This Spin Won’t Wash

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November marks the tenth anniversary of Professor Ray Madoff’s New York Times op-ed calling for new rules that would accelerate grantmaking from donor-advised funds. Over the years since, as the…
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Vested Interests

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[Note: This post was co-published in the Chronicle of Philanthropy on March 3, 2020.] Over the past few months, a fierce legislative battle has arisen  in California over the mildest of…
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Phony and Corrupt

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There is so much that is good about the charitable world. But simply calling something “charitable” does not make it worthy. Which brings me to two troubling and destabilizing trends:…
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Charity, Incorporated

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It seems that every time I set out to write about topics other than donor-advised funds, fresh news explodes on the scene that requires my attention, and yours. This week…
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Strange Math

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[A version of this piece appeared in the Chronicle of Philanthropy on July 13, 2017.] Here’s the world’s simplest math problem. My wife Pat and I often meet a pair of friends…
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Partial Score

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The late comedian George Carlin had a shtick back in the 1970s where he played a television sports anchor. With mock seriousness, he’d stare at the camera and say, “Here’s…
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