Philanthropy Roundtable

SOURCE:  Wikipedia, captured 2020-10-02
This page last modified: 2021-10-25 18:42:36 -0700 (PST)

  • Article by

  • Name: The Philanthropy Roundtable
  • Founded: 1987; gained independent status in 1991
  • Founders: William E. Simon  |  Irving Kristol
  • Former name: Philanthropic Roundtable
  • Origins: Formerly project of Institute For Educational Affairs
  • Type: 501(c)(3)
  • Focus: Philanthropic strategy and analysis, philanthropic freedom, preserving donor intent
  • Services: Donor-advised fund
  • Method: Publications, events, consulting
  • Location: Washington, D.C., United States
  • Membership: 600+
  • President and CEO: Elise Westhoff
  • Revenue (2018):$8.39 million
  • Website: PhilanthropyRoundtable.org
  • See also [re: donor-advised funds]:  Donors Trust  |  Philanthropy Roundtable  |  Tides Foundation.


    The Philanthropy Roundtable is a nonprofit organization that advises philanthropists.

    History

    The Philanthropy Roundtable was founded in 1987 as a project of the Institute For Educational Affairs. The Philanthropy Roundtable was founded as an alternative to the Council on Foundations, another nonprofit membership association of donors. For four years the program, known then as the Philanthropic Roundtable, held occasional meetings where representatives of foundations and charities could converse with scholars and journalists about the way professional philanthropy was conducted in the U.S.

    The Philanthropy Roundtable also began publication of a bimonthly newsletter, Philanthropy; offered member organizations a talent bank for hiring young staffers from its list of recent college graduates, and conducted a "project development service" that assisted members "in examining their own programs ... to foster innovative programming." Membership was free "to interested grantmakers," and 140 foundations, charities and nonprofits joined in the Philanthropy Roundtable's first year.

    In 1991, The Philanthropy Roundtable became an independent entity, with its own board of directors and staff, headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana. The Philanthropy Roundtable is a 501(c)(3) organization. The Philanthropy Roundtable has been described as conservative and non-partisan.

    The Philanthropy Roundtable publishes a quarterly magazine, Philanthropy, that includes coverage of past and ongoing philanthropic efforts and strategies, as well as news stories and commentary relevant to readers who are active in the philanthropic sector. The Philanthropy Roundtable also produces a series of guidebooks on philanthropic topics. In 2016, the Philanthropy Roundtable published the Almanac of American Philanthropy, which is a reference book that summarizes the history, purposes, effects, and modern direction of private giving.

    In 2005, The Philanthropy Roundtable created the "Alliance For Charitable Reform" (ACR), which opposes legislation that would create accreditation requirements for grant-making foundations, establish a five-year IRS review of tax-exempt status, or restrict the ability of donors to establish family foundations.

    William E. Simon Prize

  • Main article: William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership

    Starting in 2007, the William E. Simon Foundation named the Philanthropy Roundtable the administrator of the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership. Recipients of the prize since the Philanthropy Roundtable's administration of it include Bernie Marcus, Eli Broad, Charles G. Koch, Roger Hertog, Philip and Nancy Anschutz, S. Truett Cathy, and Frank Hanna III.

    Leadership

    Kimberly Dennis was the Philanthropy Roundtable's first executive director. She served as executive director from 1991 through 1996. John P. Walters assumed administrative leadership of the Philanthropy Roundtable in the newly defined role of President the following year when the Philanthropy Roundtable moved its headquarters to Washington, D.C. Walters remained in that position until resigning in October 2001 in order to accept an appointment by George W. Bush to the cabinet-level position of Director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.

    Adam Meyerson served as president of the Philanthropy Roundtable from 2001 to 2020. In July 2019, Meyerson announced his upcoming retirement from the Philanthropy Roundtable. Elise Westhoff became president and CEO in June 2020. In 2011, former White House domestic policy adviser Karl Zinsmeister joined the Philanthropy Roundtable as Vice President of Publications.

    Board of directors


    Additional Reading


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