Gilded Giving: Top-Heavy Philanthropy in an Age of Extreme Inequality

Unprecedented levels of charitable giving in recent years mask a troubling trend. This report shows that charities are increasingly relying on larger and larger donations from smaller numbers of high-income, high-wealth donors. Meanwhile, they are receiving shrinking amounts of revenue from the vast population of donors at lower and middle-income levels. This trend mirrors the increasing concentration of wealth in larger society.The report finds that this has significant implications for the practice of fundraising, the role of the independent nonprofit sector, and the health of our larger democratic civil society. The increasing power of a small number of donors also increases the potential for mission distortion.This study tracks significant changes in philanthropic giving in recent years, puts forward a number of possible implications of these changes, and offers some solutions

Gilded Giving 2018: Top-Heavy Philanthropy and Its Risks to the Independent Sector

What are the risks to the autonomy of the independent nonprofit sector—not to mention our democracy—when a growing amount of philanthropic power is held in fewer hands?This report takes a close look at the impact of increasing economic inequality on the philanthropic sector. It finds that our charitable sector is currently experiencing a transition from broad-based support across a wide range of donors to top-heavy philanthropy increasingly dominated by a small number of very wealthy individuals and foundations.As we reported in 2016, growing inequity in charitable giving continues to hold risks not only for nonprofits themselves, but also for the nation. This is truer now than ever, as ever-greater proportions of charitable dollars technically qualifying as tax-deductible donations are diverted into wealth-warehousing vehicles such as private foundations and donor-advised funds, and away from direct nonprofits serving immediate needs.This updated edition of Gilded Giving focuses on the impact of increasing financial inequality on the philanthropic sector, highlights trends that have either arisen or increased in intensity since the initial publication of our report, puts forward several possible implications of these changes, and suggests some solutions

The Ever-Growing GAP: Without Change, African-American and Latino Families Won't Match White Wealth for Centuries

This report examines the growing racial wealth divide for Black and Latinos households and the ways that accelerating concentrations of wealth at the top compound and exacerbate this divide. We look at trends in wealth accumulation from 1983 to 2013, as well as projections of what the next thirty years might bring. We also consider the impact public policy has had in contributing to the racial wealth divide and how new policies can close this gap