In Memoriam: Terry Kohler
“When do we leave?” was the common refrain of philanthropist Terry Kohler, who passed away on September 20 at the age of 82.
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A Gateway to Peace and Prosperity
A Texas couple create a new community to help women exit cycles of abuse.
Interview with Denny Sanford
Denny Sanford on his $1.4 billion in giving to medical research, physics, and more.
Closing the Marriage Gap
An inventive philanthropic undertaking seeks to strengthen America by bolstering marital ties.
A Watchdog with Only One Eye
"The history she describes is not hidden, and the people she writes about are not radicals.” A review of author Jane Mayer’s book Dark Money: This very selective “exposé” distorts reality.
Beware of Blind Spots
Two veteran social reformers encourage the Ford Foundation not to overlook the tough elements that are essential to the success of tough love in combating economic inequality.
How Philanthropy Bolsters Capitalism
How charitable giving strengthens free enterprise and mobility in the United States, Philanthropy Roundtable vice president Karl Zinsmeister writes in City Journal.
The Power of Science Philanthropy
Why private funding is so important to the experimenting that makes us smarter, healthier, and richer.
Summer magazine
It’s about giving that fuels prosperity—from science research that boosts the economy, to marriage support that helps families thrive.
Nonprofit Spotlight: SquashBusters
Urban squash. It’s about sports, not gardening, and has become a successful way to help low-income children succeed in school, college, and work.
Interview with Eva Moskowitz
How this hard-charging leader of school reform accomplishes miracles.
Redefining Usury
How a self-interested banker helped millions of people prosper. In this book review we learn about Jacob Fugger, who lived from 1459 to 1525, and the ways he powerfully nudged the modern world into existence.
A Different Kind of TV Network
BYUtv and the search of virtuous entertainment.
Are College Sports Out of Control?
Gilbert Gaul argues in his new book, Billion-Dollar Ball, that athletic programs at a number of major universities have become so lucrative that it should be questioned whether they deserve to be considered part of higher education and entitled to various benefits.
The Art of Public-Policy Philanthropy: Fighting for School Reform
Featuring Chester Finn, John Kirtley, Fred Klipsch, Betsy DeVos, and Thomas Carroll.
12 Common Criticisms of Philanthropy—and Some Answers
Critics have argued that charitable giving isn’t focused enough on the poor, isn’t sufficient to make a difference, is undemocratic, and more, but research—and history—show otherwise.
Interview with Gordon Gund
He’s been blind since 1970, but is lighting a path to prevention and cures for fellow sufferers.
Newspaper Nonprofits
Gerry Lenfest is a leading American philanthropist, and also owner of two Philadelphia newspapers—the Inquirer and Daily News. At the beginning of this year he combined his occupations and donated the newspapers, plus their companion website to the Philadelphia Foundation.
Call of the Wild
A marriage of market-based conversation and treetop acrobatics helps kids succeed in school.
Sports vs. Breakdown
We profile four grassroots ventures that attack community demons with play and discipline—using sports to draw young people into more wholesome and productive lives.
Donor with a Long Memory
A German, struck by the generosity and kindness of American GIs during World War II, recently gave $16.5 million to the U.S. Marine Corps Scholarship Foundation.
The Passion and Pitfalls of Giving to College Sports
Boone Pickens, Phil Knight, Kevin Plank, and many other donors are putting big bucks into college athletics. What are they getting in return?
It’s the Governance, Stupid
If New York really wants to solve the financial and quality-of-life disasters of housing projects, it need only study the bold governance reforms that transformed two previous state-run messes, schools and parks, into smashing successes. But of course, it’s doing the opposite.
Spring issue
In the Spring issue of Philanthropy, famed sportswriter John Feinstein takes us into the locker room with top donors like Boone Pickens, Phil Knight, and Kevin Plank as we explore the role of philanthropy in sports.
Announcing the 2016 William E. Simon Prize recipients
Bruce and Suzie Kovner have been selected as the recipients of the 2016 William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership.
Q&A with Mitch Daniels
Philanthropy recently interviewed the president of Purdue University, Mitch Daniels, about his new initiatives, how to protect donor intent, and data, data, data.
America’s Vital Impulse
In this Bradley Lecture, Karl Zinsmeister discusses the history of private philanthropy and its significance to American civic life.
A Record for Catholic-school Scholarships
This past fall, the Inner-city Scholarship Fund run by the Archdiocese of New York City—which provided tuition assistance to nearly 7,000 Catholic-school students in 2015—announced the largest-ever U.S. gift to Catholic schooling.
Charitable Giving and the Fabric of America
Private philanthropy is crucial in making America the unusual country that it is. To begin to understand this crucial part of America, it is useful—and also inspiring—to consider some of America’s great philanthropists.
Giving Helps the Giver Too
There is ample evidence that philanthropy does more than just help the recipients. It satisfies deep human needs in givers as well—opening avenues to meaning, happiness, and ways of thriving that aren't easily located otherwise.
Nonprofit Spotlight: Teaching Together
Teaching Together hires adults with cognitive disabilities as Catholic-school classroom aides.
Charity Brought Us the Father of Finance
The Broadway smash musical that tells the story of Founding Father Alexander Hamilton has important veins of philanthropy rippling through it. The storyline describes how Hamilton’s American experience was initiated by charity.
Social Justice Relies on Private Action
In this RealClearPolitics article, Karl Zinsmeister emphasizes the role of philanthropy in the civil-rights movement, and the powerful role of privately funded civil society in protecting individuals.
Knights Rescue the Oppressed
For years, nonprofits and foundations have been sending aid to refugees in the Middle East and Europe. One organization that is focusing its efforts on these victims is the Knights of Columbus, who have given over $4 million in assistance to the Middle East.
The Art of Public Policy Philanthropy: Donors Go to Court
Seamus Hasson, Bill Mumma, Clint Bolick, Dick Weekley, and others share hard-won knowledge on how donor-funded litigation can improve our country.
Instant, Imaginative Aid
When the Centers for Disease Control called for emergency assistance to fight the Ebola epidemic in West Africa, Microsoft co-founder and philanthropist Paul Allen responded. But as Ebola cases have receded, Allen’s focus on the disease has not.
Interview with Carrie and John Morgridge
These enthusiastic donors believe every gift matters.
The 99 Percent
The news in December that Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan have decided to give away 99 percent of their Facebook stock by the end of their lives impressed many Americans. The couple are in excellent company.
Toy Store Glee
Carol Suchman was walking in New York City when she came upon a local toy store that had gone out of business. “The toys in there looked so sad, and they were gathering dust,” she said. “It occurred to me we should bring those toys to where they should be going.” To needy kids.
How Philanthropy Fuels American Success
This exclusive excerpt from The Almanac of American Philanthropy details how America's deep culture of private giving keeps our nation thriving.
Winter magazine
How our $360 billion philanthropic sector gets things done…beneath the surface, with no one in charge!
A Modern Barnraising in Boiling Springs
A South Carolina high-school community was determined to "give a home" to faithful, "always been there" custodian of 20 years after her home burned to the ground.
Big School Plans in the Big Apple
Three time zones and a charter-school universe away, in New York, Success Academy co-founder Eva Moskowitz recently announced plans to operate as many as 100 campuses within the next decade.
The Texas Miracle wasn’t just economic; it was philanthropic
Texas stereotypes may conjure up plains and cattle but, as in the rest of the country, most of Texas’s population and wealth resides in the cities. And those cities have recently become some of the most philanthropic places on earth.
Wreathed in Glory
Wreaths Across America lays memorial wreaths at 1,000 locations in the U.S. and overseas, including Pearl Harbor Memorial, Bunker Hill, Valley Forge, and the World Trade Center Memorial, to honor and remember the fallen who protected the country.
Books in Brief
Do you think the suffering of human beings is more important than the suffering of other animals? Do you think it’s valuable to know the people who run a charity you support? In his new book, controversial bioethics professor Peter Singer argues that these views and behaviors are mistaken.
The Art of Public-Policy Philanthropy: The Battle of Ideas
Featuring Kim Dennis, Gara LaMarche, Roger Hertog, and Chris DeMuth.
Nonprofit Spotlight: Food For Life
Students learn good habits plus culinary skills at Food For Life.
Proposed Regulation Threatens Donor Privacy
The U.S. Treasury Department and the Internal Revenue Service published proposed regulations that would permit charities to file a new information return with the IRS. But the new return would require the charity to collect the donor’s name, address, and Social Security number or other taxpayer identification number.
