First Edition: Philanthropy Quarterly

Welcome to our first ever Philanthropy Quarterly. As we emerge from one helluva year, I am grateful and humbled by the way our donor partners stepped into the breach.

The intersecting and urgent crises we faced—the pandemic, economic inequality, climate change, the fight for racial justice, protecting our democracy—all demanded forceful and coordinated action from the philanthropic sector. And given my perch, I can say with confidence that our donor partners represent the leading edge, the risk-takers, and the donors most forcefully standing up for justice. Thank you.

I’ve heard from many of you that having a meaningful impact, while rewarding, can be daunting and a bit isolating. There is power in community and collaboration, and with dedicated partners like you, we can amplify our work by creating space and sharing resources as we work to advance social, racial, and environmental justice.

That’s the intent of this newsletter: to share resources and perspectives from our community that will help you in your own journey. I hope you find it valuable, and, as always, we welcome your feedback. If you have something you’d like to share in next quarter’s newsletter, please let me know.

In solidarity,
Peter Martin

The crises we face demand swift and bold action from the philanthropic sector exemplified by our donor partners’ actions in 2020. Tides Get Off Your Assets Campaign challenges donors to rapidly move their assets to accelerate social change. See how our community responded »

// Q&A with Tides Donor Partner, Alan S. Davis—Founder, The Crisis Charitable Commitment; Director, The WhyNot Initiative; and President, The Leonard and Sophie Davis Fund.

// Tides Foundation donor partners Michael Scott and Joy Clendenning share their personal values and impact investing journey during our recent Tides + Toniic event.

// Lifting Tides’ Leaders to Advance Black Collective Power and Equity: Tides Center movement leaders encourage us to push ourselves further for justice—especially those of us in philanthropy.

// Q&A with Gabriel Foster, co-founder and executive director of the Trans Justice Funding Project. Learn more about TJFP's groundbreaking funding model »

WE LEAD | Women’s Environmental Leadership Fund
// Hear how 2020 grantee Bridgette Murray, founder of ACTS, confronts environmental racism.
// In honor of Mother’s Day, grantee partners Oni Blair of LINK Houston and Gloria Gonzales–Dholakia of Jolt Initiative share how motherhood shapes their advocacy. Learn more »

Healthy Democracy Fund
// After a historic 2020 presidential election, Tides Healthy Democracy Fund convened with donors to hear from Tides CEO Janiece Evans-Page and Aimee Allison from She the People Storied. Watch their perspective on the urgency we still face »
// Discover our 2021 HDF priorities »
// A record 4 million AAPI voters cast ballots in the 2020 presidential election. Learn how the National Korean-American Service & Education Consortium, a HDF grantee, helped drive turnout.

Advancing Girls Portfolio
// Learn how to champion girls and young women of color via our Advancing Girls portfolio »

What We're Talking About
// Tides is proud to be a part of the Donors of Color Network’s Climate Funders Justice Pledge »
// Trust-Based Philanthropy Project: Trust-Based Philanthropy Overview »
// Peak Grantmaking: Strategies for Narrowing the Power Gap in Philanthropy
// Interested in supporting more Black-led organizations and movement leaders? Tides is committed to uplifting Black leadership and recently compiled a list of our Black-led social venture partners. Please contact your advisor for the list.

What We’re Reading
// All We Can Save: Truth Courage and Solutions to the Climate Crisis »
// The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone and How We Can Prosper Together »
// Known for his no-BS approach and irreverent sense of humor, Vu Le writes about the nonprofit world at Nonprofit AF »

Networks You Should Know About
// Resource Generation: a multi-racial membership community of young people (18-35) with wealth and/or class privilege committed to the equitable distribution of wealth, land, and power.
// Solidaire Network: a community of donor organizers mobilizing critical resources to the frontlines of intersectional movements for racial, gender, and climate justice
// Way to Rise: helping to break the boom and bust cycle of funding, ensuring that organizers have the resources needed to embrace their power, determine policy outcomes for their communities, co-govern with elected officials, and reshape the future of our democracy.

// Read more about our recently expanded executive leadership team.

// 2020 Client Survey: Last year, we invited you to complete a survey to help us learn more about your needs and experiences with Tides. Here’s what we learned:
/ 79% of Tides partners are satisfied with Tides’ support overall, and 81% would recommend Tides to someone else.
/ 72% of partners reported that Tides is meeting their needs for the services they regard as extremely or very important.
/ Tides’ values and mission are ranked as the top reasons why partners come to us.
/ However, of partners with funds at Tides, only 63% felt that Tides met their needs when it came to online access to fund activity, and only 61% felt that Tides met their needs when it came to fund activity and balance reporting.

We always value your feedback. We’re committed to continuous improvement, and we look forward to hearing more from you!

Interested in joining the Tides Community?

We believe that to achieve shared prosperity and social justice, we must take a collaborative, bold approach to the work.