New Poll, Old News: Philanthropy Lobby Is Still Out of Step with Public Opinion on Charity Reform

A new national Ipsos poll illuminates that there is broad and nonpartisan support for changes in laws governing charitable giving.

The March 2024 poll was the product of a common-ground collaboration between Inequality.org and The Giving Review. It mirrors findings from a similar 2022 Ipsos poll and dramatizes how associations representing foundations and donor-advised funds (DAFs) — with their rigorous defense of the status quo — are wildly out of step with wider public attitudes about the need for common-sense charity reform.

Starting in 2020, at the onset of the global COVID-19 pandemic, charity researchers (including the IPS Charity Reform Initiative) started to identify troubling trends in the philanthropic sector. These included, during a period of urgent community needs and nonprofit layoffs, the increased warehousing of charity dollars in private foundations and donor-advised funds, and the use of opaque giving vehicles to mask donations to white supremacist and overtly political organizations.

The new Ipsos poll indicates that while most Americans are aware that charities are struggling to meet current needs, they’re concerned about the ways taxpayer-subsidized charitable giving vehicles are operating without accountability.

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