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.

Reflections on Building the Advocacy Capacity of Nonprofit Organizations

The Kansas Health Foundation reflects on a series of multiyear, targeted investments to build Kansas Action for Children’s advocacy capacity, and shares several lessons learned along the way.

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2014 Terrance Keenan Institute Fellows Named

GIH is pleased to announce the 2014 Terrance Keenan Institute for Emerging Leaders in Health Philanthropy class of fellows.

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Better Health Through Better Philanthropy - Grantmakers in Health

Health Impact Assessments– A Pathway to Health Equity

Health impact assessments offer an approach that helps build robust collaborations between health and other sectors by providing timely, accurate, and relevant information intended for use in real-time decisionmaking.

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Call for Nominations: 2015 Terrance Keenan Leadership Award in Health Philanthropy

Nominate an outstanding health grantmaker to receive the 2015 Terrance Keenan Leadership Award in Health Philanthropy. The Nomination deadline is Friday, September 5, 2014.

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Stepping Out: One Foundation’s Lessons Learned from Leading a Ballot Initiative

The Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City (HCF) shares lessons learned from an evaluation of its involvement in Missouri’s 2012 tobacco tax ballot initiative, one of the first times when HCF stepped into the public sphere in support of an issue.

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Better Health Through Better Philanthropy - Grantmakers in Health

Reclaiming Futures, Rebuilding Lives

The Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust has learned that although direct service grantmaking can yield immediate results, it often cannot address the underlying causes of poverty or make a lasting impact. To better address these challenges, the Trust has shifted the focus of some of its grantmaking to efforts designed to change the systems serving these populations.

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