Big Philanthropy

Foundation Watch
97% of Political Contributions by Employees of Top Foundations Went to Democrats in 2019-20
Progressive philanthropists now regularly admit to politicized charitable contributions. But to our knowledge, no one recently has examined how professional philanthropic elites—those who work at the nation’s largest foundations—spend their…
by Kristen Eastlick on August 9, 2022

Philanthropy
Marc Andreessen on Overcoming Perverse Incentives in Philanthropy
Sam Harris’s Making Sense podcast last week featured Marc Andreessen—an Iowa-born and Wisconsin-raised engineer by training who pioneered an entire software category now used by more than a billion people. The almost…
by Michael E. Hartmann on August 1, 2022

Foundation Watch
Congressional Questions About Politicized Philanthropy Almost Half a Century Ago
Citing the Ford Foundation and some of its grantmaking specifically, President Richard Nixon’s pugilistically populist advisor Patrick J. Buchanan told a Senate Watergate Committee hearing in 1973 that “tax exempt multimillions have…
by Michael E. Hartmann on July 26, 2022

Philanthropy
Addressing Declining Trust in Nonprofits and Philanthropy
The Center for Effective Philanthropy and the Council on Foundations co-hosted an interesting webinar discussion last week about declining trust in nonprofits and philanthropy in America. Introducing the webinar, the Center noted that “[f]raying trust in…
by Michael E. Hartmann on July 6, 2022

Book Profile, Philanthropy
Opposition “Anti-Marxist Liberals” in Yoram Hazony’s Conservatism
In his book, political theorist Yoram Hazony argues that conservatism should return to what he considers its older, deeper, Anglo-American religious and nationalist roots—as opposed to continuing to be a…
by Michael E. Hartmann on June 21, 2022

Philanthropy
Trust in Nonprofits Down Since 2020, According to Independent Sector Survey
According to Independent Sector’s third annual report of survey findings that explores trust in American nonprofit organizations and philanthropy, 56% of Americans said they have high trust in nonprofits—down a…
by Michael E. Hartmann on May 31, 2022

Philanthropy
The Architecture of Big Philanthropy
“We shape our buildings,” Winston Churchill said in 1943, “and afterwards they shape us.” Foundations are not government agencies, of course, but they are meant to serve the public. Although…
by Leslie Lenkowsky on May 19, 2022

CRC in the News
Best of CRC Media Hits for March–April 2022
The months of March and April were highlighted by not only op-eds and radio/TV interviews but also by syndicated media appearances from Virginia to Alaska. As usual, our topics of…
by Sarah Lee on May 18, 2022

Deception & Misdirection
Scott Walter Testifies to a Senate Finance Subcommittee on “the Political Activities of Tax Exempt Entities”
The Capital Research Center has studied the problems connected to the intersection of politics and tax-exempt entities for decades. Just in the last few months, many more scandals have erupted.
by Scott Walter on May 4, 2022

Philanthropy
“Democracy Funders” Lopsidedly Liberal
Of the top 200 givers to “democracy” as defined and tracked by Candid, 121 are ideologically categorizable as left-of-center and 21 are categorizable as right-of-center. Of the Candid list’s top…
by Michael Watson on May 3, 2022