Four news organizations awarded fellowships to support coverage of philanthropy and nonprofit accountability

From equity in nonprofit compensation to philanthropy’s part in addressing growing homelessness, the new recipients of the Chronicle of Philanthropy’s (CoP’s) Philanthropy & Nonprofit Accountability Fellowship will shed light on the role of nonprofits, foundations and others involved in advancing the social good, one of the most under-covered — but crucial — sectors of American life.

Newsrooms selected in this second year of the fellowship will each receive a $15,000 stipend to subsidize the work of editors and reporters on projects for publication at their organizations and in the Chronicle. Teams will develop coverage that will help local residents, policymakers, donors and volunteers better understand how nonprofits work and what could help them do even more to solve problems.

The fellows will be given access to the tools and training they need to report powerful stories and will receive coaching from national experts in the nonprofit world, as well as from editors and reporters who are part of a philanthropy partnership among CoP, The Associated Press and the Conversation, funded by the Lilly Endowment.

The 2023 fellowship recipients:

• The Arizona Republic (Phoenix, Arizona) has been the state’s watchdog since 1890 and is Arizona’s largest news-gathering organization. It will focus on philanthropy’s role in shaping the response to the growing homelessness crisis in the state.
• Boston Business Journal (Boston, Massachusetts) is an online and print news organization that covers business and the economy in eastern Massachusetts. It will focus on corporate foundations of for-profit companies and their impact and relationship with their communities. It will also examine equity in nonprofit compensation.
• The Post and Courier (Charleston, South Carolina) is locally owned and is the South's oldest daily newspaper, tracing its roots to 1803. Its reporting will monitor and examine the flow of cash from cities to several local nonprofits and how the money is used.
• WHQR Public Media (Wilmington, North Carolina) is the NPR affiliate station for southeastern North Carolina. It will examine the work and grant making of a billion-plus-dollar foundation created from the sale of a formerly publicly owned hospital.

“It is inspiring to see the breadth, creativity and commitment from these news outlets to provide in-depth coverage of the social sector,” said Stacy Palmer, CoP executive editor. “We hope these fellowships support reporting and analysis that can help the public better understand how philanthropy and nonprofits contribute to addressing social challenges as well as what works and what does not.”

Palmer noted that the Lilly Endowment’s goal in financing the fellowships is to help Americans better understand how philanthropy works. However, she said, the endowment has no say in the topics the fellows pursue and doesn’t see any story or broadcast piece until it has been made public. That same policy governs all of the content produced by the Chronicle, AP and the Conversation.

CoP is the premier source of news, opinion, and advice that nonprofit professionals, foundation executives, board members, fundraisers and others rely on to stay up-to-date and guide their decision making. It serves an influential print and online audience of more than 338,000 monthly. As part of its bold plan to innovate and expand its coverage of the rapidly growing social sector, CoP will soon become an independent nonprofit organization. Applications for the next round of fellowships will open in the fall.