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1 week ago | 
insidephilanthropy.com | David Callahan
These are dark days for many foundations, but the staff of the Gates Foundation surely occupies some of the grimmest front row seats to the cruelty pageant that is Trump 2.0. No grantmaker works more closely with a wider array of NGOs in poor countries than Gates.
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1 week ago | 
insidephilanthropy.com | David Callahan
These are dark days for many foundations, but the staff of the Gates Foundation surely occupies some of the grimmest front row seats to the cruelty pageant that is Trump 2.0. No grantmaker works more closely with a wider array of NGOs in poor countries than Gates.
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2 weeks ago | 
insidephilanthropy.com | David Callahan
Not long ago, an executive at a top foundation told me that their institution wouldn’t “touch politics with a ten-foot pole.” They said that at the very moment that DOGE was unlawfully dynamiting vital federal support for some of their core priorities and many of their grantees were experiencing extreme trauma.
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2 weeks ago | 
insidephilanthropy.com | David Callahan
Not long ago, an executive at a top foundation told me that their institution wouldn’t “touch politics with a ten-foot pole.” They said that at the very moment that DOGE was unlawfully dynamiting vital federal support for some of their core priorities and many of their grantees were experiencing extreme trauma.
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3 weeks ago | 
insidephilanthropy.com | David Callahan
One thing I’ve noticed from several decades of hanging around liberal nonprofits and foundations is that there are roughly two types of people in these spaces: those who believe we already have all the answers we need and those who don’t. The first group tends to assume that most Americans support priorities like expanding social rights, redistributing wealth and protecting the environment.
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1 month ago | 
insidephilanthropy.com | David Callahan
It’s now been five months since the election, and I’m still waiting for a clear strategic vision to emerge from philanthropy on how to respond to Trump 2.0. Such a vision would include both defensive and offensive components — first, slowing down the MAGA juggernaut and second, addressing the drivers of right-wing authoritarianism. Some pieces of such a strategy are falling into place.
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1 month ago | 
insidephilanthropy.com | David Callahan
I founded Inside Philanthropy after 15 years of working at a think tank. And from the start, I often came at the topic as a policy wonk, asking questions like, “Where can I find data on the most effective U.S. foundations?” Or: “What studies have been done quantifying the societal benefit from the tax subsidies to the charitable sector?” Or: “How strong is public support for zero payout requirements on donor-advised funds?” I was naive.
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1 month ago | 
insidephilanthropy.com | David Callahan
I founded Inside Philanthropy after fifteen years of working at a think tank. And from the start, I often came at the topic as a policy wonk, asking questions like, “Where can I find data on the most effective U.S. foundations?” Or: “What studies have been done quantifying the societal benefit from the tax subsidies to the charitable sector?” Or: “How strong is public support for zero payout requirements on donor-advised funds?” I was naive.
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1 month ago | 
insidephilanthropy.com | David Callahan
The longer I hang around the world of foundations, the more I’m struck by their unrealized potential. On the one hand, few institutions in U.S. society can match the freedom of action enjoyed by foundations, which don’t have to answer to shareholders or voters or donors or, really, anyone. On the other, these institutions aren’t nearly as dynamic as you might expect given their wide latitude to take risks. They tend to be cautious and aren’t known for pivoting rapidly as conditions change.
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1 month ago | 
insidephilanthropy.com | David Callahan
Over the past eight years, left-of-center foundations and major donors have deployed billions of dollars to counter the rise of right-wing populism and the policies put forth by Donald Trump. While these efforts yielded important, short-term successes, liberal funders have so far failed to stop a MAGA movement that is now more powerful than ever.
