Big changes would require an act of Congress but lawmakers have not stepped up. And there’s been pushback against new rules the IRS has proposed for these accounts reserved for giving.
Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, gave their foundation $15 billion right before their divorce became final.
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Three scholars weigh in regarding the priorities of these wealthy American donors, who gave less to social service and racial justice groups than in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Donations channeled through DAFs follow different patterns than for overall charitable giving.
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Little comprehensive research about what the charitable accounts, known as DAFs, are supporting has been conducted until now.
Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott, seen here before they divorced in 2019, were the top two U.S. charitable donors the following year.
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While support for social services and historically black colleges and universities rose sharply, these donors spent a tiny fraction of what the government distributed to people who needed help.
Charities should not make amassing more and more money their top priority.
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When organizations dedicated to doing good make money their top priority, they get into trouble.
Chancelor Bennett, better known as Chance The Rapper, is donating millions of dollars through his SocialWorks charity to shore up Chicago’s public schools.
AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast
Ted Lechterman, Stanford University McCoy Family Center for Ethics in Society
Before you reach for that checkbook or give to a charity online, pause to think about what makes a cause good in the first place.
Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan are giving billions to charity through their donor-advised fund instead of a traditional foundation.
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As these tax-exempt vehicles transform philanthropy, they’re drawing more scrutiny. Will Congress or the Trump administration tinker with the rules that encouraged their rapid growth?