Giving Done Right

With the midterm elections just weeks away, Phil talks with Maya Wiley, president and CEO of The Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights and its Education Fund, about what donors and foundations concerned about the state of American democracy can do right now, and why the philanthropic response has so far fallen short. Maya shares findings from the Leadership Conference's landscape mapping...

Phil Buchanan is joined by Elisha Smith Arrillaga, CEP's Vice President of Research, as co-host for a conversation focused on some of philanthropy's oldest tensions: who should decide how charitable dollars get spent and how to balance short-term needs with the long view? Their guests, Glen Galaich, CEO of the Stupski Foundation, and Jamie Allison, Executive Director of the Walter & Elise Haas Fun...

As nonprofits face sharply increased demand, deep federal funding cuts, and a fundraising climate unlike anything in recent memory, Lysa Ratliff, CEO of KABOOM!, joins Phil Buchanan for an unusually candid conversation about what it takes to lead right now, and why she refuses to soften the truth to make anyone comfortable. Ratliff discusses KABOOM!'s new report, State of Our Kids, which finds tha...

Phil Buchanan sits down with spouses Jeff Atwood, co-founder of Stack Overflow and Discourse, and Dr. Betsy Burton, a scientist who has helped develop cancer therapies, to talk about their commitment to give away $50 million, half their family's wealth, over five years, with the bulk of it going toward guaranteed income programs in rural America. Jeff and Betsy describe a two-part strategy that be...

Federal policy shifts continue to upend the landscape for domestic nonprofits, civil society, and international aid alike, leaving donors facing urgent questions about where and how to give.  This season on the Giving Done Right podcast, host Phil Buchanan sits down with philanthropic and nonprofit leaders to explore what effective giving looks like in a moment of real strain and real opportu...

After 15 years at CEP and more than 50 episodes co-hosting Giving Done Right, Grace Nicolette is stepping away. In this special episode, Phil Buchanan turns the microphone to her. Together they look back on how philanthropy has shifted over the past decade and a half, from the rise of multi-year general operating support to the risks of inaction in a moment of crisis? Grace shares the guests and s...

We want to hear from you about how the conversations on this podcast are making a difference in your approach to philanthropy. If our show has helped you, we want to hear about it! Can you take a few moments to send us a voice memo to gdrpodcast@cep.org? Please include your name, institutional affiliation if you have one, role, and the answer to these questions: What specific ways has Giving Done...

As the current federal administration makes sweeping cuts to social safety net programs, political divisions deepen, and the guardrails of American democracy are tested, what is philanthropy’s role in this precarious time?  In the final episode of this season, Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette interview New York Times columnist and podcast host Ezra Klein live at CEP’s 2025 conference. Klein conte...

Effective disaster giving often begins before a disaster even occurs. So says Patty McIlreavy, president and CEO of the Center for Disaster Philanthropy, in this popular episode from the Giving Done Right archives. In conversation with hosts Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette, Patty offers insight into how donors can support disaster prevention by focusing on reducing vulnerabilities as well as sup...

Federal funding cuts and increased demand for their services have left nonprofits across the country and issue areas reeling, with many questioning whether they will survive. The consequences are stark, given the vital work nonprofits do in communities across the country. In this episode, CEP Vice President of Research Elisha Smith Arrillaga, Ph. D. shares just-collected data on what nonprofits ar...

This week on Giving Done Right, we’re introducing you to another podcast we love: Nonprofits Now: Leading Today, from The Chronicle of Philanthropy. In this episode, two leaders, Kathleen St. Louis Caliento and Nick Grono, join Chronicle CEO Stacy Palmer to explain how they have engaged their board in financial efforts.  As nonprofits face economic headwinds — including losses in federal funding,...

What happens when education reform takes place without the input or engagement of the young people who will experience its effects? Conversely, what happens when youth voices lead the way to change? Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette sit down with their CEP colleague David McKinney, vice president of YouthTruth — a CEP initiative — to discuss how systematically listening to young people at scale ca...

How does the "model minority myth" impact how funders view and support Asian immigrant communities? What role do disaggregated data play in ensuring their thriving? In a conversation with Ben Hires, CEO of the Boston Chinatown Neighborhood Center (BCNC), hosts Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette dig into the vast array of services that BCNC — and nonprofits like it — provide and the crucial role the...

Is the fundamental right to give according to one’s values under attack in America? Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette talk with two influential foundation leaders who are sounding the alarm and fighting back. Tonya Allen, president of the McKnight Foundation, and John Palfrey, president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, discuss the Unite in Advance initiative — a coalition defe...

What does it mean to tell the Muslim American story of generosity? Why is it important to talk about "religious justice" in philanthropy alongside other forms of justice? These are questions that President of the WF Fund and philanthropic advocate Dilnaz Waraich explores with hosts Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette as she shares her journey from kitchen table conversations about giving back to lea...

President of the Democracy Fund Joe Goldman offers both urgency and clarity for donors concerned about the U.S.’ democratic backslide into authoritarianism in this conversation. As the second Trump administration consolidates power, he offers a practical three-part framework for strategic, democracy-focused giving: strengthening guardrails, powering breakthrough strategies, and working toward reco...

As ICE raids and warrantless arrests by masked federal agents take place around the U.S., Angelica Salas, executive director of CHIRLA (Coalition for Humane Immigrant Rights), joins hosts Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette to discuss the unprecedented scale of current immigration enforcement and its implications for everyone. Angelica sheds light on what is happening on the streets and in processin...

Donors looking to make a difference in their local communities can turn to community foundations — local philanthropic institutions driven by giving “of, by, and for the people” and rooted in the goal of creating thriving communities. In this episode, Phil and Grace are joined in conversation by three community foundation leaders: Dick Ober, president and CEO of the New Hampshire Charitable Founda...

What happens when $2.83 billion disappears from women's rights funding globally? Conversely, what is possible when donors break out of traditional silos to work collaboratively with the goal of abundance and liberation for all? Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette talk with Happy Mwende Kinyili, co-executive director of global feminist fund Mama Cash to explore this unprecedented crisis — and discove...

As federal funding cuts shift more responsibility for food insecurity to local communities, Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette talk with Julie Butner, president and CEO of the Tarrant Area Food Bank, one of the largest food banks in the United States serving 13 counties around Fort Worth, Texas. Julie reveals that food bank clients are often working families who simply can't afford basic necessitie...

The dismantling of USAID has created the most profound crisis in international development in decades, threatening to reverse years of progress in public health globally. In the season five premier of Giving Done Right, Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette talk with Mark Suzman, CEO of the Gates Foundation, about what this means and how donors can respond. Suzman also shares candid insights about the...

As shifts to federal policy and funding profoundly impact domestic nonprofits and civil society as well as international aid, it has never been more vital that donors act decisively, urgently, and wisely.    This season, on the Giving Done Right podcast, hosts Phil Buchanan and Grace Nicolette dive deep with philanthropic and nonprofit leaders and experts to shed light on the rapidly shifting land...

Nashlie Sephus, Ph. D. brought her passion for technology and experience as an entrepreneur back to her hometown of Jackson, Mississippi to bridge the technology gap and plant the seeds for a thriving community. Nashlie joins Phil and Grace in the season four finale to share how the nonprofit she founded, Bean Path, went from informal drop-in hours at the local library to a vital community organiz...

Philanthropy has been the subject of intensifying criticism, so how should donors think about their role in creating a better world? Beth Breeze, Ph. D., director of the Centre for Philanthropy at the University of Kent, has spent more than a decade examining and responding to critiques of philanthropy, most recently authoring the 2021 book, “In Defence of Philanthropy.” In conversation with Phil...

As we begin a new year, we’re sharing a classic from the Giving Done Right archive in which Phil and Grace talk with Paul Niehaus, co-founder and chairman of GiveDirectly. Paul discusses the power of direct cash transfers – how they work, why trusting those in need with cash can be extremely effective, and when certain issue areas might warrant a different philanthropic approach. They also discuss...