the Giving Review

Quick reactions to some results of the Independent Sector survey with Edelman, in five short answers to one question.

“[A]cross the political divide.”

“Reshaping the Conversation: How to Rebuild Public Trust in Philanthropy.”

The successful conservative legal strategist and activist talks with Michael E. Hartmann about his groups’ current and contemplated activities in the wake of the recent precedent-setting Supreme Court decisions against race-based admissions in higher education, as well as the future of public-interest law in general.

The successful conservative legal strategist and activist talks with Michael E. Hartmann about the challenges of raising money for public-interest law in general and the mismatch between the perception and the reality of some of that funding in particular.

The online publication’s president and executive editor talks with Michael E. Hartmann about whether partisanship in the nonprofit sector reflects philanthropic strategies, the effect of Donald Trump on the left and the right in nonprofitdom, and what could perhaps be done to change the situation for the better.

The online publication’s president and executive editor talks with Michael E. Hartmann about advancing human freedom and American interests, his background, and his and the publication’s priorities.

Donors should know that any “answer” to poverty that takes the form of a paper or policy summit—even with the occasional overcoming-poverty anecdote thrown in for inspiration—is at best several degrees removed from making life better for the poor.

On September 26, “Reshaping the Conversation: How to Rebuild Public Trust in Philanthropy.”

Solutions to fix the “problem.”

We see the tripartite—dependent—relationship between government, commercial interests, and nonprofits in the rise of institutional DAFs.

Remembering Cordelia Taylor and her community.

Remembering Cordelia Taylor and her love for others.

Contemplating a framework for Schedule F that would default to full disclosure of all foreign grant recipients, but also provide an exception allowing for redaction when there is a genuine safety threat.

Approaching Labor Day, remembering Penn Kemble … and Robert Nisbet.

In 1994, the Bradley Foundation’s then-president described the “Bradley Project on the 90s,” led by Bill Kristol, and its call for a “new citizenship” that helped form the foundation’s grantmaking program.

Benda, Gurri, Rufo, and us.

“The expansion of politics into almost all aspects of life means that activities that were previously considered nonpartisan have been made partisan—legislation and regulation have not kept up,” concludes open letter co-signed by its chairman.

A regular curation.

“Philanthropy’s expanding footprint has spurred ongoing debates about how the nonprofit world is managed and regulated—a discussion I hope to contribute to in this column,” Kennedy writes.

Further, expanded reflections on Giving USA’s annual report on philanthropy.

“American taxpayers should not be forced to subsidize investments that benefit the Chinese Communist Party,” according to U.S. Rep. Mike Gallagher, a Republican from Wisconsin. “[I]nstitutions that want preferential tax treatment must choose ….”

The historian, researcher, and teacher talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about The Bradley Project on America’s National Identity in 2008, the risks of “conservative accommodationism”—including in philanthropy—and the need for conservatives to provide a genuine American narrative that stands as an alternative to progressivism’s false one.

The historian, researcher, and teacher talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about history and civics education, successful efforts to change the American narrative, and the risks of what he calls “conservative accommodationism” in the necessary attempt to rediscover a genuine one.

Manhattan Institute distinguished fellow harshly critiques Kenneth Griffin’s $300 million contribution to Harvard.

Wondering whether there may be symptoms of groupthink, of heavy-handed treatment of dissent, in philanthropy.

In various contexts.

Matt K. Lewis’ new book highlights partisan politicians benefiting greatly—politically and even personally—from a tax-exempt, nonprofit, charitable organization.

The analyst and author talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about philanthropy’s reaction to popular discontent with elites, contemplates the populist future of conservatism, and considers some potential implications of that future for unpopular philanthropy.

The analyst and author talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about philanthropy as an elite institution that should be as “on the defensive” against populist discontent as much as all of the other such institutions that have so ill-exercised their authority.

Part of American Confidence in Elections Act.

The economist and scholar of the nonprofit sector and philanthropy talks to Michael E. Hartmann about her recent article, “How Dark Is It? An Investigation of Dark Money Operations in U.S. Nonprofit Political Advocacy Organizations,” applies some economic analysis to the use of §501 (c)(4)s, and contemplates potential policy reform of (c)(4) status.

The economist and scholar of the nonprofit sector and philanthropy talks to Michael E. Hartmann about the definition(s) of “dark money,” and her recent article, “How Dark Is It? An Investigation of Dark Money Operations in U.S. Nonprofit Political Advocacy Organizations.”

A regular curation.

A mid-year collection of interesting and insightful thinking about grantmaking and giving.

Supporting knowledge and appreciation of American history, and democracy.

Remarks at the Council on Foundations annual conference a decade ago.

The anti-elite tone of Marco Rubio’s new book is evidence that he understands what gave rise to Donald Trump in 2016 and what that ascendant populism portends for future political and policy debates, including the politics surrounding—and potentially, the policy structuring—establishment philanthropy.

Suggesting a session for serious self-examination.

The association executive talks to Craig Kennedy and Michael E. Hartmann about donor-advised funds, charity and politics, and the attention-getting op-ed in support of civility and pluralism in the sector that she signed with five others.

The association executive talks to Craig Kennedy and Michael E. Hartmann about populism and polarization, the minimum-distribution requirement for private foundations, and foundations’ uses of donor-advised funds.

Carefully crafted, profoundly misguided.

What we are, and aren’t, saying to each other.

Shoulder to the wheel.

A regular curation.

Conservative donors need to take a hard look at where their dollars go.

Newly out in paperback, Stephen R. Soukup’s straightforward explanation of increasing “wokism” in the country’s for-profit sector necessarily includes the roles of some who are in the nonprofit sector, too.

The successful entrepreneur and Napa Institute founder talks to Michael E. Hartmann about his grantmaking, the importance of a focus on mission, and the continuing relevance of the work of Michael Novak.

The Carlyle Group co-founder and co-chairman talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about his upcoming PBS documentary series examining the history and meaning of some of America’s iconic national symbols.

The Carlyle Group co-founder and co-chairman talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about what he calls “patriotic philanthropy.”

What non-official sources can tell us about the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation.

A regular curation.

Learning again from a still-relevant event a decade ago at the Hudson Institute’s Bradley Center for Philanthropy and Civic Renewal.

The nationally prominent legal expert in the taxation of nonprofits talks to Michael E. Hartmann about the taxation of higher-education endowments, comparing and contrasting the rationale for it to that for taxing private-foundation endowments, and explores some tax ramifications of other, newly emerging forms of giving.

The nationally prominent legal expert in the taxation of nonprofits talks to Michael E. Hartmann about her career, the different revenue-raising and regulatory roles of the IRS, the non-revenue-related role of state attorneys general, the tax treatment of private-foundation endowments, and the challenges of following complicated IRS rules for small foundations.

A regular curation.

The editor, author, and commentator talks to Michael E. Hartmann about his article in the “Conservatism and the Future of Tax-Incentivized Big Philanthropy” symposium.

Remarks from a panel discussion on populism at the “Foundations on the Hill” event for foundation leaders and officials in Washington, D.C.

Remarks from a panel discussion on populism at the “Foundations on the Hill” event for foundation leaders and officials in Washington, D.C.

The author and commentator talks to Michael E. Hartmann about his article in the “Conservatism and the Future of Tax-Incentivized Big Philanthropy” symposium.

All contributions to The Giving Review online symposium, which have been published here during the past weeks, are now compiled in one printable document, “Conservatism and the Future of Tax-Incentivized Big Philanthropy.” The symposium is meant to earnestly and meaningfully explore conservatism’s past and future relationships with the country’s philanthropic establishment, which is overwhelmingly predominantly progressive,… Continue reading Contributions to “Conservatism and the Future of Tax-Incentivized Big Philanthropy” compiled in one document

The Philanthropy Roundtable’s Adam Meyerson Distinguished Fellow in Philanthropic Excellence talks to Michael E. Hartmann about her article and some of the others in the “Conservatism and the Future of Tax-Incentivized Big Philanthropy” symposium.

“Such an examination by a respected Congressional agency could reassure both critics and defenders of the IRS generally and the Exempt Organizations division in particular,” according to Ellen P. Aprill and Lloyd Hitoshi Mayer.

On February 9, The Giving Review ran a piece authored by Julius Krein, “What Do Conservative Donors Want?,” that alleges that the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) “recently had to hold an all-hands meeting to discuss whether it was still a conservative institution.”  The statement is laughably false. No such meeting has happened, or could happen,… Continue reading AEI: alleged meeting never took place

Follow the money.

Conservative philanthropy is in crisis. It needs to be self-critically clear and honest about its position, as well as disciplined in pursuing its issues and aims.

And what it may do to us, as well as the elites who created it.

Recognizing a tenuous credibility, and reviving a true charity.

Improve lives, grow and strengthen civil society, and demonstrate the power of private giving based on our core values.

It has reconstituted the very system that Alexis de Tocqueville once famously lauded Americans for not having. Meaningful reform will be of the hatchet, not the scalpel variety.

Hard questions.

Part of post-frontier America’s failed “managerial elite.”

Policymakers must divorce themselves from the old connotations of what they always believed “charity” represented, and instead see them as what they have morphed into today.

Sober historian, disciplined thought, jovial presence.

Newly out in paperback, Joel Kotkin’s book on the coming “neo-feudalism”—comparing current class conditions to those of the Middle Ages—correctly characterizes the current status and a current role of foundations.

Applying an analytical framework in another, related context.

An excerpt from our 2020 conversation with Samuel Gregg, during which he discusses Benedict and “the civilizational challenge of our time.”

An end-of-year collection of interesting and insightful passages.

This article, republished with permission, originally appeared in The Chronicle of Philanthropy on December 13, 2022.   With Democratic Senator Rafael Warnock’s victory last week, another contentious Georgia Senate race is over, and with it, the attention focused on nonprofits for their role in registering, educating, and mobilizing voters and monitoring the fairness of the electoral process.… Continue reading Georgia Senate race shows why the fraying line between charity and politics must be repaired

This review, republished with permission, originally appeared in American Affairs on December 12, 2022.   The 1969 Tax Reform Act that established—and remains—the basic legal structure of American philanthropy was a “Grand Bargain,” according to Brooklyn Law School professors Dana Brakman Reiser and Steve A. Dean in their impressive forthcoming book For-Profit Philanthropy: Elite Power… Continue reading Big Philanthropy and the benefits—and limits—of the bygone “Grand Bargain”

We should be as willing to continue to learn from him as he has always so humbly been to learn from, and with, others.

An end-of-year collection of interesting and insightful thinking about grantmaking and giving.

Jurisdiction includes nonprofit tax law and its oversight.

Adam Rutherford’s new book about eugenics reminds us again of those progressive foundations that supported it—and that it’s long past time for a full and fair accounting of them for what they funded and fomented, and why.

Thank you.

Earlier this month, Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton announced that he issued a “civil investigative demand” to the Center for Tech and Civic Life (CTCL) as part of an investigation into whether the nonprofit charity solicited donations under the pretext of protecting voters from Covid-19, while actually using raised money for partisan electioneering or election… Continue reading Ken Paxton’s questions of Mark Zuckerberg-funded CTCL show investigative power of state attorneys general

The educational administrator talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about Catholic education, the importance of remaining faithful to its core mission of eternal salvation, and the educational and societal benefits of school choice.

The educational administrator talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about Catholic education and identity, creating a community of learners and believers, and the challenge of raising money for its mission in the current culture.

This article originally appeared on the IUPUI Lilly Family School of Philanthropy blog on October 31, 2022.   In the second of the two 1889 essays known as “The Gospel of Wealth,” Andrew Carnegie tries to identify the “best uses” for philanthropic giving. At the top of his list, “standing apart by itself,” is founding a… Continue reading Did philanthropy kill Jane Stanford?

Egger: “I question openly whether those laws were designed by people to keep us right where we are. … [O]ur ultimate goal is to change the laws.”

Eisenberg: “[H]e strongly believes that the regulations governing nonprofits are too restrictive and should be changed to allow nonprofits to participate directly in political campaigns and partisan politics … and I heartily disagree.”

The economist and technologist talks to Michael E. Hartmann about the potential implications of decentralized autonomous organizations for philanthropy in contexts beyond the arts, including higher education, and whether they will complement or substitute for the many intermediaries in the existing grantmaking structure.

The economist and technologist talks to Michael E. Hartmann about blockchain technology, decentralized autonomous organizations, and what the nonprofit Living Arts DAO might be able to do for arts philanthropy.

Recalling, and appreciating, his insistence on support for the grassroots and willingness to criticize the powerful.

Many means.

A lengthening list.

A work to read in “the Wilderness.”

Floating a four-element ACE Act alternative.

Levels of ambition, including philanthropic, the impossibility of a “New Man,” and the consequences of trying to create him.

In southwest Florida after Hurricane Ian, thousands of people are pitching in to help their next-door neighbor and also the unknown victim of a flat tire in the middle of a busy road.

Active, outward, consistent conservatives getting top score in Forbes Philanthropy Score 2022: zero.

Using one guiding principle, here are two proposed reforms to improve the permissions, restrictions, and tax advantages around 501(c)4s.

The short of it: in his new book’s ambitious thinking about the “full scale of human history,” William MacAskill undervalues the past—by definition, but more than needed—and elides in practice what that thinking could perhaps offer those of a different ideological worldview.

Here are four serious proposals to separate “charitable” and “political” giving.

Apparently, the value of philanthropy is determined by the worldview of the gift-giver.

R.l.P.

The spotlight on the Newman’s Own Foundation invites scrutiny of its overall business model, one based on virtue-signaling intended to influence consumer behavior.

The questions stands.

Criticisms of Barre Seid’s historic $1.6 billion to the Marble Freedom Trust are ignorant of both details and context.

President Joe Biden’s recent announcement that the federal government will forgive $10,000 in federal higher-education debt for most borrowers and up to $20,000 for recipients of federal Pell Grants has again brought some attention to large endowments of colleges and universities. Some have proposed increasing taxes on these endowments to help government finance the forgiveness. The 2017… Continue reading An updated collection of articles about the tax treatment of higher-education endowments

The heir, author, and researcher talks to Craig Kennedy and Michael E. Hartmann about philanthropy in America, including its “top-heaviness,” what could perhaps be done about it, and whether any charitable reform might be able to attract cross-ideological support.

The heir, author, and researcher talks to Craig Kennedy and Michael E. Hartmann about the “Wealth Defense Industry,” the degree to which philanthropy is used and charity is abused by the wealthy, and what could perhaps be done about it.

And knowledgeable observer of, and commentator on, philanthropy.

Honesty and balance.

The popular EconTalk podcast host Russ Roberts’ new book offers a helpful insight to any grantmakers willing to receive it—and self-aware enough to risk considering themselves as essentially engaged in art, not science.

Remembering “the voice of history.”

At three foundations in the “FoundationMark 15,” 100% of contributions made by employees went to Democrats. At 12, contributions to Democrats exceeded 96%.

As her memoir is released, the Holocaust survivor and philanthropy professional talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about philanthropy and education reform, the need for reform of philanthropy itself, and the benefits of a universal basic income.

As her memoir is released, the Holocaust survivor and philanthropy professional talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about her family history, education, and the American dream.

ICYMI.

The Spectrum Nonprofit Services founder and author talks to Michael E. Hartmann about nonprofit sustainability as an orientation and not a destination, and the states of nonprofitdom overall and philanthropy in particular.

The Spectrum Nonprofit Services founder and author talks to Michael E. Hartmann about his career and clientele, strategic plans and business plans as “a luxury,” and the proper relationship between donor influence on a nonprofit and its mission.

Overall, 81% oppose such tax incentivization, according to new survey from Institute for Policy Studies and conducted by Ipsos. Ninety percent of conservatives oppose it; 80% of liberals do.

As excerpts of a Watergate hearing show, concerns about the political activity of tax-incentivized charity are not new—having arisen soon after the 1969 Tax Reform Act that still provides the legal structure of nonprofitdom.

A mid-year collection of interesting and insightful thinking about grantmaking and giving.

A mid-year collection of interesting and insightful passages.

Given recent attention to the Federalist Society, policy-oriented donors can learn some underappreciated lessons from the Society’s early philanthropic support.

Don’t miss influential author, in new book, floating idea “in order to avoid an excessive concentration of power within a small number of entities and to enable less wealthy entities to develop.”

The former Bradley Foundation chairman talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about short- and long-term grantmaking strategies, the politicization of philanthropy and donor freedom, the imbalance between left and right among major givers, and what conservatives should try doing about it.

The former Bradley Foundation chairman talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about his decades’ worth of experience in real-estate investing, politics, and philanthropy.

And look at how to rebuild it.

Claire Dunning’s impressive new history on government support of nonprofits in Boston offers helpful insights for private philanthropy.

More to be made of that which it has wrought.

Editor David Callahan notes that philanthropic and nonprofit trade groups might “be out of touch with their own communities.”

Forty years ago this week, President Ronald Reagan delivered his historic speech to the British Parliament at Westminster, during which he famously predicted that Marxism-Leninism would end up “on the ash heap of history.” Daniel P. Schmidt writes about the Westminster speech in the article that we republish below, which originally appeared here on November 18,… Continue reading Revisiting Westminster before the fall of the Wall, and Sheptytsky before Schabowske

And in philanthropy?

An ActBlue clue.

After 16 years as chief executive officer and executive director of the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust in Vancouver, Wash., Steve Moore is retiring at the end of next month, when Romanita Hairston will succeed him in the role. During Moore’s tenure at its helm, the Trust—one of the largest philanthropies in the Pacific Northwest—has continued… Continue reading A conversation with retiring Murdock Trust CEO Steve Moore (Part 2 of 2)

After 16 years as a philanthropic executive, he talks to Michael E. Hartmann about Jack Murdock and his fellow Tektronix founder Howard Vollum, the opportunities and challenges of planning for a foundation to exist in perpetuity, and the consequences of ideas, both good and bad.

High trust in nonprofits and philanthropy correlates with high socioeconomic status. Democrats trust philanthropy appreciably more than the general population.

Historian Gary Gerstle’s new book on America in what he considers the bygone free-market era includes a role for philanthropy in its narrative—well, at least in its purportedly “Powell-ian” rise, anyway.

Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse’s promise that any efforts to “clean up” the politicization of nonprofits will be pursued regardless of various practical effects on those engaging in it may present an opportunity.

Looking at some of the edifices, atriums, and façades.

As tracked by Candid, of top 200 givers, 121 are left-of-center and 21 are right-of-center. All but two of top 20 are left-leaning.

Congressional interest in sector’s activities seems to be increasing.

Healthy cooperation and equally healthy collisions between fully functioning capitalism, government, and civil society.

A “joke,” and other characterizations.

An earlier version of this article originally appeared at American Affairs on April 5, 2020.   Establishment philanthropy in America is on the defensive—as it should be. Measured in terms of its size, the philanthropic sector is big and getting bigger; this is not necessarily a bad development in itself, but the sector’s growth in recent… Continue reading Philanthropy on the defensive

“The turn of so much of mainstream conservative philanthropy away from engaged foreign and defense policy work has been to America’s detriment, and to the detriment of the world as well,” according to the former Hudson Institute president. “It is time for conservative philanthropy to … return to supporting serious, sober, creative, security-oriented foreign-policy work ….”

“Vladimir Bukovsky, Václav Havel, Adam Michnik, and Czeslaw Milosz come to mind, among others,” according to the longtime Bradley Foundation vice president, “as do the Polish Solidarność trade union, the Czech Charter 77 group, and the Russian truth-telling group Memorial.”

“Peace is a conservative value, and a benefit to America and the world,” according to the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft chief executive officer. “Increased conservative support for realism and restraint in U.S. foreign policy is imperative.”

“Left of center American donors now largely set the agenda and dominate international giving. There is a strong emphasis on exporting American morality on gender, orientation, and race, as well as a major focus on various development schemes in Africa and elsewhere,” the former Joyce Foundation and German Marshall Fund president writes. “There are no conservative donors that are supporting alternatives to this agenda.”

“After helping people in their moments of crisis and humanitarian need,” according to the Wilson Center president, “conservative giving should focus on capacity building and supporting people, communities, and countries in their journey to self-reliance.”

Overall, giving by conservatives in America to support organizations and projects concerned with foreign policy and national security, as well as to groups and efforts at work “on the ground” in other countries that promote democracy or provide humanitarian aid, seems to have changed in many ways during the past decade, if not longer—concerningly to… Continue reading Symposium on conservative international giving: Introduction

The writer, analyst, and podcast co-host talks to Michael E. Hartmann about how conservative philanthropy was caught flat-footed by the political ascendancy of conservative populism in 2016 and progressive and populist discontent with elites, potentially including nonprofit and philanthropic ones.

The writer, analyst, and podcast co-host talks to Michael E. Hartmann about ideas, why we believe in the ones we do, and how sophisticated argumentation can better help us know that. “It’s perfectly all right with us to not find agreement,” he says.

The professor of public policy and political science talks to Michael E. Hartmann about how policy plutocrats actually go about trying to get their way, the effects of this plutocracy, critiques of it from both progressives and populist conservatives, and whether there could be some overlap in those critiques as philanthropy reforms might be proposed and considered in the future.

The professor of public policy and political science talks to Michael E. Hartmann about her career, and the level and nature of academic study and journalistic coverage of policy-oriented philanthropy.

As his book on the John M. Olin Foundation is released in paperback, we feature its author talking to Michael E. Hartmann and Daniel P. Schmidt about Olin himself, his decision to “sunset” the foundation, the reasons for its success, and whether—and if so, how—other conservative givers could replicate that success now and in the future.

As his book on the John M. Olin Foundation is released in paperback, we feature The College Fix founder talking to Michael E. Hartmann and Daniel P. Schmidt about the benefits of a long-term philanthropic outlook in ambitious projects like transforming the media.

Parsing a few Sections, Parts, columns, and Schedules.

Among other things, according to the outgoing Hewlett Foundation program staffer, “Knowing that I would hold my position for only eight years has, throughout my service at the Foundation, reminded me that this is not my money.”

There’s a lot to talk about.

This article, republished with permission, originally appeared on the great Rockefeller Archive Center’s (RAC’s) RE:source website on February 20, 2019. It is based on the keynote address of a conference RAC organized on the 50th anniversary of the Tax Reform Act of 1969. (Footnotes omitted.)   Fifty years ago, on December 30, 1969, President Richard Nixon… Continue reading From populist crusade to comprehensive regulation: the Tax Reform Act of 1969

The journalism-nonprofit president talks to Michael E. Hartmann about the state of the Fourth Estate, the thinking that can and should happen in its decentralized online marketplace, and the thoughtful current re-examinations in both conservatism and liberalism.

The journalism-nonprofit president talks to Michael E. Hartmann about his education and its benefits, the consequences of ideas in New York City, the worth of having a place for dialogue and reporting online, and philanthropy at its best.

The lazy failure to burn down much of this progressivist cladding has hampered conservatives at every turn. And yet they still do nothing to react against the laws, groups and funding sources that they control and suffer from.

Including potential witnesses.

William A. Schambra, Further thoughts on “other-side” giving, July 17, 2019 (“The tricky part of ‘other-side’ giving for conservative funders—the dilemma that also faced capitalist funders of socialist trade unions after World War II—is that the grants aren’t going to compliant ideological allies who share the full range of conservative political beliefs. They’re going to… Continue reading A collection of Giving Review articles about conservative international philanthropy, during and informed by the Cold War

Given the growing number of harsh progressive, populist, and just plain rule-of-law critiques about so much of unelected, unaccountable, and tax-favored establishment philanthropy, there may be a desire on the part of policymakers to aggressively examine some or all of it again.

“[P]rivate foundations had become increasingly active in political and legislative activities,” according to Congressional staff. “[F]unds were spent in a ways clearly designed to favor certain candidates. In some cases, this was done by financing registration campaigns in certain areas.”

“Patman had much to allege with respect to his Committee’s accumulated evidence of … foundation abuse of the sanctuary of income tax exemption,” according to the Midland, Mich., tax attorney’s 1964 law-review article.

The scholar of nonprofit and election law talks to Michael E. Hartmann about past and potential future cross-ideological overlap in the critique of establishment philanthropy, non-exempt vehicles for wealthy givers, and the roles and capabilities of the IRS and the FEC.

The scholar of nonprofit and election law talks to Michael E. Hartmann about what should and shouldn’t be considered a subsidy for charities, and the relationships between charity, politics, and government.

Adding a new entry—but still counting on one hand, maybe two.

The American Enterprise Institute senior fellow talks to Michael E. Hartmann about donor-advised funds and anonymous giving through them, as well as the large, mostly progressive foundations’ influence and self-perpetuating non-accountability.

The American Enterprise Institute senior fellow talks to Michael E. Hartmann about his career, the Civil Society Awards program, whether civil society is a “luxury good,” and philanthropy and donor-advised funds.

“Political activity,” according to the Reece Committee general counsel’s 1958 book, “endangers the future of the foundation as an institution.”

What might she think of The New York Times’ in-depth investigation of nonprofits and politics?

Conceptually, to what sort of standard or standards, if any, should giving advisors of various sorts be held, by whom, and how?

Nobody asked, but …

Counting on one hand, maybe two.

2022 Edelman Trust Barometer finds trust in business remains higher than that in NGOs.

“Using tax privileges, matching grants, special restrictions, and unique legal devices, the modern state gives the practice of philanthropy its particular strength and texture,” according to Theodore M. Lechterman. “Which if any of these regulatory strategies can be justified requires careful analysis and evaluation.”

Levels of ambition, including philanthropic, the impossibility of a “New Man,” and the consequences of trying to create him.

The analyst and commentator talks to Michael E. Hartmann about infrastructure, incrementalism, involvement, and new institutions, as well as good giving tactics.

The analyst and commentator talks to Michael E. Hartmann about professional leftist activism and the right’s lackluster equivalent, accomplishing technical tasks in hostile environments, and successfully organizing by building community and new institutions.

A year-end collection of interesting and insightful thinking about grantmaking and giving.

An appreciation of honesty, and a call for serious debate.

A year-end collection of interesting and insightful passages.

Pondering pills, considering colors.

Trying to help build more trust among farmers and those who serve and finance them would yield much benefit.

From the Carnegie Corporation’s promotion of eugenics to—as Maribel Morey’s new book provocatively argues—its furthering of white supremacy, establishment philanthropy in America has much to answer for, and to resolve. It will have to do so in the coming years, in what will likely be an uncharitable cultural and political context. In all of American establishment philanthropy’s… Continue reading Philanthropy’s original sin

As Tim Stanley recalls it in his new book, Tevye says “You may ask, how did this tradition get started. I’ll tell you. I don’t know.” And another, unsettling question: without tradition, will there be anything left?

“I could hear them as if it were yesterday. I can hear the voices.”

On the newest “Givers, Doers, & Thinkers” podcast, Philanthropy Daily publisher Jeremy Beer talks to Giving Review co-editor and Capital Research Center senior fellow Michael E. Hartmann about the biggest challenges facing philanthropy today.

Let’s be uncharitable: how charity foundations damage Western societies.

Philanthropy and data, oxytocin and neurological unity, and love and charity in Arthur C. Brooks’ new book on the culture of contempt.

Thank you.

Christopher DeMuth’s is a deeply insightful critique to be taken seriously, including by conservative philanthropy.

Tax likely to remain at current level, at least for now. “The Harvard faculty club should lay in extra scotch for members to drown their sorrows,” according to a tax-policy expert.

Considering the proper distance between charity and politics.

The State Policy Network executive vice president talks to Michael E. Hartmann about love of neighbor, Tocqueville, localism, and politics, as well as more about philanthropy.

The State Policy Network executive vice president talks to Michael E. Hartmann about path dependence, his career in conservative policy-oriented nonprofitdom, and whether philanthropy has contributed to the decline of American self-governance.

The conservative grassroots activist, author, and commentator talks to Michael E. Hartmann more about ideas, action, and giving, as well as some recent proposals to reform philanthropy.

The conservative grassroots activist, author, and commentator talks to Michael E. Hartmann about ideas and action, and giving and grifting.

The tax-law scholar talks to Michael E. Hartmann more about whether the reasoning underlying the excise tax on higher-education endowments could apply to private foundations, the potential for a cross-ideological coalition to back philanthropy reform, and the real-world ramifications of such reform.

The tax-law scholar talks to Michael E. Hartmann about the excise tax on investment income in higher education and whether its underlying reasoning could perhaps also apply in other nonprofit contexts.

A thought experiment.

“[T]oday’s politics of the street,” according to political historian Donald T. Critchlow, “resembles that of the late Roman Republic, when oligarchs, such as Caesar, Sulla, and Catiline, organized mobs to serve their factional interests.”

Foundations’ collective effort presented as exemplary isn’t, or at least not for the reasons the consultants think.

On the newest InfluenceWatch podcast, Capital Research Center (CRC) research director Michael Watson talks to CRC senior fellow and Giving Review co-editor Michael E. Hartmann for 26 minutes about establishment philanthropy in America and some recent harsh reactions to and critiques of it.

Leslie Lenkowsky: “obvious solution” to “money not really being used for charitable purposes” is to end “tax deduction for all contributions.”

As establishment philanthropy defends its position in American society, it would do well to tend to more than just one flank.

A work to read in “the Wilderness.”

Where New Labour boldly reformed schools, Keir Starmer retreats to the class-war comfort zone.

Education is a public good, but so is medicine and Pfizer doesn’t claim to be a charity.

Philanthropic insights from Bloomberg Businessweek reporter Max Chafkin’s new biography of PayPal co-founder, Silicon Valley venture capitalist, and intellectual and political provocateur Peter Thiel.

Twenty-five years after enactment of state and federal work-based welfare reform, the executive director of the Secretaries’ Innovation Group (SIG) addresses philanthropy and welfare reform, SIG, and application of the reform concepts internationally.

Twenty-five years after enactment of state and federal work-based welfare reform, the executive director of the Secretaries’ Innovation Group covers the circumstances surrounding the reforms’ passage and the positive effects of their implementation.

The cutting critique of and stance against corporate America’s adoption of an extreme social-justice agenda in Vivek Ramaswamy’s new book could certainly, and perhaps should, be considered in the context of politicized charitable nonprofitdom, too.

We cannot allow our fantastic philanthropic institutions to become subsumed by wokery.

More receptivity to and respect for faith at the top of establishment grantmaking in the country might be beneficial, too.

Policymakers, protection, and power.

Looking back at a previous, successful attempt to reform the nonprofit sector, with the lawyer and author who literally wrote the book on it.

Pondering pills, considering colors.

The journalist talks to Michael E. Hartmann about the different factors motivating Silicon Valley giving, scrutiny of and transparency in philanthropy, progressive and populist critiques of grantmakers, and the prospects for future reform of nonprofitdom.

The journalist talks to Michael E. Hartmann about his new media platform, the state of coverage of and commentary about philanthropy, and the shift in American giving to Silicon Valley.

Brief insights from an area of utmost geopolitical, religious, and cultural significance.

The University of Chicago sociologist talks to Michael E. Hartmann about the political construction of philanthropy and charity, current strains on that construction, a potential revival of mutual aid, and what it might mean for our us all as a nation.

The University of Chicago sociologist talks to Michael E. Hartmann about politics in social life, Presidents Herbert Hoover and Franklin D. Roosevelt, the March of Dimes, and the power of voluntarism.

In the latest installment of an ongoing interview series, First Things contributing editor Mark Bauerlein talks to Giving Review co-editor and Capital Research Center senior fellow Michael E. Hartmann for just more than half an hour about philanthropy in America today.

Activist billionaires use community foundations to funnel even more money to their national and global causes.

“At a time when philanthropy faces mounting critiques,” the Council on Foundation’s new strategic plan proves it’s not up to the challenge of facing those critiques.

Optimism is cowardice.

Fifteen years after publication of his book on the John M. Olin Foundation, its author talks to Michael E. Hartmann and Daniel P. Schmidt about Olin himself, his decision to “sunset” the foundation, the reasons for its success, and whether—and if so, how—other conservative givers could replicate that success now and in the future.

The College Fix founder talks to Michael E. Hartmann and Daniel P. Schmidt about the benefits of a long-term philanthropic outlook in ambitious projects like transforming the media.

The investigative researcher talks to Michael E. Hartmann about the difficult and growing problem of homelessness in Los Angeles—and philanthropy’s role in creating and perpetuating it.

The lawyer representing the LA Alliance for Human Rights talks about its lawsuit against Los Angeles for its handling, or mishandling, of the difficult and growing problem of homelessness there—and philanthropy’s role in creating and perpetuating it.

And now.

An outline of options.

The “playing field” and potential proposals.

As University of Kentucky law professor asks, “Why are we focused only on universities?”

Worth exploring.

The economist and Social Gospel movement leader thought and taught that some philanthropy “could and must come from government coercion,” as Ronald J. Pestritto reminds us in his new book on the rise and legacy of progressivism.

Wealthy elite gravitate toward elitism, however well-endowed already.

A mid-year collection of interesting and insightful thinking about grantmaking and giving.

ICYMI.

Mostly in one of them, increasingly in another. But maybe it’s only “the terms of accreditation that have changed.” That would be bad.

A mid-year collection of interesting and insightful passages.

Ivy League degree, military service, tough Midwesterner who could throw a punch when necessary.

Checking the power of progressive Big Philanthropy An updated collection of various recent ideas to reform philanthropy Plutocrats and their philanthropy: More ideas for saving the soul of the charitable sector Conservatives should applaud—not fight—efforts to change philanthropic giving rules We agree, foundations should be held accountable for high salaries and staggering expenses What would… Continue reading A collection of Giving Review articles about or related to philanthropy reform

Some of biggest pillars of America’s liberal philanthropic establishment to not just financially support, but actually participate in project.

Remember who won the race.

Online Murdock Trust conversation features lively exchanges.

New book about successful gay-marriage movement highlights role of some grantmakers who supported it—prominently including the Haas Fund and Tim Gill—and suggesting some funding lessons to be drawn, including by others and in any context.

Ceded, or seated?

The retired “civic environmentalist” talks to Michael E. Hartmann and Daniel P. Schmidt about the Green New Deal, some successes of conservative environmentalism, and the perils of polarized philanthropic funding of environmental activity.

The retired “civic environmentalist” talks to Michael E. Hartmann and Daniel P. Schmidt about Aldo Leopold, the Land Ethic, and the Sand County Foundation he led for more than three decades.

Elisabeth S. Clemens’ book—including its description of the March of Dimes, what would now be properly considered a “working charity,” in the polio crusade—impressively details questions about roles of, and relationship between, public and private sectors in meeting social challenges through American history.

The Mother Jones senior editor talks to Michael E. Hartmann about the need for more and better thinking about the proper role of philanthropy in a democracy and people’s fear about being on the wrong side of America’s economic divide.

The Mother Jones senior editor talks to Michael E. Hartmann about the state of journalism, including about philanthropy, and his new book on the super-rich, including their problems.

Chuck Collins’ new book about the “Wealth Defense Industry” references its philanthropic component’s managerial elite, about which there should be more honest truth-telling and analysis.

In the wake of madness or even just in the midst of mere distraction, look elsewhere, and deeper.

Scott Rasmussen national survey finds substantial support for ending tax exemption for wealthy institutions with nonprofit status.

Frank Shakespeare.

Technological tracking to trump trust—and risk trampling on it.

As shown in and by Sanford, Mich., starting one year ago, it’s often when massive devastation is visited on a population that it discovers its true character.

ICYMI.

We’ve entered the 2000s.

The elite arts-and-culture establishment, its echelons, and everyone else.

What gives, and to what to give?

And what can be done about it, including by philanthropy.

He wore his “IV” well, actually.

Including about the charitable and the political.

The Christian philanthropist, author, blogger, and Sunday-school teacher talks to Michael E. Hartmann and Daniel P. Schmidt about the state of public discourse in America today, religion and philanthropy, friendship, and C. S. Lewis.

The Christian philanthropist, author, blogger, and Sunday-school teacher talks to Michael E. Hartmann and Daniel P. Schmidt about The Gathering’s beginnings and learning in the context of a relationship.

“The Role of Community in Place-Based Giving,” new paper in series from think tank, explores why strong communities matter and how philanthropists can strengthen the local fiber that helps communities improve.

A letter to the editor of The Chronicle of Philanthropy.

The professor, writer, and commentator talks to Michael E. Hartmann and Daniel P. Schmidt about the politicization of philanthropy and advises grantmakers to have a long-term outlook and consider supporting membership organizations and “extra-parliamentary institutions.”

The professor, writer, and commentator talks to Michael E. Hartmann and Daniel P. Schmidt about philanthropy and nonprofitdom as part of the managerial elite’s threat to democracy, the difference between the overclass and the upper class, and the proper relationship between grantmaking and politics.

ICYMI.

In any real-life revision of the parable so often cited by philanthropists, there’s a strong likelihood that the philanthropists forging their way upstream to the source of the problem will never get there. As with the challenge of homelessness in L.A., they will instead become hopelessly entangled in the real-world obstacles that invariably complicate the drive for simplistic, root-cause solutions.

An insular and distinctive cartel, pretty much ignoring everyone else, fueling woke capitalism.

Washington, D.C., is not where the important battles of the day are fought. Change the culture first.

Place-based strategies seem attractive to overcome these constraints, but while they help ameliorate financial and political challenges, they actually exacerbate information challenges.

Professors make strong case for high-status grantmaking to be taken more seriously within management and organizational research. Such increased attention would be well-warranted, including from much-wider circles.

The finance economist and popular blogger talks to Michael E. Hartmann about nonprofitdom’s tax-favored legal structure, which he thinks we should consider scrapping.

ICYMI.

Revisiting the risky confidence and nihilistic moral certainty of an intelligentsia—this time, of Major League Baseball, Coca-Cola, and Delta.

Michael Mechanic’s forthcoming book well-describes “how the super-rich really live,” then promotes a progressive social-justice agenda that would supposedly prevent wealth from “harming us all.”

New poll from Vox and Data for Progress is consistent with previous ones throughout history: people are quite willing to tax, but unwilling to crush the very wealthy.

The veteran reporter and commentator talks to Michael E. Hartmann about grantmaking and respect for individual agency, and the state of reporting and commentary on funders.

The veteran reporter and commentator talks to Michael E. Hartmann about his in-depth examination of Michael Bloomberg’s grantmaking against flavored e-cigarettes, and what it says about the nature and effects of much of progressive philanthropy.

Casting a wide net.

The education scholar, activist, and philanthropist talks to Michael E. Hartmann and Daniel P. Schmidt about the current states of philanthropy, school choice, and history and civics education.

The education scholar, activist, and philanthropist talks to Michael E. Hartmann and Daniel P. Schmidt about his mentor Daniel Patrick Moynihan and the current state of conservatism.

Conservatives would be wise to push for a bolder plan that addresses the conflation of political and charitable causes—and clearly defines what constitutes legitimate charitable goals. That’s the only way to ensure philanthropy doesn’t lose all credibility and become completely politicized. Let’s focus on what really matters.

ICYMI.

ICYMI.

“Write some good ones.”

The Gathering’s Fred Smith calls a thought-provoking, almost-jarring question—for us all, but perhaps for conservatism and conservative philanthropy in particular.

The legal organization’s president talks to Michael E. Hartmann and Daniel P. Schmidt about the different attributes of today’s law-school students, the state of conservatism in general and its current internal debate about “fusionism” in particular, and what and how conservative policy-oriented philanthropy should consider funding moving forward.

The legal organization’s president talks to Michael E. Hartmann and Daniel P. Schmidt about some of the reasons for its accomplishments, including the nature of its philanthropic support, and how the Left is now trying and whether it will be able to mimic its progress.

John Tuso’s new book recalls his advice succinctly: simply support and supervise management. CEOs shouldn’t surrender, and boards shouldn’t usurp, power. In the nonprofit context particularly, directors should also be willing to do more when asked.

She probably should have known better, and sure seemed to have known so once.

Stephen R. Soukup’s straightforward explanation of increasing, and increasingly destructive, “wokism” in the country’s for-profit sector necessarily includes the role of some who are also in, and/or are acting through, the nonprofit sector.

The Center for American Restoration, the American Cornerstone Institute, and the Center for the American Way of Life provide additional options for ideas-driven, policy-oriented conservative givers to consider.

Of the top 50 overall, colleges and universities are more than half. Very few, if any, of either type of the huge funds are clearly controlled by conservatives.

Theda Skocpol and Caroline Tervo tell the story of Indivisible and its donor-driven succumbing to the siren call of “the DC-based nonprofit industrial complex.”

The Washington Post columnist and author of The Working-Class Republican talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about Reagan properly understood and how he can help conservatives and conservative philanthropy consider current challenges in facing the future.

The Washington Post columnist and author of The Working-Class Republican talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about conservative philanthropy and its attitude toward populism, scotch neat, and It’s a Wonderful Life.

Lance Morrow’s new book provides an historically and religiously informed contextual overview for considering how money should be organized to do good.

Which may be permanent, and thus still relevant—including in the higher-education context.

Molly Ball confirms it, fails at trying to creatively mischaracterize it, and raises more questions about it.

For Democrats.

Examining the origin of some of the official lines, at least as originally drawn, between charity and politics.

We must steadfastly strive to see, and necessarily recall, others’ witness—so we can take the chances they give us to do so, too.

Before an almost-century-old social club, retired Bradley Foundation vice president remembers a famous cinematic bank run and overviews conservative-grantmaking history, then talks about philanthropic hubris, grantmaking in Russia, the Bradley brothers’ affinity for Milwaukee, and an increasing preference for localism on the part of donors.

Johns Hopkins case study explores challenges, and opportunities, facing philanthropic supporters of respected think tank as it faced bankruptcy 35 years ago.

Thrills on the field, but much more than that.

The Bradley Foundation’s librarian has been doing it very well, and with a smile, for a quarter of a century.

The political scientist and author talks to Michael E. Hartmann about “compassionate conservatism,” the Never Trump movement, and the post-Trump future of conservatism—including how conservative philanthropy should consider the challenges of, and opportunities available in, facing that future.

The political scientist and author talks to Michael E. Hartmann about the nature of philanthropic support for the conservative legal movement, what it can teach foundations now, and what grantmakers can do about “organizational disequilibrium.”

The Georgetown University professor talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about philanthropy as a supplement to justice, our commitment to liberty, and trusting the “deplorable” to govern themselves.

The Georgetown University professor talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about what identity politics has done to charity and philanthropy.

The appropriate context within which its eugenic past should be considered.

More money, but meaning less?

Or what used to be a pyramid—and may be again, albeit pixelated.

And he wants more of it to flow, and from more people.

From Charles Koch and Robert L. Woodson, Sr., decades’ worth of accumulated wisdom, but differing perspectives.

A year-end collection of interesting and insightful thinking about grantmaking and giving.

A year-end collection of interesting and insightful thinking about grantmaking and giving.

An important charitable lesson from the classic Christmas film.

As chairman of the National Commission on Philanthropy and Civic Renewal, he urged “more of ourselves instead of more government.”

Highest-income individuals use deduction the most and get biggest benefit from it, according to Joint Committee on Taxation.

A year-end collection of interesting and insightful passages.

A year-end collection of interesting and insightful passages.

Carnegie Institution apologizes.

Regularly updated section will overview, and try to broaden a normally narrow, public discourse about grantmaking.

And wondering about the red cocktail umbrella.

Several could perhaps play Robert M. Hutchins’ role today. Any potential B. Carroll Reeces?

More evidence from Give.org, which also notes some trends worth attention.

A cutting, clever, comical coinage.

Thank you.

The think tank’s director of domestic-policy studies talks to Craig Kennedy about the changing nature of philanthropy, different ways of thinking about grantmaking to better society, and think tanks.

The think tank’s director of domestic-policy studies talks to Craig Kennedy about state and local government, “compassionate conservatism,” and what philanthropy can do to replace stagnation with dynamism in our society.

Lots of “expertise” from left-of-center grantmakers.

Suggesting some sunlight.

“Unlike others who simply demonize conservatives, Gara sought to understand what we believe and how we went about supporting it,” Bill Schambra notes.

The journalist and expert on nonprofit tax law talks to Michael E. Hartmann about Congressional interest in and public discourse about exempt organizations, limited-liability corporations, donor-advised funds, and watchdogs.

The journalist and expert on nonprofit tax law talks to Michael E. Hartmann about his career, how the IRS has changed and the challenges it faces, and his journal.

Post-election 1992: “The largest problem of all is that conservatism has utterly lost its focus, its sense of purpose, its mission. It has become too comfortable and too complacent.”

“Farewell book” by E. D. Hirsch, Jr., underscores role of history and civics education in developing shared knowledge necessary to be a nation. Philanthropy can and should help.

In philanthropy, for example, personal giving almost doubled from 1929 to 1964, then turned back downward from 1964 to 1996, according to new book by Robert D. Putnam with Shaylyn Romney Garrett. What to do about all this? Where to turn?

A significant, and widening, flow of funding through legally permissible public-charity lobbying is influenced by non-charitable interests, new study finds.

More of Irving Kristol’s kind of counter-establishment insurgence, as described in Michael J. Brown’s new book, might now be needed again—including in philanthropy.

Collection of essays from Manhattan Institute senior fellow, once a man of the left, lays out a century’s worth of instances in which elite experts—and, in at least one case, philanthropy—have failed the citizenry.

And Mom wasn’t even watching.

The Assumption University professor and author talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about charity, justice, subsidiarity, and what the Holy Father calls “political love” in the new encyclical.

The Assumption University professor and author talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about the Holy Father’s new encyclical and its “innovations” in Catholic social teaching.

Additional options for grantmakers interested in helping refine or redefine conservatism moving forward.

And now, “political love.”

Into an existing “philanthropic ecosystem” about which they should be wary.

The arcane, demanding jargon of strategic philanthropy is being replaced by an equally arcane, demanding jargon of social justice.

John Arnold and Ray Madoff float some suggestions of their own.

The reaction to Amy Coney Barrett’s nomination shows how the notion of God presents a challenge for the liberal intelligentsia, the cutting-edge moral and philosophical doctrines of which raise serious questions about any form of transcendent truth. For conservatism, a religious understanding of brokenness can only better it.

Exemplifying a tradition worth celebrating for its positive reflections on the American civic character.

Gerald F. Seib’s new book skillfully overviews what’s happened to conservatism since 1980 and helpfully frames its forthcoming challenges and opportunities.

Pitt Law’s Philip Hackney suggests denying tax-exempt status to 501(c)(3) groups that aren’t public charities.

Conservatives need to face that truth.

The risky confidence and nihilistic moral certainty of an intelligentsia.

In the decades before “darkness” was deemed descriptive.

Names at the top of the list, math on the “back of the envelope:” outnumbered, outspent.

An explanation and defense of his once-uncontroversial efforts to support America’s history and heritage would be well-warranted.

Assessing the adverse implications of intellectual intransigence.

Relearn the art of skepticism, and improve grantmaking.

But can giving be so conspicuous that it’s as bad as extravagant consumption?

If conservative donors hope to effect real change on college campuses, they need to be very careful about the ways they offer funding.

And the need for it in philanthropy.

Philanthropy can learn from Ike—who said at Normandy in 1964 of those who preceded us, “these people gave us a chance ….”

Sector-bending has always been a symptom of a larger intellectual problem: utopianism.

As Lawrence Lessig wrote, “code is law.”

From AOC and two popes.

Businessman, outdoorsman, conservationist, philanthropist.