Research on charitable giving has been limited by scarce information on large donors and by a lack of data linking donors to recipient organizations. This research paper addresses both gaps in the literature by applying machine learning methods to a novel administrative data source: IRS Form 990 Schedule B. This approach enabled the authors to produce the first comprehensive map of donor-recipient relationships among major contributors over time. Using this mapping, the authors describe the distribution of large charitable gifts by donor type, linked recipient type, charity size, gift size, gift medium (cash versus non-cash), and geography.

This guide is designed to help democracy funders understand and support audience-first communications, a strategic response to the challenges of the modern information ecosystem that enables those invested in American democracy to reach and persuade new audiences of its value. The guide introduces some of the concepts that underlie modern communications programs and strategies. While funders do not need to be experts in communications to make good funding decisions, an understanding of how communications strategies have responded to the demands of the moderan information ecosystem will make it easier and likely inform other areas of work as well.

Since 2014, the Community Foundation Research and Training Institute has prepared a census of all US-based community foundations. Data shows that assets of U.S.-based community foundations increased 12.1 percent from 2023 to 2024, rising from $158.1 billion to $177.2 billion. Growth was largely driven by investment returns and was concentrated among the largest community foundations.

This report is intended to help people working in philanthropy - staff, leadership, boards - better understand the full range of tools available to them to effect equitable systems change. The research provides insights from on-the-ground practitioners who are changing systems, at-scale, in their communities. They include reflections from those who have increased graduation rates for foster youth, developed youth-led mental health programs, reduced toxic chemicals in cosmetics, transformed child welfare, embedded brain development concepts into a regional early learning curriculum, defended local journalism, reduced maternal mortality, preserved Medicaid expansion in their state, halted evictions during COVID, and increased youth peer support.

This data dashboard tracks funding cuts and slowdowns under the Trump administration that began in 2025, tracking financial losses across the country. With attention to states, programs, and sectors, data is updated with relevant press coverage, affected recipients, and active litigation. Data can be viewed at the national level or by state. Data on grant award amounts is drawn from USAspending, while litigation information is pulled directly from court documents available via CourtListener.

This guide helps funders who give as a family consider the role they'd like to play and the approach they'd like to take in their philanthropy and identify the operational model that will help them achieve their purpose. By exploring the role of the funder, the degree of formalization of the philanthropy, and the philanthropy's relationship with expertise, this guide offers four common operational archetypes: the agile funder, the versatile strategist, the structured steward, and the catalytic architect. Each of these archetypes is the result of deliberate choices, prioritization of options, and weighing of tradeoffs.

This article explores how donor intent has been addressed and discusses proposed legislation intended to help preserve and protect donor intent. The first section surveys the litigative and legislative landscape over the last 10 years for the purpose of illustrating the variety of ways in which courts and legislatures have been treating the subject and also to demonstrate that many states still lack a comprehensive toolkit for addressing it. The second section explains why current common law and equitable theories are unequal to the task of comprehensively and reliably protecting donor intent. The third section discusses model state legislation, the Safeguarding Endowment Gifts Act, and explores how this legislation would help resolve gaps in current common law.

Based on data collected through the annual Foundation Operations and Management Report, additional surveys, and interviews with Exponent Philanthropy members, this report centers on the relevance of racial equity to foundations' mission, as well as their board and staff demographics. The report also discusses how racial equity relates to good governance, grantmaking, and investment practices. The data suggest that one of the most effective ways to increase board diversity is to expand the size of a foundation's board. The demographic makeup of a foundation's board was the most reliable indicator of how relevant racial equity is to the foundation.

This report addresses the intersection of climate resilience and racial wealth equity in Atlanta. Most City of Atlanta residents surveyed (69 percent) shared concern over potential climate impacts to their homes and property. These concerns served as the backdrop to everyday challenges such as paying for utilities, the high cost of living, and building wealth. The report shows that when faced with climate, environmental, and everyday financial challenges, residents chose collective action and resilience. Aid programs, guaranteed energy bill savings, and cash rebates up front were some of the more popular ways residents said could help them protect their homes and weather the growing climate crisis. The authors offer steps stakeholders can take to help Black communities safeguard assets, reduce vulnerabilities, and protect lives, including investing in home weatherization programs, expanding LHEAP assistance, and increasing environmental regulations.

On the 250th anniversary of the nation's independence, this publication traces key deveopments in the history of the United States and the evolution of charitable giving and corporate philanthropy in American culture. In addition to a timeline of notable events, the report includes profiles of corporate funders and the history of their philanthropic initiatives and a look at the future direction of corporate giving.