Time for a New Movement: Clamp Down on ‘The Givers’ Who Are Taking Too Much From Average Americans

Giving by the superwealthy has gotten a lot of attention these days, in no small part because of the attention journalists, scholars, and reviewers have showered on The Givers, a book by David Callahan.

The carefully researched book documents a vast, growing network of rich donors who are exercising enormous, unprecedented power and influence over politics and civil society.

While the book provides information we as citizens should all know, it also disappoints. It is not very analytical, courageous in tone, or full of useful recommendations for change.

Nonetheless, Mr. Callahan exhaustively describes how during the past 25 years multimillionaires and billionaires have acquired their wealth, focusing increasingly on philanthropy as an outlet for their money, fueled by tax subsidies, lax federal regulations, and limited oversight that would guarantee donations are put to work today to benefit all Americans.

Philanthropy and Inequity

Much of the philanthropy conducted by the superrich is behind the growing inequity in American life. Through their foundations and big gifts, they have changed the face of American politics and public policy, moving decision making away from democratic processes and institutions into more elite bastions of privilege and influence.

The Givers outlines the intricate networks of think tanks, alliances, and politicized nonprofits that wealthy donors have created to assure their increasing dominance over our society. As a result, mass-membership organizations, and ordinary local citizen groups have lost their cachet and become far less important in influencing national political affairs.

While the book discusses wealthy donors who push both liberal and conservative causes and programs, it is those who have promoted right-wing policies that command the most attention from progressive activists like me, because it is those grants that have damaged public education, social-welfare programs, and environmental protections.

The impact of the conservatives is even more infuriating because it comes just as those donors squelch demands that the rich face levies that would provide adequate levels of funding for government. Even though Mr. Callahan tries to maintain an even-handed treatment of both types of donors, it was his depiction of the right-wingers that to me popped out of his pages to cast a dark shadow over our philanthropic future.

And yet Mr. Callahan doesn’t seem overly perturbed by the scenario he has painted in which the rich receive enormous tax subsidies paid by ordinary citizens to maintain and increase their power and influence over everyone else.

He does say he is worried about this inherent disparity in power, especially since much of it will pass to future generations of these wealthy donors’ families, but he refrains from sounding the alarm. Perhaps his caution stems from a desire not to alienate wealthy donors and policy makers or because he views these developments as inevitable.

Whatever his reasons, the conclusion that most readers will reach is that our democracy is in grave danger. So grave that it is imperative for those of us who want to preserve America’s democratic institutions either to create a populist counterforce or to advocate for legislation and regulations that will limit the ability of wealthy donors to undermine democratic processes.

Big Guys in Control

Mr. Callahan says he is persuaded that philanthropy advances the cause of pluralism. That may have been the case 25 years ago, but it is difficult to justify this view today, when average citizens, local charities, and nonprofits that serve the middle class are being squeezed out of serious involvement in public-policy discussions by powerful wealthy donors and foundations.

Adding to the problem: Those charities have little chance of getting philanthropic support, given that 90 percent of foundations don’t accept unsolicited proposals and tend to give money to organizations they already know about.

The big guys are increasingly in control of what ideas are discussed, what programs get support, and where political and social influence is being exerted. While foundations and big donors still distribute their money to a variety of nonprofits and causes, their giving has clearly diluted the meaning of pluralism.

Mr. Callahan would have us believe that most very wealthy donors are nice people who want to do good things for society. That may be true for many of them, but others also are arrogant and scornful of democratic processes. Some are rigid ideologues who relish exercising power.

Though people like Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan and their wealthy colleagues insist they know what people working on causes they care about are thinking, their sources are limited to a few consultants and insiders. They are isolated, rarely taking phone calls or emails from nonprofit executives or others who have years of experience working directly on social change. With few exceptions, they don’t feel the pulse of the country. Nor is it clear they care much about what is happening outside their enclaves.

Mr. Callahan may not have had much experience leading nonprofits that solicit money from wealthy donors. But for those of us who have, in many cases it has not been a happy exercise. Many wealthy donors and corporations treat nonprofit executives with total condescension. Even for those of us who have led well-regarded and influential organizations, as I did when I headed the Center for Community Change for 23 years, donors tried to make us feel like second-class citizens. Wealthy donors are not necessarily a group of nice folks. In many cases, they are as much takers as givers.

Few Fixes

As government shrinks and some philanthropists rush in to fill the void, we need to think about reining in the power and influence of these big givers. Even though Mr. Callahan recognizes the dangers they pose to civil society and democratic institutions, he offers few serious recommendations for change, other than some weak provisions to increase their accountability and to create better oversight and enforcement mechanisms.

So what is needed? Nothing short of real structural changes in philanthropy and the tax system that encourage big donors to steer their money to charity.

Though Mr. Callahan is overly cautious in his conclusions and overly generous in his assessment of the character of superwealthy philanthropists, he deserves praise for creating a map of America’s most influential donors and the way they are increasingly grabbing power at the expense of ordinary citizens. He has provided a notable public service and a book that is worth putting on your summer reading list.

Pablo Eisenberg, a regular Chronicle contributor, is a senior fellow at the Center for Public & Nonprofit Leadership at Georgetown University’s McCourt School of Public Policy. His email address is pseisenberg@verizon.net.