Community Foundations Report 41% Bump in Grants From Donor-Advised Funds
For every dollar that came in to a community foundation’s donor-advised fund in 2020, 87 cents went out.
By Michael Theis
Contributor
Donor-Advised-Fund Claims Spark Pushback From Critics
Fidelity’s announced last week that its donors directed $9.1 billion to charity last year; still, critics say donor-advised-fund sponsors exaggerated how much money is actually flowing to working charities.
By Alex Daniels
Senior Editor, Foundations
Fidelity Charitable Donors Channeled $9.1 Billion to Charities Amid the Pandemic
That is a surge of 24 percent and comes as the biggest donor-advised fund sponsor received more than $14 billion in 2020. Still, charities say they are struggling to meet needs and have made many job cuts.
By Glenn Gamboa
Associated Press
A Close Look at the Pooled Funds That Are Shaking Up Philanthropy
Organizers of pooled funds and other efforts to get foundations to collaborate have used them as a test bed for changes they’d like to see in philanthropy.
By Alex Daniels
Senior Editor, Foundations
‘Hate Groups’ Received Millions From 351 Charities and Foundations, Chronicle Review Finds
Foundations and donor-advised funds directed more than $50 million in charitable funds from 2013 and 2018 to nonprofits designated by the Southern Poverty Law Center as hate groups.
By Michael Theis
Contributor
Donor-Advised Funds Channeled 30% More Dollars to Charities in First Half of 2020
People with advised funds provided $8.3 billion over the first six months of 2020 compared with the same time in 2019, according to a new report from the National Philanthropic Trust.
By Michael Theis
Contributor
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
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
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.
Community Foundations Wrestle Over Whether to Accept Government Help
With Congress negotiating a renewal of the Paycheck Protection Program, debate may rise anew within community foundation over whether their pursuit of the loans would siphon funds from service-providing nonprofits.
By Alex Daniels and Michael Theis
Plan to Boost Donor Payout Faces Long Odds in Congress, but Some Advocates Say the Timing Is Right
A plan to rewrite federal rules governing how quickly money from foundation endowments and donor-advised funds must be given out to charity faces long odds in a new Congress that will be busy dealing with a lengthy list of other pressing issues, according to some nonprofit leaders.
By Alex Daniels
Senior Editor, Foundations
A Nonprofit Wish List for Biden: a Cabinet-Level Agency, Charitable-Deduction Changes, and More
Charities will see an about-face on many issues, but with a divided Congress, they may need to adjust their strategies. Here’s what to expect.
By Ben Gose
Senior Editor
Volunteerism Falls Sharply Amid Covid, Study Says
However, most people say they plan to resume their volunteer work when it’s safe to do so, according to a new study by Fidelity Charitable.
By dan.parks
Contributor
Letters to the Editor on Domestic Violence and About Fidelity Charitable
Insights on the prevention of domestic violence and a critique of an article about influence peddling on policies affecting donor-advised funds.
Donor-Advised Funds Aren’t All Warehouses of Wealth
A leader of a New Jersey Jewish fund says new proposals to regulate DAFs should recognize the stark differences in giving rates by those at commercially sponsored funds versus those rooted in a specific region.
Foundations Are Sending More Dollars to Donor-Advised Funds, Chronicle Analysis Finds
Congress is facing growing pressure to stop the transfers, which allow grant makers to keep secret many of the details about their giving.
By Marc Gunther
Contributor