Philanthropy media and communications infrastructure is poised for growth but there’s still work to do

A specialist philanthropy sector media is on the brink of maturity. In common with philanthropy infrastructure in general, the most notable developments are in the US whose titles include the Chronicle of Philanthropy, Stanford Social Innovation Review, Inside Philanthropy and Nonprofit Quarterly. With the exception of Inside Philanthropy, these publications depend on substantial philanthropic support alongside revenue from subscriptions, advertising and events. The same is true for us at Alliance magazine.

A major challenge of receiving philanthropic support is avoiding self-censorship in editorial judgments and maintaining editorial independence. Would a funder still support us if they judged criticism of their work to be unfair? At the same time, such funding helps us feel rooted in and intimately connected to the field we serve and – financially speaking – it is indispensable.

From the archive: December 2017: Philanthropy and the Media