March 09, 2023 Salesforce Stumbles, but Its Equity-Focused Philanthropy Marches On March 09, 2023/ Connie Matthiessen The tech giant has hit rocky terrain of late, but the company’s philanthropy continues to move millions. Its Catalyst Fund is supporting Black-led nonprofits promoting leadership and job skills for young people of color. Read More
February 02, 2023 Sergey Brin's Off-the-Radar Foundation Is Huge — and Growing Fast. Here’s What We Know About It February 02, 2023/ Michael Kavate Sergey Brin’s foundation has nearly $5 billion in assets and a portfolio spanning Parkinson’s disease, science and activism. It’s not known for transparency, but we do know a fair amount about what it supports and why.Read More
December 22, 2022 Meet 20 Top Donors of Color from the Tech Industry December 22, 2022/ Ade Adeniji The booming tech industry has yielded scores of wealthy philanthropists, based in Silicon Valley and beyond. That includes many rising donors of color. Here’s a list of generous givers to watch. Read More
December 07, 2022 A Tech Winner Seeks Policy Change to Advance Racial Justice in the Industry December 07, 2022/ Paul Karon The Kapor Foundation has launched a multipronged initiative to allow communities of color access to the employment, economic and other benefits of the $2 trillion technology sector.Read More
November 21, 2022 FTX Collapsed and Sam Bankman-Fried’s Wealth Vaporized. Where Does Effective Altruism Stand? November 21, 2022/ Mike Scutari The EA field is at a crossroads in the aftermath of the FTX meltdown. We take a look at the movement’s pre-collapse identity crisis, SBF’s outsized influence, and where EA goes from here now that he’s out of the picture.Read More
November 17, 2022 Will Jeff Bezos Disrupt Philanthropy Like He Disrupted Retail? It's Doubtful November 17, 2022/ Philip Rojc Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sanchez announced this week they will give most of the Amazon founder’s fortune away. Staggering dollar amounts aside, we can likely expect a fairly conventional philanthropic project. Read More
November 16, 2022 The Philanthropic Fallout from the Collapse of FTX and Sam Bankman-Fried November 16, 2022/ Michael Kavate As the crash of cryptocurrency exchange FTX continues to reverberate, who is being impacted most by the fiasco? And what are the larger implications for billionaire philanthropy?Read More
November 09, 2022 A Tech-Focused Family Foundation Takes a Cerebral Approach to Education Funding November 09, 2022/ Connie Matthiessen The Siegel Family Endowment’s inquiry-driven approach to education philanthropy reflects its founder’s scientific roots. Here’s how the foundation makes its decisions and what it funds.Read More
November 01, 2022 Political Will and Philanthropy Align to Address a Malnutrition Crisis November 01, 2022/ Liz Longley A perfect storm of global events is contributing to a malnutrition crisis. Two collaborative efforts to combat hunger launched recently, backed by several private funders. Here are the details. Read More
September 29, 2022 Billionaires Are Still Stingy, but There May Be Grounds for Hope September 29, 2022/ Philip Rojc A flagging stock market has probably been the biggest contributor to billionaires’ modestly improved giving ratios this year. But while the super-rich still don’t give away much, there’s also a growing list of interesting exceptions.Read More
September 28, 2022 Three Things to Know About a Big Gift From Airbnb Billionaire Brian Chesky September 28, 2022/ Ade Adeniji One of the three Airbnb founders, Chesky is worth more than $8 billion and signed the Giving Pledge in his 30s. What can we expect from his philanthropy? A donation in partnership with Barack Obama offers some insight.Read More
September 26, 2022 “Our Focus Is on the Children.” A Software Giant Ups Its Commitment to Public Schools September 26, 2022/ Connie Matthiessen Salesforce’s latest round of education funding zeroes in on mental health and resilient schools. It’s praiseworthy support, but begs the question: why is so much private backing for public schools even necessary?Read More
September 21, 2022 This Bay Area Billionaire’s Foundation Is Booming. Here’s What We Know About Crankstart September 21, 2022/ Michael Kavate A market boom and billions from venture capitalist Michael Moritz have catapulted Crankstart into one of the nation’s biggest grantmakers. Here’s where the money’s headed and who’s calling the shots.Read More
August 10, 2022 Next in Line: 11 Young Giving Pledgers to Watch August 10, 2022/ Ade Adeniji The Giving Pledge has been taken up by super-rich donors ranging from their 30s through their 90s. While many younger pledgers have given in a relatively modest way to date, there’s a lot more where that came from.Read More
July 07, 2022 Ultra-Wealthy Donors to Watch: Who’s Taken the Giving Pledge So Far in 2022? July 07, 2022/ Philip Rojc Although its usefulness as a prod for vastly larger billionaire giving is debatable, the Giving Pledge remains a window into the continued evolution of big-donor philanthropy as a practice. Here’s who’s taken the pledge so far this year.Read More
June 10, 2022 Why Open Philanthropy’s Backing This Evidence-Based Solution for Safe Water June 10, 2022/ Liz Longley Open Philanthropy and GiveWell are bringing their close-knit effective altruist partnership to bear on the problem of unsafe water. Here’s how they’re helping provide community chlorine dispensers to several African countries.Read More
June 08, 2022 What Can We Expect From Sheryl Sandberg’s Philanthropic Pivot? June 08, 2022/ Mike Scutari Sheryl Sandberg recently announced she’ll be leaving Meta to devote more time to philanthropy. We take a look at what that support may look like, and what the response says about current attitudes toward philanthropy.Read More
May 23, 2022 Five Things John Doerr’s Book Tells Us About His Climate Philanthropy and Politics May 23, 2022/ Michael Kavate John Doerr’s star is rising as a climate mega-donor after a recent $1.1 billion donation to Stanford. In this review of his latest book, “Speed & Scale,” we look at what’s informing his climate giving — and what he’s leaving out.Read More
May 12, 2022 Bill Gates Rebranded Himself a Philanthropist. What Would It Look Like for Elon Musk to Do the Same? May 12, 2022/ Philip Rojc When the annals of today’s new Gilded Age philanthropy are written, where will Elon Musk stand relative to Bill Gates, MacKenzie Scott and the rest? And whose more expansive definition of philanthropy will win out?Read More
May 10, 2022 What If Five Top Tech Billionaires Emulated MacKenzie Scott's Approach to Giving? May 10, 2022/ Mike Scutari When MacKenzie Scott embarked on her innovative philanthropic project two years ago, we wondered if her approach would capture the imaginations of other tech billionaires. It didn’t. But what if it miraculously did?Read More