Blog Archive

Community Matters June 12, 2015

Fundraisers to help the homeless are only half the tale of effective philanthropy

Anyone who knows me also knows that I love a great story.

The one that I’ve been telling and re-telling to illustrate what The Pittsburgh Foundation does for our community is centered on a public appeal we launched during last year’s holiday period to address homelessness and housing insecurity in Allegheny County. It was a classic fundraising campaign with a modern twist: the Foundation promised to match every contribution dollar for dollar – up to $100,000.

By Maxwell King

Community Matters April 30, 2015

A question about Baltimore: who are the stakeholders in community?

“Why would people in Baltimore want to set fire to their own neighborhoods?” my son asked, exasperated in a Monday morning phone call. I struggled to provide an answer that made sense then, but now, after a night watching a city respect the calming voices and decide to step back from the brink, I want to try to answer that; at least, in part.

By Maxwell King