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 08, 2022 Rose-Colored Glasses: The Trouble With Industry Numbers on American Generosity December 08, 2022/ Philip Rojc This time of year, we see a lot of big numbers celebrating Americans’ outsize generosity. While there are things to celebrate, such industry-generated figures often gloss over concerning trends related to inequality.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
October 03, 2022 What Are Conservation, Pollution and Ag Funders Looking For Right Now? Fundraisers Weigh In October 03, 2022/ Michael Kavate Fundraisers in these fields see opportunity and uncertainty, and many organizations are hiring to take advantage. Here are some major shifts they’ve highlighted in the funding landscape.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
August 03, 2022 Philanthropy's Scarcity Mindset Is Hurting the Sector, Not Helping It August 03, 2022/ Philip Rojc Wealthy individuals and institutions say they want to give more. Majorities of the American public and nonprofit professionals want philanthropy to give more. There’s plenty of money to give. What’s the holdup?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
June 09, 2022 Seven Things That Scare Us About the Future of Philanthropy June 09, 2022/ Philip Rojc The philanthrosphere is changing fast, and not necessarily for the better. Want to know what keeps us up at night? Here are seven of our biggest concerns about where the sector’s headed.Read More
June 06, 2022 We Surveyed Hundreds of Philanthropy Professionals. Here's What We Found June 06, 2022/ David Callahan Our latest survey of sector professionals brought some not-so-unexpected results alongside a few real surprises. Here’s where respondents stood on philanthropy reform, billionaire giving, racial justice and more.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