June 02, 2023 Jim and Marilyn Simons Just Doubled a Public University's Endowment. More Mega Gifts to Come? June 02, 2023/ Paul Karon The megadonor couple just committed $500 million to Stony Brook University in New York. Is this a sign of more huge gifts down the road? And can other states learn from New York’s higher ed endowment matching program?Read More
May 16, 2023 We Took a Deep Dive Into Mega-Donor Foundation Giving. Here’s What the Numbers Tell Us May 16, 2023/ Mike Scutari and Sue-Lynn Moses We analyzed recent publicly available data on 85 private foundations established by living mega-donors. It’s a revealing look at what’s distinct about how these influential individuals go about their giving.Read More
May 08, 2023 Is Excessive Wealth a Disorder? If So, This New Nonprofit Aims to Cure It May 08, 2023/ Dawn Wolfe It’s all there in the name. The Excessive Wealth Disorder Institute, founded last year, is taking on extreme wealth inequality, a problem with deep ramifications for philanthropy. We talked with its new executive director to learn more.Read More
March 30, 2023 Jeff Yass Is One of America's Biggest Political Donors. What Does His Philanthropy Look Like? March 30, 2023/ Philip Rojc With a fortune of $28.5 billion, the Wall Street winner has deep libertarian beliefs that form the basis for his vast political giving and more modest philanthropic record — which does come with some interesting twists.Read More
March 22, 2023 MacKenzie Scott's Open Call Is Live. Here's What You Need to Know March 22, 2023/ Philip Rojc Yield Giving teased an open call for applications last year, and now it’s here. Scott’s giving away 250 gifts of $1 million apiece, offering community organizations in the U.S. a chance to “nominate themselves.” Read More
March 15, 2023 Roku Founder Anthony Wood Is a Billionaire Donor to Watch. Here's an Overview March 15, 2023/ Philip Rojc Serial entrepreneur Anthony Wood helped usher in the current dominance of streaming TV. Now, he’s also ramping up his philanthropy with a DAF-centric approach and interests across a range of causes.Read More
March 14, 2023 The Top 10 Hedge Fund Philanthropists March 14, 2023/ Michael Kavate There’s a historic transfer of wealth on the horizon, and that includes the fortunes of donors who made their money managing hedge funds. Here, we take stock of the top philanthropists that emerged from the industry.Read More
February 16, 2023 Here Are the Top Philanthropy Stories We're Following in 2023 February 16, 2023/ Philip Rojc Every year, we ponder where philanthropy seems to headed and compile the big-picture currents that we see running through the sector. Here’s what we’re watching this year.Read More
October 25, 2022 “Game-Changing” Gifts from MacKenzie Scott Boost Educators’ Ambitions — and Hopes for the Future October 25, 2022/ Connie Matthiessen We’ve seen a flurry of new gifts from MacKenzie Scott lately, including some big K-12 donations. Two recent education grantees say the recognition and affirmation are almost as valuable as the dollars.Read More
September 29, 2022 Billionaires Are Still Stingy, but There May Be Grounds for Hope September 29, 2022/ Philip Rojc A flagging stock market has probably been the biggest contributor to billionaires’ modestly improved giving ratios this year. But while the super-rich still don’t give away much, there’s also a growing list of interesting exceptions.Read More
September 26, 2022 “Our Focus Is on the Children.” A Software Giant Ups Its Commitment to Public Schools September 26, 2022/ Connie Matthiessen Salesforce’s latest round of education funding zeroes in on mental health and resilient schools. It’s praiseworthy support, but begs the question: why is so much private backing for public schools even necessary?Read More
September 19, 2022 The Great Patagonia Giveaway: The Good News and the Bad News September 19, 2022/ Philip Rojc Is Yvon Chouinard’s giveaway of the company he founded something to celebrate or worry about? As is often the case with billionaire mega-giving, maybe it’s a little bit of both.Read More
August 10, 2022 Next in Line: 11 Young Giving Pledgers to Watch August 10, 2022/ Ade Adeniji The Giving Pledge has been taken up by super-rich donors ranging from their 30s through their 90s. While many younger pledgers have given in a relatively modest way to date, there’s a lot more where that came from.Read More
July 07, 2022 Ultra-Wealthy Donors to Watch: Who’s Taken the Giving Pledge So Far in 2022? July 07, 2022/ Philip Rojc Although its usefulness as a prod for vastly larger billionaire giving is debatable, the Giving Pledge remains a window into the continued evolution of big-donor philanthropy as a practice. Here’s who’s taken the pledge so far this year.Read More
June 09, 2022 Seven Things That Scare Us About the Future of Philanthropy June 09, 2022/ Philip Rojc The philanthrosphere is changing fast, and not necessarily for the better. Want to know what keeps us up at night? Here are seven of our biggest concerns about where the sector’s headed.Read More
June 06, 2022 We Surveyed Hundreds of Philanthropy Professionals. Here's What We Found June 06, 2022/ David Callahan Our latest survey of sector professionals brought some not-so-unexpected results alongside a few real surprises. Here’s where respondents stood on philanthropy reform, billionaire giving, racial justice and more.Read More
May 23, 2022 Five Things John Doerr’s Book Tells Us About His Climate Philanthropy and Politics May 23, 2022/ Michael Kavate John Doerr’s star is rising as a climate mega-donor after a recent $1.1 billion donation to Stanford. In this review of his latest book, “Speed & Scale,” we look at what’s informing his climate giving — and what he’s leaving out.Read More
May 12, 2022 Bill Gates Rebranded Himself a Philanthropist. What Would It Look Like for Elon Musk to Do the Same? May 12, 2022/ Philip Rojc When the annals of today’s new Gilded Age philanthropy are written, where will Elon Musk stand relative to Bill Gates, MacKenzie Scott and the rest? And whose more expansive definition of philanthropy will win out?Read More
May 10, 2022 What If Five Top Tech Billionaires Emulated MacKenzie Scott's Approach to Giving? May 10, 2022/ Mike Scutari When MacKenzie Scott embarked on her innovative philanthropic project two years ago, we wondered if her approach would capture the imaginations of other tech billionaires. It didn’t. But what if it miraculously did?Read More
May 09, 2022 What Do Gates, Zuckerberg and Company Have in Common? An Obsession with “Breakthroughs” May 09, 2022/ Michael Kavate Billionaire tech donors like chasing “breakthroughs,” especially when it comes to their climate giving. What does this oft-repeated nomenclature say about their mindset—and what’s missing from their philanthropy?Read More