, in a very short time, grew from a...

Toward a Two-Generation Strategy: Voices of American Families

Editor's Note: This guest post comes from Anne Mosle, a member of Tides Board of Directors and Executive Director of Ascend, a program of the Aspen Institute.

As America struggles to regain its economic footing, the nation’s most vulnerable families—parents of young children who live at 200% of poverty or less—express strong feelings of frustration and disappointment with their lives today.  But they are working hard to ensure that their children have better lives.

Launched in 2010 as a program of the...

Racial Justice at Tides

Editor's Note: This post comes from Maya Wiley, Chair of Tides Board of Directors, and john a. powell, member of Tides Board of Directors.

It's an exciting time at Tides. Not only do we have a wonderful CEO in Melissa Bradley, who has just completed her first year of service with Tides, we have been building our capacity to build Black donor engagement and increase our support to Black communities. Tides has long been committed to racial justice. This is an important time for Tides to build its relationships...

HIV Response at a Turning Point

Editor's Note: This guest post comes from Caitlin L. Chandler and Jaevion Nelson at the HIV Young Leaders Fund, a project of Tides.

This World AIDS Day, we have much to reflect on about our current HIV response. In 2011, a groundbreaking study by the National Institute of Health revealed that HIV treatment called antiretroviral therapy is 96% effective in reducing HIV transmission in couples where one partner has HIV. However, this incredible news has not resulted in increased funding for critical HIV treatment and...

The Story of Broke

Creating Shared Value in the Real Estate Industry

Editor's Note: This guest post comes from Colleen Poynton and Anna Ruman at Investing In Communities.

“You gotta spend money to make money.” It’s a familiar phrase, and whether you’re a company spending millions on advertising or a nonprofit paying a full-time grant writer, new income comes at a price.

But what if we replace the word “spend” with “give”? Imagine the resources that would be unleashed if philanthropy became an integral part of profitable commerce, rather than simply an...

The Secret to Going Viral: Harnessing the Kevin Bacon Effect

Editor's Note: This post comes from Darian Rodriguez Heyman, former Executive Director of Craigslist Foundation and the founder of the national Social Media for Nonprofits conference series.

My diligent research has proven that I hear the word “viral” within 42 seconds of talking with any nonprofit interested in marketing their cause online. But what does that mean, anyway, and what’s the key to unleashing the immense word-of-mouth power that is the allure of social media?

As I’ve been traveling around the...

Playing Politics with Women's Health

Editor's Note: This guest post comes from Cecile Richards, President of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund, and is cross-posted on the Huffington Post under the title "The Craziness in Congress."

Republican leaders in Congress just don't get it. At a time when Americans want government focused on jobs and helping families weather the toughest economy in recent memory, they have submitted a budget that guts the nation's birth control funding and eliminates access to cancer screenings for millions of women. They have...

Knowing Your Limits: Advocacy in the Age of Twitter

Editor's Note: This blog post comes from Abby Levine, Legal Director of Advocacy Programs at Alliance for Justice.

Right now at Alliance for Justice headquarters, our staff are getting ready to release a new documentary film and a campaign to mobilize our grassroots activists. We’re looking at how to promote the film on YouTube, how to use Twitter to spread our message, how to organize meetings on Facebook, and how to encourage our members to take action via email. It’s a very different campaign than we would...

Tides ECO Initiative Awards $850K to New Voices in Chemicals Policy

Editor's Note: This post was co-written by Catherine Lerza, Senior Consultant and Francisco Martinez, Philanthropic Advisor at Tides.

We are happy to announce that the Tides ECO (Environmental Equity, Community Opportunity) Initiative has awarded  $850,000 to 24 groups for its New Voices in Chemicals Policy program, which aims to support organizations that bring new voices into toxic chemicals policy at the local, state, and national levels.

More than 80,000 chemicals are in use in the United States...