Philanthropy

Philanthropy
Like Actual Jackpots, Jackpot Loses a Little Luster After a Winning Beginning
Mother Jones senior editor Michael Mechanic has written an engaging, informative, entertaining, and insightful forthcoming book Jackpot: How the Super-Rich Really Live—and How Their Wealth Harms Us All. Like actual…
by Daniel P. Schmidt, Michael E. Hartmann on April 15, 2021

Philanthropy
A Conversation with Hoover Institution Senior Fellow John H. Cochrane
John H. Cochrane got our attention last month with his remarks on Tyler Cowen’s podcast about the tax-favored legal structure of nonprofitdom in America. “Let’s get rid of the entire legal structure of the nonprofit…
by Michael E. Hartmann on April 12, 2021

Philanthropy
Michael Lind on Liberal Philanthropy in the COVID Class War
During the COVID crisis, “[t]he major debate over lockdowns has been between small-business owners, who form the political base of the Republican party, and professionals, particularly in the educational, government,…
by Michael E. Hartmann on April 2, 2021

Philanthropy
Hoover Economist John H. Cochrane: A Lot of Nonprofit Status in America Is Just “a Cover”
Hoover Institution senior fellow and finance economist John H. Cochrane appeared on the Mercatus Center economist Tyler Cowen’s popular and always-engaging Conversations with Tyler podcast earlier this month and offered some interesting observations—not often heard in public…
by Michael E. Hartmann on March 30, 2021

Book Profile, Philanthropy
Elites, Barstools, Raw Beauty, and a (Philanthropic) “George Option”
In an excerpt from his 2019 book Where the Light Divides that he published on his blog last month, The Gathering founder Fred Smith—with his typical warmth, charm, and thought-provoking insight—writes, For many…
by Michael E. Hartmann on March 22, 2021

Book Profile, Philanthropy
Ken Dayton on Good Nonprofit-Board Governance
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…
by Michael E. Hartmann on March 15, 2021

Philanthropy
Looking at the Largest Higher-Education and Grantmaker Endowments in America
Of the 50 largest higher-education and grantmaker endowments in America, as measured by total assets and reported in their publicly available data for 2018, 28 were those of institutions of…
by Michael E. Hartmann on March 8, 2021

Philanthropy
Revival of DOJ “Slush-Fund” Settlements Raises Important Questions About the Nonprofit Organization Revolving Door
The president’s day one executive order directing a review of numerous agency actions related to climate change and the environment. One such review involves the possibility of reviving a controversial Justice Department practice allowing…
by Robert Stilson on February 16, 2021

Philanthropy
Liberal Philanthropy’s Role in the 2020 Election
Molly Ball’s lengthy article in the most-recent edition of Time, which purports to tell “The Secret History of the Shadow Campaign That Saved the 2020 Election,” is sure to reverberate for a…
by Michael E. Hartmann on February 9, 2021

Philanthropy
The Ford Foundation, the 1967 Cleveland Mayoral Election, and the 1969 Tax Reform Act
The origins of much of American nonprofit tax law’s lines between philanthropically supportable charity and politics lie in a controversial July 1967 Ford Foundation grant to the Congress of Racial…
by Michael E. Hartmann on February 8, 2021