January 25, 2024 As the Gates Foundation's Budget Balloons, More U.S. Grantmaking Should Be On the Table January 25, 2024/ Philip Rojc Gates’ largest annual budget ever stands at $8.6 billion, but that’s just a starting point for what it might have to spend if it’s going to sunset. With so much room to maneuver, why not look into a broader range of U.S. causes?Read More
January 18, 2024 As We Enter a New Era of Checkbook Philanthropy, Can Donors Avoid the Pitfalls of the Old One? January 18, 2024/ Philip Rojc Giving without rigorous strategy or metrics was once the target of ridicule, but lately, we’ve seen a move toward more ad hoc forms of giving with few strings attached. Will this approach advance social justice? Read More
December 21, 2023 Six Problems Philanthropy Barely Tried to Solve in 2023 December 21, 2023/ Philip Rojc To some extent, trying and failing to solve big problems comes with the territory of philanthropy. But sometimes, funders fail even to try, paying scant attention to issues well worth their dollars. Here are examples from this year.Read More
December 14, 2023 Ultra-Wealthy Donors to Watch: Who Took the Giving Pledge in 2023? December 14, 2023/ Philip Rojc The Giving Pledge hasn’t done much to shrink billionaires’ fortunes, but it does tell us a lot about who is planning to embark on large-scale philanthropy and what they support. Here are the seven new signatories from 2023.Read More
December 07, 2023 Six Reasons Why Effective Altruism Isn't Going Anywhere December 07, 2023/ Philip Rojc Despite the bruising it’s taken over the past year, the giving movement still ticks some key boxes that’ll likely give it the momentum to continue playing a prominent role in philanthropy, like it or not.Read More
November 30, 2023 A Look Back at the Giving of Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett's Right-Hand Man November 30, 2023/ Philip Rojc The legacy of the late Charlie Munger, second-in-command at Berkshire Hathaway, will be closely connected to that of his business partner. But his philanthropic record was quite different from Warren Buffett’s.Read More
October 31, 2023 Vague Pledges Notwithstanding, Top Billionaires Remain a Stingy Lot October 31, 2023/ Philip Rojc Surging billionaire wealth again forms the backdrop to Forbes’ updated philanthropy scores for 2023. The question remains: Will the super-rich ever get around to giving at the scale they claim they’re aiming for?Read More
October 25, 2023 With Congress in Turmoil, Philanthropy Reform Seems Unlikely — Which Is How the Sector Likes It October 25, 2023/ Philip Rojc After a scare this summer, the old bet that a preoccupied Congress won’t take up philanthropy reform still seems to be paying off. But how long can that last? And what does the sector lose by forever forestalling sensible reform?Read More
October 13, 2023 The Passing of Chuck Feeney Raises the Question: Why Haven’t There Been More Chuck Feeneys? October 13, 2023/ Philip Rojc The late Chuck Feeney’s achievement — actually giving away his billions while alive — remains unrivaled. Now that “giving while living” is a common mantra, why haven’t more megadonors stepped up in the same way?Read More
September 27, 2023 This Couple Just Won One of Conservative Philanthropy’s Top Prizes. What Are They Into? September 27, 2023/ Philip Rojc A passion for private education and entrepreneurship drives the giving of Laura and Jeff Sandefer, who won the 2023 Simon-DeVos Prize for Philanthropic Leadership. Here’s a look at what they back and what they’ve founded.Read More
August 03, 2023 Still an Apex Donor? What's Changing, and Staying the Same, About Jack Dorsey's Giving August 03, 2023/ Philip Rojc Jack Dorsey’s star has faded somewhat since he became a high-profile megadonor back in 2021, but his philanthropy is still going strong. We take a look at what Start Small is backing these days. Read More
July 20, 2023 Foundations Are Giving More and More Money to DAFs. Is That a Problem? July 20, 2023/ Philip Rojc New numbers show the foundation-to-DAF pipeline growing at a rapid rate. That raises a big question: Is the foundation payout requirement now essentially meaningless? It’s a debate that cuts to the core of the sector.Read More
July 13, 2023 Fair-Weather Friends? Progressive Nonprofits' Dangerous Dependence on the Liberal Rich July 13, 2023/ Philip Rojc As left-of-center groups grow ever more reliant on big funders, is there a price to be paid? If and when the liberal donor class pulls back, the fallout may leave its beneficiaries impoverished in multiple ways.Read More
June 29, 2023 Why Philanthropy’s a Bigger Deal Than You Might Think June 29, 2023/ Philip Rojc Charitable giving is often cast as a relatively tiny component of funding for social goods and services. But when you compare the latest numbers to discretionary government spending, it’s actually not that far behind. Read More
June 14, 2023 Taking the Reins, Alex Soros Inherits Substantial Power, Unanswered Questions at OSF June 14, 2023/ Philip Rojc Having succeeded his famous father as chair of Open Society Foundations, Alexander Soros has big shoes to fill, and major challenges to tackle. Here’s what we know — and don’t know — about how he’ll handle it.Read More
June 08, 2023 Philanthropy Does a Lot of Navel-Gazing. Is That Accomplishing Anything? June 08, 2023/ Philip Rojc The philanthropy sector is often self-obsessed about the work it’s doing and how it might be perceived, lost in minutiae as the outside public looks on mostly in confusion. Is this doing more harm than good?Read More
June 01, 2023 Can Philanthropy Ever Truly Be Democratized? Here Are Three Things Standing in the Way June 01, 2023/ Philip Rojc There’s been a lot of talk, and some action, around making the sector more egalitarian. But are we all kidding ourselves? Here are some inconvenient truths standing in the way of philanthropic democratization.Read More
May 25, 2023 Freedom Dreaming: A New Collaborative Invites Philanthropy to Reimagine Itself May 25, 2023/ Philip Rojc Philanthropy likes to think of itself as a space for big ideas, but so often falls short of that ideal. A new collaborative is challenging the sector to reimagine its role in the pursuit of collective liberation.Read More
May 23, 2023 Major Philanthropy Sector Groups Are Dragging Their Feet or Outright Opposing DAF Reform. Why Is That? May 23, 2023/ Philip Rojc Donor-advised funds undermine philanthropy’s regulatory framework, and Americans are increasingly unhappy about it. We went looking for some clarity on trade groups’ stances around closing this huge loophole.Read More
May 11, 2023 The End of Philanthropic History and that Pluralism Op-Ed May 11, 2023/ Philip Rojc Foundation leaders recently published a controversial op-ed calling for “philanthropic pluralism.” It’s all too reminiscent of a similarly derided argument holding up the American system as the accepted status quo.Read More