Healthier Information Ecosystems: Strategies for Health Philanthropy

Our information environment is transforming—including the places and people who help us make decisions about our health. Those health information ecosystems are fragmented; filled with information from a wide range of expertise and sources; and platform algorithms exert tremendous and unseen control over what messages are seen, shared, and amplified. These changes have many of our traditional health information sources racing to learn new skills to ensure they remain trusted and relevant.

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Beyond Innovation: How Philanthropy Can Strengthen Systems to Improve Rural Health Outcomes

Sometimes innovation in philanthropy is associated with breakthrough technologies or new medical discoveries. But some of the most impactful investments fund something less visible: the coordination of people, protocols, and institutions already in place so they work together seamlessly to save lives.

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A Philanthropic Tree of Life: Seeding Health Equity through Influence and Innovation

Philanthropy can function as a living ecosystem for change rooted in equity, nourished by trust, and bearing the fruits of community well-being. The Direct Relief Fund for Health Equity (DRFHE), launched with $50 million in initial investments, exemplifies a transformative philanthropic model supporting nearly 200 community-based organizations across the United States. Acknowledging DRFHE as a “Tree of Life” offers a framework grounded in community-led, trust-based, and unrestricted giving that challenges traditional philanthropic paradigms. Therefore, this article describes the fund’s origins, strategic priorities, and outcomes, and introduces the DRFHE Tree of Life framework as a replicable model for equity-driven philanthropy.

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GIH Health Policy Update Newsletter

An Exclusive Resource for Funding Partners

The Health Policy Update is a newsletter produced in collaboration with Leavitt Partners and Trust for America’s Health. Drawing on GIH’s policy priorities outlined in our policy agenda and our strategic objective of increasing our policy and advocacy presence, the Health Policy Update provides GIH Funding Partners with a range of federal health policy news.

Views from the Field by Brenda Goins

Impact Investing: A Unique Partnership, Opening the Door to Increased Access to Health Care

The Salem Health and Wellness Foundation was created with the proceeds from the sale of the nonprofit Memorial Hospital of Salem County when it was converted from nonprofit to for-profit status in 2002.

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Views from the field by Jason-Grisell

Smaller Foundations, Balancing Community Needs and Self-Sustainability

But we know that making a dent in deep societal issues and in drivers of health outcomes and health equity—like systemic oppression, institutionalized racism, and generational poverty—takes a lot more than writing a check.

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Views from the Field by Heather-Flaherty

Eight Ways to Build a Healthier Tomorrow as a Small Foundation

But we know that making a dent in deep societal issues and in drivers of health outcomes and health equity—like systemic oppression, institutionalized racism, and generational poverty—takes a lot more than writing a check.

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The Urgent Need for Nature During and After COVID-19

Mounting research, combined with our personal and professional experience, suggest that improving equity in access to greenspace may help combat health inequities. Access to safe, nearby nature must be prioritized as critical public health infrastructure and not just an amenity for a few.

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Hiding in Plain Sight: Care Challenges for Older Adults Living with HIV

Unless you fund an AIDS-serving organization or have a personal connection, this may surprise you, but HIV/AIDS has quietly undergone a metamorphosis, and it is time for health funders to take a fresh look.

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Health Affairs: COVID-19: It’s Time For Foundations To Be The Life-Saving Difference

In this Health Affairs blog post, Elizabeth Ripley shares the strategies Mat-Su Health Foundation is using to support health and human service nonprofits during the coronavirus pandemic, as well as how the foundation is doing its work differently during this “philanthropic emergency.”

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