Leslie Lenkowsky

A conversation with Leslie Lenkowsky about trust, or the lack of it, in philanthropy and the nonprofit sector (Part 2 of 2)

The Indiana University professor talks to Michael E. Hartmann about the challenges of interpreting survey data about trust in philanthropy and the nonprofit sector and, the historical “paradox of nonprofit trustworthiness,” and the relationship between civil society and the state writ large—as well as, writ smaller and looking ahead, that between exempt nonprofitdom and the tax system.

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Leslie Lenkowsky

A conversation with Leslie Lenkowsky about trust, or the lack of it, in philanthropy and the nonprofit sector (Part 1 of 2)

The Indiana University professor talks to Michael E. Hartmann about the degree to which trust, or lack of it, in wealth and the wealthy may or may not have played a role in the creation of Big Philanthropy at the beginning of the last century, through to the 1969 Tax Reform Act that essentially still structures the nonprofit sector, to today. He also discusses the growth of nonprofits in the urban context, as well as some ramifications of that growth.

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Michael Fragoso

A conversation with the Ethics and Public Policy Center’s Michael Fragoso (Part 2 of 2)

The think-tank fellow and former top Congressional staffer talks to Michael E. Hartmann about effective and ineffective nonprofit projects and activities related to the judicial-nomination and -confirmation processes, what could perhaps be done legally or regulatorily about improper endeavors in this context, if anything, and the benefits of philanthropically supporting efforts in the area.

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Benjamin M. Leff

A conversation with American University Washington College of Law’s Benjamin M. Leff (Part 2 of 2)

The professor and specialist in nonprofit law and philanthropy talks to Michael E. Hartmann about whether private foundations got a better or worse bargain in the 1969 Tax Reform Act than donor-advised funds (DAFs) got in the 2006 Pension Protection Act, the benefits of “bright-line” rules in the context of the public-support test loophole specifically, but also others in philanthropy and nonprofitdom, and the “low-hanging fruit” of closing DAFs’ public-support test loophole compared to other contemplated reforms.

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Benjamin M. Leff

A conversation with American University Washington College of Law’s Benjamin M. Leff (Part 1 of 2)

The professor and specialist in nonprofit law and philanthropy talks to Michael E. Hartmann about the history and purpose of the public-support test, the “Grand Bargain” of the 1969 Tax Reform Act and the “new bargain” of the 2006 Pension Protection Act, and potential explanations for the use of donor-advised funds to avoid the test and its ramifications.

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Nick Cleveland-Stout

A conversation with the Quincy Institute’s Nick Cleveland-Stout (Part 2 of 2)

The former Fulbright Scholar and research fellow talks to Michael E. Hartmann about the upward trend in foreign funding of American think tanks, the applicability of the Foreign Agents Registration Act and lobbying-disclosure law to U.S. think tanks, and some recommendations in the new report he’s co-authored on think-tank funding for policy reform and a “culture shift.”

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Musa al-Gharbi

A conversation with We Have Never Been Woke author Musa al-Gharbi (Part 2 of 2)

The sociologist talks to Michael E. Hartmann about what happened in previous Great Awokenings, the choice before symbolic capitalists in the face of growing populist reaction against them, the similarity of symbolic capitalists in conservative philanthropy and the rest of philanthropy, and recommendations for how they should all defend themselves and their position during the coming years.

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Robert Kuttner

A conversation with The American Prospect’s Robert Kuttner (Part 1 of 2)

In discussion with Charity Reform Initiative associate director Bella DeVaan and Giving Review co-editor Michael E. Hartmann, the editor and journalist talks about his important recent article on “The Left’s Fragile Foundations;” philanthropy and politics in general, including funding of voter-registration projects in particular; and liberal and conservative grantmaking, including in the wake of populism’s ascendance.

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Richard J. Tofel

A conversation with Second Rough Draft’s Richard J. Tofel (Part 2 of 2)

The former Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones executive, onetime top Rockefeller Foundation official, former ProPublica president, and current Substack writer and consultant talks to Michael E. Hartmann more about the relationship between funding and content in nonprofit and for-profit journalism, groupthink and diversity in the news business overall, and some specific challenges facing both foundation funders and management teams of nonprofit news organizations.

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Richard J. Tofel

A conversation with Second Rough Draft’s Richard J. Tofel (Part 1 of 2)

The former Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones executive, onetime top Rockefeller Foundation official, former ProPublica president, and current Substack writer and consultant talks to Michael E. Hartmann about the changing natures of philanthropy and journalism since he began his career—including the necessary lines in journalism between those funding it and those producing it, in both the for-profit and nonprofit contexts.

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Karl Zinsmeister

A conversation with The Brothers author Karl Zinsmeister (Part 2 of 2)

The former White House official and Philanthropy Roundtable vice president talks to Michael E. Hartmann and Daniel P. Schmidt about the Tappan brothers’ belief in the primary role of individual human beings to do what’s right and get things done, as well as how today’s alternative faith in the promise of technology is a serious challenge for any return to that primacy of people.

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Richard Vedder (Ohio University)

A conversation with economist and historian Richard Vedder (Part 2 of 2)

The Ohio University professor emeritus talks to Michael E. Hartmann about whether tax-incentivization is a subsidy, the taxation of endowments in higher education, Milton Friedman’s 2003 e-mail to him about negative externalities in higher ed, whether there might also be negative externalities in philanthropy, and the taxation of endowments in philanthropy, as well as a little about the Ohio Bobcats’ football team.

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Michael Poliakoff and Emily Koons Jae

A conversation with ACTA’s Michael Poliakoff and Emily Koons Jae (Part 2 of 2)

The American Council of Trustees and Alumni’s president and vice president talk to Michael E. Hartmann more about the need for and nature of higher-ed reform in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attack and its aftermath—including on-campus pro-Hamas activities, their tolerance if not encouragement by administrators, and the “donor revolt” against all of it.

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Robert E. Wright

A conversation with Liberty Lost author Robert E. Wright (Part 2 of 2)

The American Institute for Economic Research senior research fellow talks with Michael E. Hartmann about the perverse incentives of the tax system on nonprofits, what hypothetically would happen to the third sector absent tax-incentivization, whether progressive Big Philanthropy might do damage to it along with Big Government, and encouraging more bottom-up experimentation in addressing social ills.

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Robert E. Wright

A conversation with Liberty Lost author Robert E. Wright (Part 1 of 2)

The American Institute for Economic Research senior research fellow talks with Michael E. Hartmann about his research, why Tocquevillian voluntary association became such a beneficial part of America’s social contract, the relationship between volunteerism and governmental and individual sovereignty, and the detrimental effect that enlarged government and its taxation had on voluntariness.

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John Fonte

A conversation with the Hudson Institute’s John Fonte (Part 2 of 2)

The historian, researcher, and teacher talks to Daniel P. Schmidt and Michael E. Hartmann about The Bradley Project on America’s National Identity in 2008, the risks of “conservative accommodationism”—including in philanthropy—and the need for conservatives to provide a genuine American narrative that stands as an alternative to progressivism’s false one.

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A conversation with retiring Murdock Trust CEO Steve Moore (Part 2 of 2)

After 16 years as chief executive officer and executive director of the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust in Vancouver, Wash., Steve Moore is retiring at the end of next month, when Romanita Hairston will succeed him in the role. During Moore’s tenure at its helm, the Trust—one of the largest philanthropies in the Pacific Northwest—has continued… Continue reading A conversation with retiring Murdock Trust CEO Steve Moore (Part 2 of 2)

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