The United States has a strong, globally respected tradition of independent philanthropy that includes and is exemplified by the nation’s private foundations.
This tradition is woven into the tapestry of U.S. democracy, which alongside government and business encompasses a large and diverse civil society made up of varying forms of association and collaboration—nonprofit service organizations, organized religion, community groups, civic organizations and more. Each of these sectors—government, business, and civil society—plays a role in keeping communities healthy and vital.
Historically, the role of philanthropy in civil society has been premised on the notion that truly independent financial capital dedicated to the public good is critical to national progress. Philanthropy can focus on issues that sometimes fall off the public agenda. Philanthropy can take risks on ideas that may be overlooked. And philanthropy can support multiple — and even conflicting — ideas and solutions intended to respond to fraught, thorny, and sometimes controversial issues.
Lately though, American politics has denigrated the value of such pluralistic approaches.
Some of the stress on pluralism is stylistic, but much is substantive. Many of the issues that divide America are real and consequential. When it comes to issues such as race, wealth, climate, and religion, the stakes are high. And, as the stakes grow, so too do the perceived costs of engagement — or even toleration — of people, views, and ideas on the other side of ever brighter lines of division.
The result of these pressures, however meritorious and morally urgent, is that foundations and philanthropists are often expected to pledge allegiance to one or another narrow set of prescribed views.
Each of us represents foundations and individual donors with different — and strongly held — points of view on issues of fundamental importance to society. Yet together we recognize that philanthropy provides the greatest value when donors enable and encourage pluralism by supporting and investing in a wide and diverse range of values, missions, and interests.
Philanthropy plays an essential role in shaping the marketplace of ideas. The reasons why a foundation supports a particular issue or cause often influences how a foundation distributes its funds. And these differences reflect the diverse sensibilities, beliefs, and values that make up America’s pluralistic society. Read more