“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…
Ford Foundation
Foundations Should Disclose Investments and De-Politicize Giving
An increasing number of private foundations are inserting sociopolitical considerations into their investment portfolios, just as many already do in their grantmaking. Those that choose to do so should be…
Ford Foundation’s Big Left Influence: The Ford Foundation’s Millions
One “lefty” billionaire that has been exerting a big influence on our politics for decades and yet escapes nearly all media scrutiny. This is more striking because Henry Ford died…
Ford Foundation’s Big Left Influence: The Climate Hypocrites
In January 2019, more than 600 left-leaning policy and climate organizations co-signed a letter to members of Congress demanding “renewable energy” and “100 percent decarbonization.” The Ford Foundation has spent…
Ford Foundation’s Big Left Influence: Subsidizing the Big Labor Left
Large labor unions, particularly the powerful and often left-wing public employee unions, are major supporters of Democratic and left-leaning causes. The Ford Foundation gave grants totaling $44.5 million in 2021…
Ford Foundation’s Big Left Influence: The “Dark Money” Arabella Network
According to its online grants database, the Ford Foundation gave nearly $13 million to left-leaning projects run by Arabella’s Hopewell Fund and New Venture Fund in 2021. An April 2021…
The Private Investments of Private Foundations: Philanthropy’s “Dark Money”?
The IRS instructs private foundations to attach a detailed schedule of investments to their annual publicly available Form 990-PF. Some, however, do not include meaningful detail on how their vast…
The Private Investments of Private Foundations: Incongruous Investments
Investment portfolios shouldn’t be battlefields for ideological conflict, but many foundations—and particularly the activist groups they fund—are increasingly choosing to make them so. This can result in a marked disconnect…
The Private Investments of Private Foundations: Capitalism for Me, But Not for Thee
The specifics of a given foundation’s investments—indeed, whether those investments are properly disclosed and itemized at all—is rather less relevant when that foundation’s grantmaking evidences wholesale antagonism to market capitalism…
The Private Investments of Private Foundations: Depoliticize Philanthropy
The point here is not that foundation investments should be politicized. They should not. Foundations should, however, abide by what appear to be unambiguous IRS transparency instructions and be prepared…