root causes

In the wake of Warren Buffett ending his extraordinary philanthropic partnership with the Gates Foundation, revisiting questions raised after its initial announcement.

During Center for Civil Society podcast, the scholar, author, onetime philanthropy executive, editor, and commentator discusses establishment philanthropy’s elitist progressivism and alternative thinking and examples, as well as the need to balance philanthropic freedom against concerns about philanthropic power.

As conservatives consider how best to revitalize and depoliticize civil society in America approaching its semiquincentennial celebration, still-relevant thoughts on philanthropy and the nonprofit sector from 2009.

Today’s polarization between left-wing Democrats and populist conservative Republicans is also a polarization between two radically different understandings of giving.

To counter attacks from the Trump administration, philanthropy should adopt Walker’s pluralism playbook.

Philanthropy is uniquely unsuited for involvement in American politics. Indeed, what it considers its political strengths turn out to be serious liabilities. Nothing demonstrates this better than its role in the 2024 presidential election.