March 07, 2023 How Can Nonprofits Access the Fortune Sitting in Community Foundation DAF Accounts? March 07, 2023/ Mike Scutari Donors are pouring money into DAFs managed by community foundations at a furious clip. Three community foundation leaders share tips on how nonprofits can put their work in front of philanthropic advisors and donors.Read More
February 09, 2023 Behold the Philanthrosphere: A Wild, Wondrous World February 09, 2023/ Philip Rojc The philanthropic ecosystem is verdant, teeming with life, and often quite treacherous. IP’s Philip Rojc channels his inner Attenborough to document the many inhabitants of this strange and fascinating landscape.Read More
February 02, 2023 Four Things We Actually Like About DAFs February 02, 2023/ Philip Rojc Donor-advised funds are the target of a lot of criticism, including in the pages of Inside Philanthropy — and for good reason. But setting aside their worst flaws, we have to admit that DAFs have a lot to offer. Read More
January 30, 2023 How the DAF Industry Controls the Data and Attempts to Control the Narrative January 30, 2023/ Dan Petegorsky, Guest Contributor Donor-advised fund sponsors like to present an upbeat picture of their field. In this guest piece, Dan Petegorsky makes a case for why that can be misleading — and how the DAF industry tilts the story in its favor.Read More
January 24, 2023 For-Profit Philanthropy Is Eroding the Legal Foundations of Charitable Giving January 24, 2023/ Dana Brakman Reiser and Steven A. Dean, Guest Contributors Alternative vehicles like LLCs and DAFs are reducing donors’ reliance on the traditional foundation. Authors of a new book on the topic outline how this undermines the legal basis of philanthropy — and what we can do about it.Read More
January 19, 2023 In Defense of the Foundation January 19, 2023/ Philip Rojc The incorporated and staffed foundation, often operating in perpetuity, has been outpaced in recent years by alternative vehicles for giving. While they can be a bit stodgy, foundations still play a critical role in civil society. Read More
January 04, 2023 The Answer to Smarter Philanthropy Can Be Found in a DAF Intermediary January 04, 2023/ Casey van der Stricht, Guest Contributor While more people are taking advantage of donor-advised funds, they could be making a greater impact. Casey van der Stricht of the Solve Innovation Future Fund at MIT offers a path for donors to invest in social innovators.Read More
December 21, 2022 Philanthropy Trend Watch: A Few Ways the Sector Is Changing for the Better — and the Worse December 21, 2022/ Philip Rojc As the year draws to a close, we take a look at some developments in philanthropy that have us feeling optimistic about the future, and others that are less encouraging. Read More
December 01, 2022 Three Questions We Have About a Philanthropic Future Dominated by DAFs December 01, 2022/ Philip Rojc As of last year, American donors are putting quite a lot more into donor-advised funds than they are into foundations. Even as calls for reform persist, we consider what the future might look like should this trend continue.Read More
November 09, 2022 Do the Forbes Philanthropy Scores Give Foundation Donors Too Much Credit? November 09, 2022/ Chuck Collins and Helen Flannery, Guest Contributors Forbes has made a valiant effort to improve its rankings of billionaire philanthropy. However, guest authors from the Charity Reform Initiative argue that the scores still paint a somewhat inflated picture of generosity.Read More
October 11, 2022 IP Explainer: Is the Growth of Donor-Advised Funds (DAFs) a Good or Bad Thing? October 11, 2022/ IP Staff Philanthropy is difficult to navigate. That’s why we’ve produced a series of explainers to demystify the basics. Today, we summarize another key debate happening in the sector: the question of donor-advised funds.Read More
August 30, 2022 Is Everything Really So Underfunded? Or Are We Relying on Bad Data? August 30, 2022/ Philip Rojc We hear it all the time: yet another critical cause is getting a tiny sliver of charitable dollars. While the claim often reflects reality, it’s also the case that a lack of transparency is giving us a shaky picture of philanthropic priorities.Read More
August 29, 2022 IP Explainer: What Is a Donor-Advised Fund? August 29, 2022/ IP Staff The philanthrosphere is abuzz about donor-advised funds, powerful giving platforms that are controversial for their lenient rules on transparency and payout. In our latest IP Explainer, we unpack what a DAF is and how it works.Read More
July 27, 2022 Big Giving, a Down Market, and Continued Calls for Reform: The Latest in the DAF Debate July 27, 2022/ Mike Scutari New reports show that charitable giving through DAFs surged in the first half of 2022. We dig into the data, the latest calls for DAF reform, and what it means for fundraisers navigating a challenging economic climate.Read More
May 31, 2022 This Funding Initiative Has a Singular Goal: To Encourage Major Donors to Boost Their Giving May 31, 2022/ Connie Matthiessen The Crisis Charitable Commitment was created to hold funders to a higher standard. As in, give more. It recently debuted a slate of shovel-ready giving opportunities, including an advocacy push for higher taxes on the ultra-rich.Read More
April 28, 2022 Why a Former NFL Player Turned to Philanthropy — Then Helped His Peers to Do the Same April 28, 2022/ Ade Adeniji Veteran NFL kicker Matt Stover runs a family foundation focused on Baltimore. But he also co-founded Players Philanthropy Fund, which provides fiscal sponsorship and DAF hosting for other athlete donors.Read More
August 18, 2021 We’re Pushing for DAF Reform—But Far More Is Needed August 18, 2021/ Alan S. Davis, Guest Contributor In this guest post, the founder of the Crisis Charitable Commitment discusses a new initiative targeting large donor-advised funds and DAF sponsors. But he also reminds us that DAFs are just one part of a much larger problem.Read More
July 27, 2021 New Research Suggests DAF Payout Is Worse Than We Thought July 27, 2021/ Chuck Collins and Helen Flannery, Guest Contributors A report from the Council of Michigan Foundations offers rare insight into donor-advised fund activity at the individual account level. Guest authors from the Charity Reform Initiative say the findings underscore the need for reform.Read More
March 25, 2021 To Support an Equitable Recovery, Donor-Advised Funds Should Look Beyond Grantmaking March 25, 2021/ Tracy Palandjian and Danny Grossman, Guest Contributors An equitable recovery from the pandemic demands financial support that goes far beyond grantmaking. Tracy Palandjian and Danny Grossman share new research on how DAFs can use their investments to make an impact.Read More
March 03, 2021 DAF Numbers Obscure Who’s Giving and How Much March 03, 2021/ Dan Petegorsky, Guest Contributor A common defense of donor-advised funds is that they are allowing more small donors to engage in philanthropy. In this guest opinion piece, Dan Petegorsky argues that the numbers are misleading, and calls for greater transparency.Read More