This grantmaker wants to break white men's stranglehold on philanthropic donations

Nine philanthropic organizations, including Plan International and Comic Relief, make up the With and For Girls Collective, which asks teenage girls worldwide to select girl-led initiatives to fund, a process known as participatory philanthropy. Since 2014, the collective has funded 60 organizations across 41 countries for nearly $3 million.

Several large philanthropic organizations, like the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and the Ford Foundation, are pooling resources to address San Francisco's severe housing crisis. The funds will go to local non-profits who are buying up property to stabilize rent and to localities to establish rent-control and tenant protection policies. Known as Partnership for the Bay’s Future, the venture hopes to eventually ensure housing for 175,000 families over five years.

The approach of giving cash straight to poor people - rather than funneling goods or services indirectly through the slow, diluted, and complex systems of charities or governments - is nothing new, but evidence of long-term success and sustainability are few. That's why many NGOs and governments are now coupling cash transfers with more comprehensive programs such as job training and financial counseling, as well as addressing some of the root causes that keep people poor, like lack of infrastructure and market access.

In Lebanon, services for refugees are often misguided and ineffective. To address this issue, the country created a cash-debit card allowance for refugees, providing a more appropriate resource than the typical aid program.

Evaluating evidence of an organization’s impact informs charitable giving. Ratings organizations like ImpactMatters and Charity Navigator provide transparency to donors by reporting on the effectiveness of charities and social programs. The organizations make comparisons by analyzing the tax forms of nonprofits. Some, like GiveWell conduct further investigations and provide in-depth evaluations.

After learning her home city of Austin, Texas ranked the 48th most charitable city in the country despite its strong economy, Patsy Woods Martin launched I Live Here I Give Here (ILHIGH) in 2007 to encourage Austinites to better meet the needs of their community. In other words, she wanted her neighbors and community members to give locally. To get Austinites to be more charitable, ILHIGH uses games, competitions, clever marketing, and a sense of community.

Food and common passions are bringing people together for solutions-oriented conversations about the communities they live in. The Knight Foundation’s “On the Table” series started in Chicago and has now expanded to 30 cities. It’s an all-day event to encourage civic dialogue.

A multi-millionaire has poured money into his home suburb of Irlam, buying up empty stores, funding public art projects, and supporting the town center, sports center, health clinic, and train station. Employment is up, but this model of urban renewal raises ethical questions and may not be easily replicable.

Mitigating homelessness on Los Angeles' infamous "Skid Row" comprises myriad obstacles. But a collaboration between city officials, a USC architecture class project, and the Skid Row Housing Trust has responded with a multi-pronged solution in "pod-style" housing units. They have composed a cost-effective pre-fab design technology that eases their transportation, on-site construction and visual imposition on a neighborhood, while the pods' zoning classification as "congregant housing" minimizes the risk for local opposition to homeless support services on claims of structural or aesthetic noncompliance.

A project launched in the United Kingdom uses social-impact bonds to reduce recidivism among prisoners, bringing together public and private resources to implement more effective and cost efficient social programs. Their success is inspiring other countries to follow suit.