20 years ago, a group of Stanford scholars, alumni and philanthropists recognized that as private wealth and philanthropy grew in scale and influence, the field needed greater scholarly attention, and a dedicated space for inquiry and dialogue across disciplines and sectors. Stanford PACS was born.✨

Stanford PACS marks two decades of shaping philanthropy and civil society

Stanford faculty, philanthropists, and nonprofit leaders celebrated 20 years of leadership and gathered to reflect on the future of philanthropy at the Women and the Future of Philanthropy convening.

stanford.io

“True paradigm-level change happens when we start structuring our resources into a dynamic spectrum of purpose.” Ahead of our Integrating Philanthropy and Investing program this month, CSP shared insights on the power of moving past conventional asset categories to activate one’s full portfolio.

Integrating Philanthropy and Investing for Real Impact

Discover how moving past market-rate binaries and organizing capital around real-world change unlocks true portfolio impact.

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Many of Charlie Kirk's obituaries mentioned the same fact: At 18, he set out to build a conservative equal to MoveOn. Does that comparison hold up? What lessons about activism, organizing, and persuasion are found in comparing these orgs? New from @ninahall.bsky.social & @davekarpf.bsky.social

Why Charlie Kirk Didn’t Build a ‘MoveOn of the Left’ (SSIR)

The Turning Point USA founder's obituaries invoked his desire to build a conservative MoveOn. What he built instead is revealing about the structure, strategies, and outcomes of political advocac...

ssir.org

In 2022, Causa—a leading immigrant-rights org in Oregon—announced its closure, citing fundraising difficulties, staff and leadership turnover, and an unresolved labor dispute. To many, the news was surprising, but the deeper story was familiar: The mission did not fail; internal relationships had.

Building a Culture of Conflict Resiliency (SSIR)

Conflict is inevitable in any organization. The question for the nonprofit sector and its supporters is how to structure it in ways that strengthen communities.

ssir.org

The Fight for Life on Earth Is Regaining Momentum | Psychology Today www.psychologytoday.com/us/blog/clim...

The Fight for Life on Earth Is Regaining Momentum

From collective efficacy to AI governance, Climate Week revealed signs that the climate movement is rebuilding momentum and expanding the possibilities for meaningful action.

psychologytoday.com

Thanks to @herbertchang.bsky.social for sharing his insightful work on how AI can influence politics under geopolitical threat in the lab last week! @robbwiller.bsky.social

Live tomorrow @ 9am PT/12pm ET: SSIR talks w/ Katie Deal about new financial models enabling renters to enjoy some of the wealth-building benefits of property ownership. Register here to join: stanford.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

For Stanford PACS, 2025-2026 was an exciting year of progress towards our three core goals: expanding the reach and impact of research, developing the next generation of scholars and leaders, and strengthening the practice of #philanthropy and #SocialInnovation. ✨

We'll be publishing new episodes every Monday for the next eight weeks. Listen at ssir.org or subscribe wherever you get your podcasts. Apple: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/g... Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/6mrmGgA... Pocket Casts: pocketcasts.com/podcast/givi...

Giving With Impact

Non-Profit Podcast · Updated Monthly · A podcast from Stanford Social Innovation Review featuring conversations with leaders from across the philanthropic ecosystem about what’s at the heart of achiev...

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New podcast! We're excited to relaunch "Giving With Impact" for season 6 today, beginning with a conversation about the growth of impact investing. Megan Kashner of @kelloggschoolnu.bsky.social joins to talk about the trends, critiques, and innovations she's tracking ssir.org/podcasts/ent...

🚨Come work with us! 🚨 We're hiring a postdoc for Stanford's AI for Public Benefit Lab (ai4pb.stanford.edu), in partnership with @stanfordhai.bsky.social Open to PhDs from psych, poli sci, sociology, CS, econ, HCI, data science, etc. Please share! Position: postdocs.stanford.edu/prospective/...

"Nearly 70% of nonprofit leaders in the U.S. reported a drop in funding in 2025. At the same time, 65% report demand for their services has increased. 30% have been forced to cut services—among them, programs that are vital to the health, safety, and survival of individuals and families."

Who Holds the Keys? Unlocking Foundation Board Support for a Sector in Crisis (SSIR)

As federal funding disappears and community organizations close, much of the power to respond sits with foundation boards—and the moment to use it is now.

ssir.org

From 1989 to 2022, the median wealth gap between homeowners and renters—the “renter wealth gap”— increased by 70 percent. Homeowners now hold more than 40 times the median net worth of renters.

Closing the Rental Wealth Gap (SSIR)

For nearly a century, US policy prioritized homeownership to build middle-class wealth—leaving many renters behind. But innovative new renter-wealth models are enabling renters to access the...

ssir.org

Aligning your investments with your #philanthropy can help you do more for the causes and communities you care most about. Join us for an immersive program on leading with #IntegratedCapital — designed exclusively for private wealth holders and staff of family offices and foundations.

The TEV is one of a handful of models today reimagining how rental housing can build wealth for working-class families across the country. The financing infrastructure that the United States built for homeowners can—and should—be built for renters, too.

Closing the Rental Wealth Gap (SSIR)

For nearly a century, US policy prioritized homeownership to build middle-class wealth—leaving many renters behind. But innovative new renter-wealth models are enabling renters to access the...

ssir.org

When nonprofit organizations consider merging, the first question is always about purpose: 'do we share the same mission?' But the more urgent question, the one that determines whether a merger actually happens, is 'why now?'

Nonprofit Mergers Need More Than Mission Alignment (SSIR)

What two mergers taught us about the necessary conditions and hard truths that come after "yes."

ssir.org

"If government is one very important pathway to scale, however, the private sector—for-profit and not-for-profit alike—is another. And because there is more than one road to scale, it would be unwise to over-index on a single solution."

Scale Doesn’t Belong (Only) to Government (SSIR)

Choosing the right path to scale depends on the nature of the problem we're trying to solve.

ssir.org

Online today: Our new cover story is about the past, present, and future of education, learning, and skills development in the United States. The "credential society" that developed in the last half of the 20th century is coming apart. So what comes next?

Building a Learning Society (SSIR)

School-based models for developing talent won't provide the skillful, resilient people every society will need going forward. We need to build civic architecture for recognizing learning whenever...

ssir.org

"Imported platforms don’t fail in emerging markets because of bad translation. They fail because they were never designed for these places to begin with. The ones that work are built from the ground up by founders who confront the same constraints they’re designing for."

How to Build Digital Health Platforms in Emerging Markets (SSIR)

In developing economies, the digital health platforms that actually work are not imported. They are built from scratch by the communities they serve.

ssir.org

Our educational system should support learning for all people at any stage of their lives. Isabelle Hau speaks with SSIR’s Mitchell Stevens and João Souto-Maior about their new SSIR cover story, “Building a Learning Society.” Wednesday, Sept. 16. Register here: stanford.zoom.us/webinar/regi...

"[Programs like Claude Corps] raise difficult questions about the risks of long-term organizational dependency on free (at least for now) tools, data stewardship, market influence, and the extent to which a small number of technology providers may shape how the sector adopts and integrates AI."

AI Industry Philanthropy and the Future of Nonprofit Independence (SSIR)

AI companies are offering nonprofits free services and staff. Is the deal too good to be true?

ssir.org

Founded by Lady Gaga and Cynthia Bissett Germanotta, @btwfoundation.bsky.social is on a mission to engage and empower young people to build a better world that supports their mental health and wellbeing.

Why giving by the ultra-wealthy often lags behind their ambitions—and what could help move money faster. ~ @bridgespangroup.bsky.social www.bridgespan.org/insights/slo...

Slow Philanthropy

Why giving by the ultra-wealthy often lags behind their ambitions—and what could help move money faster.

bridgespan.org

"I won’t pretend the path ever felt certain: My doubts were strong. I suspect that those same doubts hold back many who are drawn to this approach."

The Impact Portfolio That Beat the Market (SSIR)

I had a mandate to create an investment portfolio wholly devoted to impact that would not sacrifice returns. After a decade, it outperformed its benchmarks of traditional market indexes and demonstrat...

ssir.org

Investment capital and #philanthropy can work together. We’ll show you how.👇 Join us and the Center for Sustainable Finance and Private Wealth for an immersive program on leading with #IntegratedCapital — designed exclusively for private wealth holders and staff of family offices and foundations.

In TIME, @anasabherwal.bsky.social and former Stanford PACS PhD Fellow @greggsparkman.bsky.social share takeaways from their research on the persuasive power of scientific and social consensus. Read how their findings suggest promising pathways forward for addressing today's greatest challenges. ⤵️

How to Address America’s Crisis of Confidence

Americans are more pessimistic than ever. But there is reason to be optimistic about their power to change it, write Anandita Sabherwal and Gregg Sparkman.

bit.ly

"It is here, in the nuts and bolts of staffing, contracts, permits, and licenses, where organizers have identified the camps’ pressure points. 'A camp doesn’t just exist,' writes Washington. 'It’s constructed and maintained by hundreds of signatures, inspections, and backroom approvals.'"

Stopping the Detention Machine (SSIR)

John Washington’s How to Close a Camp explores the contemporary growth of immigrant detainment facilities under the Trump administration but argues that entrenched political failures are what ma...

ssir.org

We’re so proud of Livia Koh, our former Comms Intern, and Rachel Martin, our COO, for sharing their perspectives in a recent @stanfordpacs.bsky.social blog! 🎉 Here, they explore the importance of partnering with young people in youth mental health work: pacscenter.stanford.edu/news/future-...

The Future of Philanthropy is Built With Young People, Not Just For Them

Livia Koh, Communications Intern, Born This Way Foundation, Rachel Martin, Chief Operations Officer, Born This Way Foundation

pacscenter.stanford.edu

What if #philanthropy treated young people not as a group to support but as partners and leaders in driving change? On this #InternationalYouthDay, Livia Koh and Rachel Martin of @btwfoundation.bsky.social invite funders and community leaders to "rethink what it means to invest in young people."

There is a quiet crisis unfolding inside development offices across the country. It doesn’t make the front page and won’t generate the kind of urgency that federal funding cuts trigger. But it might be one of the most consequential threats to the long-term health of the philanthropic sector.

Who Will Raise the Money When the Money Raisers Are Gone? (SSIR)

To solve the talent crisis, we must move from transactionalism to transformation.

ssir.org