Mike Scutari

California, Los Angeles, United States

Staff Writer at Inside Philanthropy

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Articles

Five Funders Supporting Meditation and Mindfulness for Mental Health

1 week ago | insidephilanthropy.com | Mike Scutari

In February, my colleague Wendy Paris spoke with Bob Roth, the CEO of the David Lynch Foundation, about a month after the passing of the foundation’s namesake.
Should Funders Boost Volunteerism? A New Report Makes the Case

2 weeks ago | insidephilanthropy.com | Mike Scutari

A topic that comes up time and again in the philanthropy conversation is why so many issue areas and vital nonprofit needs receive scant support from grantmakers collectively sitting on trillions of dollars. Of course, this is a subjective exercise, since a cause’s value to society is in the eye of the beholder.
Cave Canem’s Lisa Willis on Sustaining Black Literary Arts Organizations

2 weeks ago | insidephilanthropy.com | Mike Scutari

Cave Canem Executive Director Lisa Willis. Credit: Nicholas NicholsEarlier this year, the nonprofit literary arts organization Cave Canem released “Magnitude and Bond: A Field Study on Black Literary Arts Organizations,” the first-ever study of its kind, focused on culturally specific organizations in the literary arts sector.
Andy Warhol and Helen Frankenthaler Foundations announce critical lifelines for defunded arts groups

2 weeks ago | insidephilanthropy.com | Mike Scutari

In February, as the Trump administration was slashing federal funding across all corners of the U.S. government, the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) announced the cancellation, for fiscal year 2026, of Challenge America, a grant supporting projects that serve underserved groups and communities. Red flags instantly went up at the Andy Warhol Foundation for the Visual Arts.
How the Zellerbach Family Foundation Transformed Its Giving to Better Support Grantees

3 weeks ago | insidephilanthropy.com | Mike Scutari

ZFF staff with Journey to Justice participants in New Zealand. Credit: Zellerbach Family FoundationBefore November’s election, IP would periodically track funders’ post-pandemic inability — or unwillingness — to be more flexible in their grantmaking, such as by providing sustained general operating support. Funders’ inaction on this specific point was problematic before the Trump administration took a chainsaw to the nonprofit sector.
A Privately Owned Newspaper Embraced Philanthropy. Here’s What It’s Learning

1 month ago | insidephilanthropy.com | Mike Scutari

In 2014, Minnesota business magnate Glen Taylor finalized his purchase of the Star Tribune, which, at the time, held the seventh-largest Sunday circulation in the U.S. Hopeful commentators framed the move as an example of a civic-minded billionaire putting a treasured outlet on a path to sustainability and rescuing it from the clutches of rapacious venture capitalists. While billionaire ownership has been a mixed blessing for some news outlets, this has so far been a happier story.
How Much Do Foundations Pay Their Endowment Managers?

1 month ago | insidephilanthropy.com | Mike Scutari

A couple of years ago, I chatted with F.B. Heron Foundation President Emerita Clara Miller about the benefits and drawbacks of a perpetual foundation.
Why the Mellon Foundation’s Lifeline for Humanities Councils Is So Important

1 month ago | insidephilanthropy.com | Mike Scutari

Across the past few months, we here at IP have been calling on funders to “fill the gaps” left by the administration’s draconian spending cuts. Many funders have indicated their general willingness to do that, admirably pledging to up their annual payouts. But these are, by and large, commitments in the abstract, and they stop far short of committing specific funding to cover a specific federal cut.
A Deep Dive into an HHS Document Itemizing Billions in Terminated Funding

1 month ago | insidephilanthropy.com | Mike Scutari

From day one, the Trump administration’s “flood the zone” strategy has sought to bombard the public with such a relentless barrage of funding cuts and policy decisions that opponents would be left, as theNew York Times put it, “gasping in outrage.”That outrage can yield paralysis, including in philanthropy. A funder could be expected to respond thoughtfully to discrete cuts in a specific area.
How the Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation Plans to Spend $1.1 Billion by 2035

1 month ago | insidephilanthropy.com | Mike Scutari

Every spend-down foundation has a unique backstory. Some donors launch a foundation with a plan to shutter its doors within a given time frame or during their lifetimes. Others leave it to foundation stakeholders to decide whether to continue or wind down after the donor passes. Then there’s the Detroit-based Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation.