Dan Petegorsky

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Articles

The Independent Report on DAFs

2 weeks ago | scheerpost.com | Chuck Collins |Helen Flannery |Dan Petegorsky |Bella DeVaan

By Chuck Collins, Helen Flannery, Dan Petegorsky, and Bella DeVaan / Inequality.orgThirty years ago, donor-advised funds (or DAFs) were relatively obscure giving vehicles housed in a small set of community foundations. Today, they’re central players in U.S. charitable giving — and have rocketed to dominance. DAFs now take in a sixth of all individual giving each year. And nine of the top 20 recipients of charitable gifts in the country — including the top three — are DAF sponsors.
The Independent Report on DAFs

2 weeks ago | inequality.org | Chuck Collins |Helen Flannery |Dan Petegorsky |Bella DeVaan

Our Charity Reform Initiative’s first annual Independent Report on DAFs demystifies donor-advised funds and their impacts on charitable giving, fair taxation, and our democracy itself. The DAF LandscapeDAFs are financial accounts managed by nonprofit organizations, which are called “sponsors.” Donors can give money to a personal DAF account and take an immediate tax deduction for that gift, since they’re technically giving to a public charity.
How One Donor-Advised Fund Helps Leonard Leo Weaponize Philanthropy

Sep 30, 2024 | portside.org | Dan Petegorsky

How One Donor-Advised Fund Helps Leonard Leo Weaponize Philanthropy Published September 29, 2024 In 2020, conservative judicial mastermind Leonard Leo stepped away from his role running the Federalist Society. Just a couple of short years later he’s emerged as the dark money kingpin of a $1.6 billion fund called the Marble Freedom Trust.
How One Donor-Advised Fund Helps Leonard Leo Weaponize Philanthropy

Sep 26, 2024 | inequality.org | Dan Petegorsky

The new letter is a warning. Leo is ratcheting up his commitment to weaponize political philanthropy, and his beneficiaries better get with the program — or expect his support to wither away. After the Fund concludes a review this fall, prior 85 Fund grantees will find out if their programs are sufficiently weaponized to merit future funding. Leo’s expanding influence over the conservative movement has headline-worthy political implications, receiving expanding coverage.
New Donor-Advised Fund Tech Raises Old Concerns

Aug 9, 2024 | inequality.org | Dan Petegorsky

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New Poll, Old News: Philanthropy Lobby Is Still Out of Step with Public Opinion on Charity Reform

Mar 20, 2024 | insidephilanthropy.com | Chuck Collins |Dan Petegorsky

A new national Ipsos poll illuminates that there is broad and nonpartisan support for changes in laws governing charitable giving. The March 2024 poll was the product of a common-ground collaboration between Inequality.org and The Giving Review.
National Donor-Advised Funds Are Hiding Behind Donation Processors to Make Themselves Look Better

Mar 18, 2024 | inequality.org | Helen Flannery |Dan Petegorsky

National donor-advised fund sponsors — particularly those affiliated with for-profit wealth management firms — often claim that they “democratize giving” by making foundation-style grantmaking available to a wider range of donors. But by blending their numbers with those of pass-through organizations like workplace giving funds and mass donation processors, they are making themselves look more egalitarian than they actually are.
Ranting Billionaire Makes Unwitting Case for Charity Reform

Jan 24, 2024 | inequality.org | Dan Petegorsky

Billionaire hedge fund mogul Bill Ackman’s been busy lately. He’s waging an increasingly unhinged and pathetic campaign against MIT — its faculty, directors, and any reporters bold enough to challenge him –- and strong-arming his preferred presidential candidates. But let’s set all these antics aside for a moment: Ackman’s power tripping has brought to light an important and glaring failure in the regulation of donor-advised funds (DAFs).
A Perfect Example of Donor-Advised Fund Slipperiness in Silicon Valley

Aug 4, 2023 | inequality.org | Dan Petegorsky

We’ve written about how journalists and philanthropy commentators need to become much more skeptical when reporting on (or simply regurgitating) press releases by major industry players. Inside Philanthropy’s Philip Rojc has flagged this “rose-colored glasses” phenomenon as well.
Here We Go Again, Again With the Commercial Donor-Advised Fund Industry

Aug 3, 2023 | inequality.org | Dan Petegorsky

What they don’t tell you – and what’s never apparent until much, much later, because they refuse to tell reporters either – is that they’re continuing to squirrel away money intended for charities at a far greater clip than they’re giving it away. The latest entry is Schwab Charitable – the same outfit we profiled in January when they reported on their 2022 figures. Now they’re at it again, this time reporting – or rather, partially reporting – on their 2023 fiscal year, which ended in June.