Foundations

Jeff Bezos will donate $200 million to the Smithsonian—its largest donation since James Smithson’s founding gift in 1846. Meanwhile, a Bezos company foundation awarded $1 million grants to 19 nonprofits. All gifts were announced July 14–just six days ahead of Bezos’ trip to space aboard the New Shepard, which is scheduled to take its first trip with a crew that will include Bezos and three others on board tomorrow morning...

Extending a partnership that began in 2013, Kraft Heinz Company Foundation announced a major donation to an international hunger nonprofit organization to help alleviate world hunger. The $12 million donation will be dispensed over the next three years to support the Rise Against Hunger’s local food procurement efforts, sustainable agriculture projects, and packaging and distribution of meals...

The three dreaded words for grant officers, “Do not apply — DNA.” They appear on private foundation profiles more often these days than ever before. Most annoying is that the funder seems particularly aligned with your mission. “If I could only get close to them, I would know the perfect thing to say,” you tell your CEO.

Donor-advised funds are vital tools for donors. That’s especially true of those who are mid-range or major donors. Of course, that depends on the size and budget of the charity where they donate. It can take as little as $5,000 to open a donor-advised fund at Fidelity Charitable. Other companies, like Vanguard, open one for $25,000.

Jeff Bezos will donate $200 million to the Smithsonian—its largest donation since James Smithson’s founding gift in 1846. Meanwhile, a Bezos company foundation awarded $1 million grants to 19 nonprofits. All gifts were announced July 14–just six days ahead of Bezos’ trip to space aboard the New Shepard, which is scheduled to take its first […]

New technologies are the key to helping Africa and Asia’s smallholder farmers adapt to climate change, said the Gates Foundation as it pledged funding to research new crops that can thrive amid rising heat, drought and erratic rainfall. The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation unveiled a $300-million plan to help farmers on Tuesday, with funds…

For the past 7 years, the National Philanthropic Trust has been closely following donor-advised fund trends by conducting in-depth research reports. While donor-advised funds have been around for over a decade, its popularity has been rapidly increasing over the past few years...

Do you have a bucket list? For many years, going to Graceland, the home of the late Elvis Presley in Memphis, Tenn., has been at the top of my bucket list. I spent many hours creating excuses why I could not go on this visit...

Marking a new chapter in education philanthropy, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will step back from its traditional education reform agenda to instead invest close to $1.7 billion over the next five years on new initiatives that include a focus on building networks of schools. "Education is, without a doubt, one of the most…

The past year has been a whirlwind for Rhiannon Giddens, the Grammy-winning musician who became the first woman and first nonwhite person to win a major prize for excellence on the banjo and then celebrated the release of her latest album, “Freedom Highway,” with a performance at the Sing Sing Correctional Facility. But none of…