Big Philanthropy’s Lost Children
Brooke Orr, the protagonist of Rumaan Alam’s captivating recent novel, Entitlement, lands what she thinks is a great new job as a program officer at a big New York philanthropic foundation. The…
donor intent
“Roger Federer Philanthropy”
Retired tennis great Roger Federer’s well-received commencement address at Dartmouth College last June is worth the time for you to read or view for several reasons, but among them are…
Models, Not Manuals
“Facing outward on the low bar, the gymnast performs a pike sole circle backward through handstand with flight and a half (180 degree) turn to hang on the high bar.”That…
Hoovering Up Henry Ford’s Money: Free Money Versus Free Enterprise
At the end of 1976, Henry Ford II, resigned from the Ford Foundation board of directors. In his resignation letter, he advised the foundation's board, “I'm just suggesting to the…
Hoovering Up Henry Ford’s Money: Revolutions and Bullhorns
For nonprofits that really want the Ford funding spigot wide open, it is difficult to understate the importance of portraying supporters shouting through bullhorns, engaging in street demonstrations, and preaching…
Hoovering Up Henry Ford’s Money: Crime and Democracy
Claiming that their preferred flavor of multi-whatever democracy has never existed and pledging to put it in place is clearly a winning message for aspiring grantees. Perversely, Ford’s philanthropoids also…
Hoovering Up Henry Ford’s Money: Shaping the News
Ford grants are also showered upon those who help inject left-wing messages into media and culture. Since the beginning of 2023, those in charge of Henry’s money have shipped out…
Warren Buffett’s Change(s?) of Mind
Late last month , 93-year-old Berkshire Hathaway chairman and chief executive officer Warren Buffett publicly announced that almost all of his massive fortune will be put into a new charitable trust upon…
Some Past Proposed Specific Time Limits on Tax Benefits for Private Foundations
Last week, 93-year-old Berkshire Hathaway chairman and chief executive officer Warren Buffett told the Wall Street Journal that almost all of his massive fortune will be put into a new charitable…
Thought Experiment: Post-Fearless Fund, A World of Philanthropy Without Grant Contracts
During the months leading up to June 2023’s Supreme Court decisions finding race-conscious college admissions to violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, some in establishment philanthropy forward-lookingly…