Robust Discussion of Donor Intent Hosted by Philanthropy Daily

When it comes to mapping the tangled web of the Left’s nonprofit infrastructure, it’s easy to focus on the flashy new advocacy organizations and single-issue groups that grab headlines with radical tactics and unwavering demands. But in reality, these groups, like Demand Justice, Planned Parenthood, People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA), and the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) are just the end product of a sophisticated influence-peddling machine with a dubious history.

You may be surprised to learn that the streams of money supporting some of the most radical progressive causes started out as wealth created by conservative entrepreneurs turned philanthropists. Years of research shows how the fortunes funding today’s Left have been—to borrow a phrase—“appropriated.”

CRC Senior Fellow Martin Morse Wooster has written extensively about how the fortunes built by the late, great capitalists like Andrew Carnegie and Henry Ford fell into the hands of socialists these men would have opposed while living. The institutions they built wear a thin veneer of charity and respectability while they fund some of the most partisan and divisive causes in the nonprofit sector.

This year, CRC published the fourth edition of Wooster’s critical work, How Great Philanthropists Failed & You Can Succeed in Protecting Your Legacy. To celebrate this milestone, Philanthropy Daily is hosting a week-long forum on the issues raised in Wooster’s book, encouraging dialogue on how donors large and small can work to preserve their intent.

The concept of “donor intent” is one that doesn’t get much play outside conservative philanthropic circles, and for good reason. Most liberals or even moderates don’t have to worry about their intent being corrupted by their heirs or trustees. These donors can rest easy knowing that the professional program officers who wax poetic about “social justice” will happily carry out their vision. Conservative and libertarian philanthropists have learned to be more cautious. Free market economics, American constitutionalism, and the right to life are issues that aren’t favored by the coastal elite or nonprofit wonks. Large pots of money tied to these issues need to be carefully maintained and protected.

But it’s not all doom and gloom. Many givers have learned to be wary of perpetual foundations and have learned important lessons about making their intent clear and binding before it’s too late.

Be sure to visit Philanthropy Daily to read the excellent essays penned by Eduardo Andino, Scott Walter, Jacqueline Pfeffer Merrill, Travis LaCouter, and Martin Morse Wooster, himself.