Giving Compass' Take:

• Forbes profiles Craigslist founder Craig Newmark, highlighting his recent philanthropic contributions to STEM education and journalism.

• What can other high-impact givers learn from Newmark's efforts? Following passions and purpose is always a good idea, and crowdfunding platforms such as DonorsChoose can make a difference.

• Here's more on how philanthropy can make an impact on journalism.

At 65 years old, Craig Newmark — the founder of online classifieds behemoth Craigslist — frequently reflects on his life. “Everything now seems very surreal,” he says, wearing his signature black beret on a foggy morning in San Francisco’s Cole Valley neighborhood. “I didn’t think I would start a very successful company. It has worked out much better than I thought, and now I can put my money where my mouth is.”

By that, he means philanthropy. In the last few years, Newmark has ramped up his gift-giving through his Craig Newmark Philanthropies, having donated over $40 million to journalism initiatives since 2015. He also contributed $50 million to his private foundation in 2016. So far the foundation has been giving to causes that support military families, voter registration and women in technology. His newest gift is a $1 million grant for public school teachers in STEM education via DonorsChoose.org. Teachers at schools in which more than half of the students are from low-income households can apply to get funding for science and math classroom projects with Newmark’s grant ...

In 2017 he gave $1 million each to nonprofit newsrooms ProPublica and the Poynter Institute. In June, Newmark gave a $20 million endowment, in a lump sum, to the CUNY Graduate School of Journalism, now renamed the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism.

The sudden uptick in gifts to journalism, it turns out, is in response to the 2016 presidential elections.

Read the full article about Craig Newmark's philanthropy by Angel Au-Yeung at Forbes.