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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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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?
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Calling itself “the community foundation for liberty,” DonorsTrust channels hundreds of millions from anonymous donors to conservative policy groups. We take a deep dive into how it works and its influence in the sector.
If neoliberalism is on its way out, what will replace it? At the end of a year of immense change, Hewlett brings its resources to bear on the question with a new five-year, $50 million initiative to succeed its Beyond Neoliberalism program.
Philanthropy has been largely passive as endless wars and soaring defense spending have diverted resources away from pressing domestic challenges. Now, in a striking collaboration, George Soros and Charles Koch aim to disrupt the status quo.
Despite the devastation caused by the 2008 crash, financial sector reform isn’t a priority for most funders. Michael Masters has bucked that trend, bankrolling one of the few policy shops in D.C. able to go toe-to-toe with industry lobbyists.
While it’s no secret that corporations see their giving as a way to both have social impact and burnish their reputations. Research has revealed a more troubling picture of how business philanthropy may be used as a tool to sway public policy.
The Gates Foundation and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative have both been ramping up anti-poverty work. Now, they’re teaming up to back a policy shop founded by one of the hottest scholars in this space: Raj Chetty.
In recent years, many foundations have put equity front and center in their work. But economic stratification only seems to be getting worse in America. Here's where funders have gone wrong.
Since its restructuring, the iconic Ford Foundation has been tackling key drivers of inequality. Xavier de Souza Briggs, who leads Ford’s economic grantmaking, gives us an in-depth look at what that means.
Richard and Elizabeth Uihlein have drawn attention as leading mega-donors to the GOP. But they’ve been equally energetic in pushing their views through philanthropy. Here’s a quick primer.
The Aspen Institute and a trustee’s family foundation have been backing leaders across social issues through an annual prize. They just raised a new $1.2 million fund to increase their support, focusing on growth opportunities in a wide range of fields.