Helen Flannery, Inequality.org Journalist Profile

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.
DAFs Are America’s Top Charities

4 weeks ago | ips-dc.org | Helen Flannery |Caleb Crowder

Some of the operating nonprofits on our list — such as the United Way and Stanford University — sponsor DAF programs as well, but we did not categorize them as sponsors because their DAF programs are tiny compared to their other fundraising. In addition, neither our list nor Forbes’ list include religious organizations, as they are not required to make their financial information public. What are these DAFs, anyway?
DAFs Are America's Top Charities

4 weeks ago | inequality.org | Helen Flannery

Some of the operating nonprofits on our list — such as the United Way and Stanford University — sponsor DAF programs as well, but we did not categorize them as sponsors because their DAF programs are tiny compared to their other fundraising. In addition, neither our list nor Forbes’ list include religious organizations, as they are not required to make their financial information public. What are these DAFs, anyway?
DAFs Gave $17 Billion … to Other DAFs

1 month ago | ips-dc.org | Helen Flannery |Caleb Crowder

Last year, we looked at the amount of money granted from one national donor-advised fund to another. This year, we have expanded our analysis to look at the money being granted between all donor-advised funds. We found more than $16.8 billion in grants between donor-advised funds over the four years from 2020 to 2023, and $4.4 billion in grants in 2023 alone. Donor-advised funds, or DAFs, are financial accounts managed by charities. When a charity manages a DAF, it is called a DAF sponsor.
DAFs Gave $17 Billion... to Other DAFs

1 month ago | inequality.org | Helen Flannery

Last year, we looked at the amount of money granted from one national donor-advised fund to another. This year, we have expanded our analysis to look at the money being granted between all donor-advised funds. We found more than $16.8 billion in grants between donor-advised funds over the four years from 2020 to 2023, and $4.4 billion in grants in 2023 alone. Why should we care about DAF-to-DAF grants? Donor-advised funds, or DAFs, are financial accounts managed by charities.
DAFs and Foundations Could Be Eating Up Half of U.S. Individual Donations by 2028

Jan 16, 2025 | inequality.org | Helen Flannery

As more charitable giving comes from our country’s wealthiest donors, more of that giving is going into charitable intermediaries like private foundations and donor-advised funds. These two giving vehicles work a little bit differently from each other, but they have one key thing in common. Donors can take tax deductions up front when they put money into them, but then the money can sit, building up, for a very long time before making its way out to charities on the ground.
As More Donations Pour into Donor-Advised Funds, Which Charities Will Get Left Behind?

Dec 2, 2024 | inequality.org | Helen Flannery

A new study finds that donor-advised funds are changing the nature of charitable giving in the U.S. — both what gets funded, and how. Donors who do their giving through donor-advised funds, or DAFs, tend to give to different causes than do donors who give directly to operating charities. DAF donors give disproportionately more to educational and religious organizations, and less to human service and healthcare organizations.
Inside the World of Fossil Fuel Philanthropy

Oct 9, 2024 | znetwork.org | Chuck Collins |Helen Flannery |Bella DeVaan

For years, the fossil fuel industry has laundered false claims and junk science through allied think tanks and the media in an effort to slow public action on climate change. That scandal has attracted more and more attention over the years. But less well documented is how the funders of these efforts have used U.S. laws to make taxpayers subsidize this damaging misinformation: Through our philanthropy system.
Inside the World of Fossil Fuel Philanthropy

Oct 9, 2024 | counterpunch.org | Chuck Collins |Helen Flannery |Bella DeVaan

For years, the fossil fuel industry has laundered false claims and junk science through allied think tanks and the media in an effort to slow public action on climate change. That scandal has attracted more and more attention over the years. But less well documented is how the funders of these efforts have used U.S. laws to make taxpayers subsidize this damaging misinformation: Through our philanthropy system.