Warm greetings, mission-driven leaders:

If you’re anything like me, June is a great month for a little “read + recalibrate” before fall deadlines start crowding the calendar. Below is a short roundup of what I’ve been reading lately—each with a quick takeaway you can actually use in your grant strategy.

1) The donor base is shrinking—even when headline giving looks “fine”

This SSIR piece highlights a major trend: total giving can look healthy while the number of giving households declines, creating concentration risk.

Takeaway: For grants + fundraising, diversification matters. Don’t rely on one “mega” source. Build a balanced funding portfolio and make the case for sustainability as a strategic imperative—not an afterthought.

2) “Does everything need to scale?” (and why funders are investing in the bridges)

Another recent SSIR article challenges the reflex to “scale everything” and argues for funding the connective tissue—shared infrastructure, convening, and collaboration platforms.

Takeaway: If your work is coalition-based, capacity-building, or systems-oriented, don’t hide it. Name it as value. Funders are increasingly interested in solutions that help multiple actors win—not just one program grow.

3) Relationship-building as a strategy (not a nice-to-have)

Candid’s recent piece on 2026 fundraising emphasizes durable relationships as the engine of stability.

Takeaway: Apply the same mindset to foundation grants: don’t just “submit and hope.” Build touchpoints—info sessions, outreach, brief updates, thoughtful follow-ups. Over time, relationships turn into repeat funding.

If you’d like, reply with what you’re reading—or what you want to get smarter about this summer (funder research? grant calendars? proposal structure?). I’m always collecting ideas for future issues.

Happy reading!

Jennifer

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