Retired Tech Executive Gives $10.4 Million for Responsible Technology
Plus, three universities and a mental health foundation land major donations
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
We Need to Fix Problematic Charitable Giving Laws. The Biden Administration Can Help.
It’s time to overhaul tax laws that favor wealthy white donors, encourage delayed giving, and fail to prevent nonprofit fraud and abuse.
By Roger Colinvaux
Contributor
Our Democracy Is Faltering, but We Can’t Rely on Philanthropy to Save It
When private wealth and philanthropy continually come to the rescue, we lose sight of the benefits of a representative democracy in which taxes provide for the common good and elected representatives uphold and respect the democratic process.
By Ellen Friedman
Contributor
Investors Trust the Companies They Support. Here’s How Grant Makers Can Do the Same.
Providing support that helps nonprofits improve their management and finances and removing requirements that divert attention from crucial missions is especially important in the pandemic and social upheaval now challenging nonprofits.
By Andrea Levere and Dan Nissenbaum
Childhood Experiences at 4-H Drive a Tech Executive’s Giving
Andrew and April Bosworth have made big gifts to the National 4-H Council and the Peninsula Open Space Trust.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
S.D. Businessman Gives $90 Million to 3 Human-Services Groups
Plus, Jeff Bezos pledges another $25 million to help those struggling in Washington State, and a community college in Virginia lands $2.7 million.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Philanthropy Can’t Replace Our Broken Government — but It Can Help Rebuild It
The Trump administration’s failures during the pandemic have revealed government’s essential role in protecting the public welfare. Philanthropists should work to restore that role, rather than simply stepping in to try to fill the breach.
By Loren McArthur
Contributor
Foundations That Want to Support Local Journalism Should Take a Close Look at Alt Weeklies
For relatively small investments, philanthropy could help preserve some of the most important local journalism around—and fend off growing rightwing “news” sites.
By David Wallis
Contributor
Nike’s Phil Knight was No. 2 and Priscilla and Mark Zuckerberg were No. 3 with their donations to secure the safety of the November elections.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Giving Pledge Adds Stephen Schwarzman, William Gross, and 11 Other Billionaires
The Giving Pledge announced Monday that Stephen Schwarzman, William Gross, and 11 other billionaires have committed to giving away at least half their wealth since May of last year, bringing the number who have signed the pledge to 216.
By dan.parks
Contributor
Indigenous peoples are risking their lives to protect the forests the world needs to maintain a healthy planet. But we can’t do it alone.
In Defense of the Jewish Future Pledge
Endowments like this one are not some nefarious plot to control the world from beyond the grave. They are simply a way to set aside money to protect the values and institutions we care about for future generations.
N.Y. Financier Mario Gabelli Gives Fordham $35 Million
Plus, Portland Community College lands a $5.5 million bequest from an Oregon poet that includes cash, a log cabin, and nine acres of land.
By Maria Di Mento
Senior Editor
Updated: MacKenzie Scott Surprises Scores of Nonprofits With $4.2 Billion
Some 384 organizations, including food banks, Covid relief funds, and Black colleges, received the unsolicited donations from Jeff Bezos’s ex-wife.
By dan.parks
Contributor
President Obama’s Lessons for Nonprofit Leaders: Advice From ‘A Promised Land’
The former president’s remarkable memoir is a guide for all of us who need to make difficult decisions during these especially challenging times.
By Mark J. Pelavin
Contributor
The ‘Jewish Future Pledge’ Is Not the Hanukkah Gift Philanthropy Needs
Some 200 wealthy philanthropists so far have signed a new pledge committing to devote at least half their estates’ charitable funds to Jewish causes. But this blatant effort to control the future has potentially dire consequences at a time of enormous economic struggle.
By Lila Corwin Berman
Contributor