Your Voice Is Important!
The Philanthropy New York Insights column is a space to explore, share and highlight the work and ideas of our members with the philanthropic sector. Contribute to the Insights column to help us maintain a vibrant, connected sector.
As you craft your message, consider the following:
- An Insights piece can be written as a response to a PNY program, focus on specific funding areas or be an reflective piece based on learnings of your organization.
- Your piece can and should make a point to your peers. Think of an Insights piece as you would an editorial in the newspaper - an opportunity to share a particular point of view with the PNY community
- As with any good editorial, keep it brief, speak to your audience in an authentic voice, and don't shy away from a clear call to action.
Some other tips:
- Catchy, short, active-voice title
- 400-800 words is enough, you can also include photos, videos, reports/studies, anything you need to supplement your piece.
- Not meeting notes nor a press release: Your piece shouldn’t be a summary of a meeting or recap of organization achievements. It should have a point of view, and should be oriented toward the field of philanthropy and how funders should think or act differently as a result of the information you are presenting.
- Be reflective: Share new ideas that have emerged through your work or as a result of a program discussion. What was most surprising? What have you learned as a funder? If writing about a program, feel free to touch on any issues you feel were the most important aspects of the program, but your thoughts about next steps and how other funders can effectively intersect with the issues raised at the program will make the post most useful and interesting.
- Discretion is the better part…Unless permission has been granted by the meeting participant, please do not use quotes that are attributed to individuals or that well-informed readers could easily deduce. Remember also that any one session or individual statement does not represent the viewpoint of the entire sector.
Who writes for Insights?
Most of our writers are members of Philanthropy New York or panelists asked to present at Philanthropy New York programs. However, we will also consider opinion pieces written by people outside of Philanthropy New York membership if...
- the piece is written exclusively for Insights,
- the writer is a recognized leader within the philanthropic, nonprofit, government or business sectors, and
- the piece has a message directed at the philanthropic sector and says something fresh (NOT along the lines of "Foundations should spend their money on...")
If you haven't already, please check out a few of the Insights posts and see how our writers make their case.
To submit a draft or inquire about writing on a particular subject, please email us at editor@philanthropynewyork.org.