The Rich Are Hoarding Their Wealth Using Charity Funds

Wall Street–backed charity funds provide ultrawealthy donors with massive charitable tax breaks — yet operate without any requirement to ever distribute the money to working charities.

Street sign in the financial district of Lower Manhattan, New York City

The number of people putting money into charitable intermediaries like donor-advised funds is rapidly growing. (Daniiielc / Getty Images)


A group of Wall Street–backed charity funds fueling the dark money takeover of American politics is set to help collect half of all individual charitable donations within the next three years. These funds, the largest of which are managed by the country’s top financial firms, bestow the ultrawealthy with massive charitable tax breaks even if their donations never reach working charities.

So-called donor-advised funds not only operate under a cloak of donor anonymity and bankroll anti-government and hate groups at more than three times the rate of other charitable sources, but there is also no requirement that the money is ever distributed to charities. This means wealthy individuals can get a charity-based tax break without actually participating in charitable giving.

The number of people putting money into charitable intermediaries like donor-advised funds is rapidly growing: according to a study published yesterday by the Institute for Policy Studies, a progressive think tank, donor-advised funds and private charitable foundations currently receive 35 percent of all individual giving in the United States. If the trend continues, donor-advised funds and private foundations are expected to collect half of all individual donations by 2028.

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