politics

In the wake of recent rumors and reports, revisiting a real-life, very pre-Earth Day revocation.

And the damage likely to be done if it takes his advice to deepen involvement in partisan politics.

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.

“At a later date, OMB will offer a new proposal designed to ensure that contractors and grantees do not use federal funds for lobbying or political activity,” the Office of Management and Budget’s Michael Horowitz wrote in May 1983.

“Using tax privileges, matching grants, special restrictions, and unique legal devices, the modern state gives the practice of philanthropy its particular strength and texture,” according to Theodore M. Lechterman. “Which if any of these regulatory strategies can be justified requires careful analysis and evaluation.”

A selection of recent reviews.

A reminder of a previous willingness to offer harsh conservative criticism of Big Philanthropy, and of that which gave rise to the critique.

In discussion with Charity Reform Initiative associate director Bella DeVaan and Giving Review co-editor Michael E. Hartmann, the editor and journalist talks about donor-advised funds and the challenges of, and prospects for, potential reform of the laws and regulations structuring the nonprofit sector more generally.

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.

A regular curation.

The fifth in a series of five republished articles to mark our fifth anniversary.

The fourth in a series of five republished articles to mark our fifth anniversary.

A mid-year collection of interesting and insightful thinking about grantmaking and giving.

Seeming to despair of creating anything of lasting value from philanthropy understood as a free-standing activity—and shifting to what turns out to be little more than another Democratic Party get-out-the vote effort, of the sort already very much in evidence in today’s political philanthropy.

Daniel Schlozman’s and Sam Rosenfeld’s new book tells how wealthy givers, on both the left and the right, have played a part in weakening political parties, and thus also politics and policymaking, in America.

A regular curation.

If successful, the suit would further politicize the charitable world, to its great detriment.

This year’s election demands greater scrutiny of nonprofits involved in political activities.

Fundamental questions.

Subcommittee on Oversight to hear from legal experts and researchers.

What might she think of The New York Times’ in-depth investigation of nonprofits and politics?