September 31st and Politics

September 31st and Politics

I send out my letter on the last Tuesday of each month, so imagine my surprise when I realized last night that today is the last Tuesday of the month. I thought I had another week! This led me to ask: why did September get shortchanged by a day? In the very early...
All-In…Last Call

All-In…Last Call

This isn’t poker. It’s democracy. And it’s time to take one’s 501c3 chips and put them all on the table to support voter engagement and election protection.  The Crises Charitable Commitment’s mission is to encourage donors to simply give more, without specifying...
WOW (and a Fourth Anniversary)

WOW (and a Fourth Anniversary)

Have you been reading the newspaper? What a month! I’m writing this letter on July 27, the one-month anniversary of the Presidential Debate, and I’m asking myself: When was the last time we’ve experienced thirty days like the last thirty?! The debate; the withdrawal...
The Great Canopy Divide

The Great Canopy Divide

I must be in a religious or spiritual moment. Last month I quoted a university Chaplain whose uplifting commencement words touched a nerve. Then, a couple of weeks ago, and please don’t take this as partisan, one of my prayers was answered when a courageous jury found...
Leave It to the Chaplains

Leave It to the Chaplains

It is college graduation season, and it is hard to think of the occasion as anything but a mixed bag: On the one hand it is a supremely joyous occasion; on the other hand, one can’t help worrying about the future that awaits these graduates.  For some in the class of...
A Plutocratical Sabbatical

A Plutocratical Sabbatical

I had the privilege of taking a 4-month sabbatical, a complete break from all things philanthropy so that I could attend to long-neglected personal matters. You probably didn’t miss me because while I was away this monthly letter was written by some of my most...