What a Big Gift to the Heritage Foundation Says About the State of Conservative Philanthropy

What a Big Gift to the Heritage Foundation Says About the State of Conservative Philanthropy

The Diana Davis Spencer Foundation recently committed $25 million to the Heritage Foundation, not surprising giving its longtime support. But the gift also reflects tensions in conservative giving.

Read More

Arts, Education, Conservative Policy and More. How the Kovners Are Tapping a Hedge Fund Fortune

Arts, Education, Conservative Policy and More. How the Kovners Are Tapping a Hedge Fund Fortune

Bruce and Suzie Kovner are major backers of arts institutions like the Juilliard School, along with several right-leaning think tanks. The New York couple’s giving holds some interesting twists too.

Read More

Billionaire Paul Singer Is an Activist Investor, GOP Megadonor and Philanthropist. What Does He Fund?

Billionaire Paul Singer Is an Activist Investor, GOP Megadonor and Philanthropist. What Does He Fund?

Ultra-wealthy investor and GOP power broker Paul Elliott Singer has a sizable foundation that backs Jewish causes, conservative think tanks and more. Here’s what we know.

Read More

After Pooling Their Money to Take on Corporate Monopoly, Funders See Signs of Progress

After Pooling Their Money to Take on Corporate Monopoly, Funders See Signs of Progress

The Economic Security Project’s Antimonopoly Fund spent three years backing a variety of fronts in the battle against bigness. The movement has notched some wins, but will funders stick with it over the long haul?

Read More

Think Tank Leaders Don't Lack for Ideas, But Fundraising Can Still Be Brutal

Think Tank Leaders Don't Lack for Ideas, But Fundraising Can Still Be Brutal

Think tanks play a vital role in philanthropy’s efforts to incubate ideas and affect the course of policy. But on the left at least, many think tank leaders find themselves perennially chasing grants.

Read More

Crusaders: The Philanthropic Funders That Helped Bring an End to Roe v. Wade

Crusaders: The Philanthropic Funders That Helped Bring an End to Roe v. Wade

Seeing themselves as underdogs in an increasingly ungodly nation, zealous anti-abortion funders played a role in conservatives’ long quest for philanthropic leverage. For them, the Supreme Court has been a choice prize.

Read More

What Can Philanthropy Do to Curb Polarization? A Conversation with Steve Teles

What Can Philanthropy Do to Curb Polarization? A Conversation with Steve Teles

IP Editor David Callahan talks with political scientist Steve Teles about the surprisingly plentiful opportunities for funders to work across the ideological divide on issues like housing, criminal justice and more.

Read More

Dear MacKenzie and Dan: Advice for America’s Biggest Donors

Dear MacKenzie and Dan: Advice for America’s Biggest Donors

IP founder David Callahan lays out some big ideas for how MacKenzie Scott and her husband Dan Jewett can build on their historic philanthropy to better take on America’s entrenched economic and political inequality.

Read More

Philanthropists Make a Splash Paying off Student Loans, but Few Are Pushing for Debt Cancellation

Philanthropists Make a Splash Paying off Student Loans, but Few Are Pushing for Debt Cancellation

Students are naturally euphoric when a big donor steps in and pays off their debt. But even as the federal government mulls cancellations that might help millions, philanthropic support for advocacy around the issue is paltry at best.

Read More

Where's David Rockefeller When We Need Him? Ukraine and the Case for Peacebuilding

Where's David Rockefeller When We Need Him? Ukraine and the Case for Peacebuilding

Philanthropic funding for global peace and security has been trending down for a long time. Will the war in Ukraine make a difference? And how should peacebuilding philanthropy evolve to face 21st-century problems?

Read More

Round Four: Here’s What You Need to Know About MacKenzie Scott's Latest List of Gifts

Round Four: Here’s What You Need to Know About MacKenzie Scott's Latest List of Gifts

At long last, our two-time winner for Philanthropist of the Year has dropped another Medium post—this time with the names of grantees included. Here are some key takeaways.

Read More

Five Things to Know About MacKenzie Scott’s Latest Round of Gifts

Five Things to Know About MacKenzie Scott’s Latest Round of Gifts

The groundbreaking grantmaker left it to her latest grantees to publicize their gifts—or not. Since then, there’s been a steady stream of gift announcements, some of them massive. Here’s what you need to know.

Read More

Here's What Stands Out About Hewlett's Brainy Bid to Push Past Neoliberalism

Here's What Stands Out About Hewlett's Brainy Bid to Push Past Neoliberalism

The Hewlett Foundation is on a quest to fund a new “intellectual paradigm” that’ll replace neoliberalism and ground the future economy. It complements other economic justice funding, but is a clear outlier.

Read More

Lots of Climate Funders Back One of Real Estate’s Most Influential Professional Networks. What Gives?

Lots of Climate Funders Back One of Real Estate’s Most Influential Professional Networks. What Gives?

Why do so many climate funders back the Urban Land Institute, a major professional network for the emissions-heavy real estate sector? We take a look at this intriguing corner of philanthropy.

Read More

How MacArthur Is Winding Down 40 Years of Nuclear Security Funding

How MacArthur Is Winding Down 40 Years of Nuclear Security Funding

The MacArthur Foundation has funded global nuclear security since the 1980s, and is now in the process of wrapping up the program as one of its “big bets.” We take a look at its capstone nuclear funding, and the state of the field.

Read More

In 2022, Philanthropy Must Engage Decisively with Political Violence

In 2022, Philanthropy Must Engage Decisively with Political Violence

Today’s civic environment is a tinderbox for political violence that demands philanthropy’s attention. Guest authors Rachel Brown, Sadia Hameed and Heather Hurlburt diagnose the problem and offer next steps.

Read More

What Makes Funder Collaboratives Work? The Fund for a Safer Future Looks Back on Its First Decade

What Makes Funder Collaboratives Work? The Fund for a Safer Future Looks Back on Its First Decade

Collaborative funding is gaining steam, and the Fund for a Safer Future has been at it longer than most. Guest authors Tim Daly and Scott Moyer share lessons from 10 years of collaborative grantmaking for gun violence prevention.

Read More

An Ambitious New Commission Sets Out to Diagnose Civil Society’s Ills. But Will It Make a Difference?

An Ambitious New Commission Sets Out to Diagnose Civil Society’s Ills. But Will It Make a Difference?

Debuting with the somewhat tone-deaf goal of galvanizing middle and lower-class giving, a new 17-member commission wants to tackle some of the sector’s toughest conundrums. Whether it’ll manage that is uncertain.

Read More

Financial Sector Oversight Is Crucial to Tackling Inequality. So Where Is Philanthropy?

Financial Sector Oversight Is Crucial to Tackling Inequality. So Where Is Philanthropy?

Philanthropic funders are mostly ignoring a key lever in the fight against poverty: financial sector oversight and regulation. While the industry lobby is formidable, increased attention could help protect hard-won local gains.

Read More

Who’s Funding the Climate Counter-Movement?

Who’s Funding the Climate Counter-Movement?

Long-running funding from a few dozen foundations helped create and sustain the network of organizations that push climate denialism, disinformation and delay. Movement scholar Robert Brulle fills us in.

Read More