Rockefeller Family Fund

Philanthropy
Some Suggestions for Improving the Form 990
Each year, tax-exempt, nonprofit organizations and foundations are required to file returns with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Most of these groups file Form 990, while § 501(c)(3) private foundations…
by Robert Stilson on March 28, 2022

Foundation Watch
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…
by Robert Stilson on February 17, 2022

Foundation Watch
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…
by Robert Stilson on February 17, 2022

Foundation Watch
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…
by Robert Stilson on February 17, 2022

Foundation Watch
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…
by Robert Stilson on February 17, 2022

CRC in the News, Green Watch
Climate Groups Take Radical Agenda to Court
Robert Stilson appeared on Rob Schmitt Tonight on Newsmax to discuss current efforts by some environmentalist, frustrated by the lack of progress on their priorities, to sidestep the political process by…
by Robert Stilson on May 26, 2021

Green Watch
Activist Groups Pushing Government Climate Change Lawsuits
Some environmental activists, frustrated by the lack of progress on their priorities through that process, are instead attempting to sidestep the political process by turning to the courts. One strategy…
by Robert Stilson on April 30, 2021

Charity and Welfare
The Rockefellers’ war against oil and gas
This article was originally posted at Philanthropy Daily. It’s usually the case that no one knows who the great-grandchildren of a great philanthropist are. I know, for…
by Martin Morse Wooster† on December 30, 2016

Green Watch
The Climate Change Oligarchy
I’ve noted in the past how environmentalists have decided the best way to prove they are right is to call for bans on those who disagree with them.
by Martin Morse Wooster† on September 4, 2016

Foundation Watch
Rockefeller’s Dubious “Resilience” Push
(PDF here) The Rockefeller Foundation is trying not to show its age by wrapping itself in the wisps of “new ideas” it hopes will cover up its failure…
by Martin Morse Wooster† on April 19, 2016