Other Voices
Foundations Need to Dig Deeper Into Their Endowments and Give More in 2021
Nonprofits are reeling right now from the twin pressures of increased demand and decreased revenue as the nation faces at least five major crises: a global pandemic; economic recession; a racial justice reckoning (and a White House stoking racism); serious threats to our democracy and democratic institutions; and unprecedented wildfires and other catastrophic weather events fueled by climate change.
In a pandemic, billionaires are richer than ever. Why aren’t they giving more?
One of the gurus on inequality, Chuck Collins, director of the Program on Inequality at the Institute for Policy Studies, raises many issues, among them the likelihood that billionaire philanthropy won’t go to on-the-ground charities but instead will end up sitting in tax-advantaged intermediaries.
It’s Time for an Emergency Charity Stimulus
Pressure is growing to address a fundamental design flaw in our charity system. Wealthy donors get substantial tax breaks when they place funds into their private foundations, and even more in the case of their donor-advised funds (DAFs). But there is very little requirement that they move those funds to active charities, even in the face of a global pandemic. [I]t’s time to mandate an increased flow of resources.
The obscure rule that is discouraging billionaires’ foundations from going big on coronavirus
Theordore Schliefer, senior reporter for Money and Influence (seems redundant, no?) at Recode, is troubled by the fact that “almost all foundation have taken [the 5% payout rule] as a maxim that they’ll never do a penny more than that 5%, the legal minimum”.
STATEMENT ENCOURAGING INCREASED GIVING IN THIS TIME OF CRISIS
One of the most important announcements during this past year is the joint statement of nine Philanthropic Serving Organizations, including the Council on Foundations, that loosening restrictions on grantees is not enough, what nonprofits need most is more money.