Philanthropy Awards, 2021
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If last year was notable for its particularly nightmarish stew of disruption and loss, it seems as if 2021 will go down in history as a year that was… kind of the same but maybe a little better? As Dave Barry pointed out in his 2021 Year in Review column, “our point is not that 2021 was massively better than 2020. Our point is that at least it was different. A variant, so to speak.” And that pretty much says it all as we buckle down for another winter of spiking COVID cases.
On the philanthropic front, it was also another year of huge developments. MacKenzie Scott continued to shower grantees with billions, America’s largest foundation was thrown into uncertainty due to its donors’ divorce, another leading foundation is undergoing a massive restructuring as its founder George Soros prepares for succession. We also lost some titans of the philanthropic world in 2021.
Just as inequality and wealth accumulation become ever-growing concerns across the country, so does philanthropy’s top-heavy nature. Pledges and gifts continue to swell, with anything under eight figures seeming barely worth a headline these days. At the same time, giving is far from keeping pace with swelling hoards of wealth in individuals’ and foundations’ bank accounts alike. All the while, key players in the sector resist efforts at payout reform, and wealth taxes face an uphill battle.
These are just a few of the stories that were on our radar this year, and our annual IP Philanthropy Awards, or IPPYs, give us a chance to step back and take a long look at what just happened. They allow us to spotlight the things we loved, the things we hated, and to give credit where credit is due. And, as always, they must be taken with a huge grain of salt, as they are far from scientific, and we do our best to have some fun with them. (See winners for 2020, 2019, 2018 and previous years.)
The staff at IP is grateful to have the opportunity to cover this wild and ever-changing sector, and our reporting and research is only made possible because of our paying members. So thank you!
And if you’re not yet a member, you might want to become one before you start clicking on the links below so you can read our best articles of the year. Enjoy our latest IPPYs!
The 2021 IPPYs
Philanthropist of the Year: MacKenzie Scott
The fact that this is the first repeat title in the storied history of the IPPYs says something about the ongoing impact of this novelist-turned-mega-donor. Frankly, we could not think of another philanthropist who came close to Scott this year in terms of sheer volume, but also in her support for underfunded causes and trust-based giving practices. We would still like to see her grantmaking process become more accessible to grantees and journalists alike, but nobody is changing the game like MacKenzie Scott is.
Foundation Leader of the Year: Crystal Hayling, Libra Foundation
In 2020 and into 2021, Hayling helped dramatically widen the circle of top funders who are serious about racial justice. The Democracy Frontlines Fund pulled deep-pocketed newcomers into this space, while also forcing challenging conversations about race and privilege among philanthropic leaders. It’s a good example of how leadership at even a relatively small foundation can impact the sector.
Most Powerful Philanthropy-Serving Organization: Bridgespan Group
This consulting firm has become arguably more powerful than many of the largest foundations in the country. Bridgespan has become the go-to advisor for longstanding and emerging funders, most notably MacKenzie Scott (Bridgespan is also one of Scott’s grantees).
Most Promising New Foundation President: Miguel Santana
Santana’s pick for the top job at Weingart in late 2020 capped a two-decade push by outgoing CEO Fred Ali to reinvent this Los Angeles grantmaker as a close ally of community-based organizations and activists. Santana’s resume and insights are impressive and we look forward to seeing where he takes Weingart.
President Most Handy With an Axe: Mark Malloch-Brown
Malloch-Brown is the first president of the Open Society Foundations who’s been given enough authority to consolidate one of the world’s largest and most dysfunctional philanthropies. While many staff still left standing aren’t happy with the way the changes are unfolding, we expect a stronger grantmaker to emerge from this restructuring.
Foundation President We’ll Miss the Most: Vartan Gregorian
Gregorian was an all-too-rare kind of foundation president: a public intellectual and true “citizen of the world,” who believed in the power of ideas.
Mega-Donor We’ll (Kind of) Miss the Most: Eli Broad
While there were major downsides to Broad’s hard-charging style of philanthropy, especially in how he approached K-12, he also exemplified the promise of bold, large-scale giving.
Most Intriguing New Mega-Donor: Sam Bankman-Fried
He’s just starting in on large-scale giving, but with a $26 billion crypto fortune, the 29-year-old has already said that he plans to give away nearly all of his money.
Worst Philanthropist of the Year: Elon Musk
We don’t usually give out this award, but Musk so consistently outdid himself as aloof, condescending and trolling in his public engagement with philanthropy—all the while mocking proponents of fair taxes and the public sector—that we really had no choice.
Cause of the Year: COVID
This year showed that COVID isn’t going away anytime soon and that the issues coming at funders are likely to keep mutating, including struggles around global vaccine distribution, vaccine inequity and hesitancy in the U.S., lasting impacts on mental health and education, and otherwise worsening inequality as a result of the virus.
Runner-Up: Climate Change
After advocates, scientists and philanthropy journalists spent so many years pleading for more climate funding, this area of giving blew up this year. Particularly around an otherwise disappointing COP26, we saw a slew of huge climate pledges. Bonus points for funders’ growing recognition of climate justice.
Trend of the Year: Wealth-Hoarding
Since last year, the fortunes of the richest have ballooned alongside a devastating pandemic. With skyrocketing market returns, philanthropic stinginess, a billionaire tax on life support, and continued resistance to payout reform, it appears the piles of wealth at the top are only going to keep getting bigger.
Trend We Hope Sticks Around: Participatory Philanthropy
More foundations of all sizes are experimenting with community-driven philanthropy. Don’t get us wrong, this is far from the status quo, but we’re seeing new participatory projects emerge all the time, and hope this becomes even more commonplace in the years ahead.
Tech Philanthropists of the Year: Brian and Tegan Acton
Tapping a WhatsApp fortune, the Actons are embracing transparency and trust-based philanthropy as they ramp up major giving for local needs in the Bay Area as well as backing a who’s who of groups working to build a fairer, more democratic America.
Best Cheerleader for Tech Philanthropy: Ron Conway
In addition to his own significant giving, angel investor Conway has played an influential behind-the-scenes role in encouraging giving by tech entrepreneurs.
Best Victory: The 2020 Census
Counting everyone in the U.S. is hard enough without political inference—which is why foundations invested heavily in ensuring that things went smoothly. This year, we learned that the census was largely a success. Philanthropy gets some of the credit.
Fundraising Success Story of the Year: The Asian American Foundation
This year put a tragic spotlight on the increase in violent words and acts directed at AAPI people. It also lit a fire under donors, who poured over a billion dollars and counting into AAPI causes, guided by the newly formed Asian American Foundation.
Biggest Loss: Abortion Rights
Too many funders have shied away from protecting this human right, and even some of its biggest backers don’t like to talk about it. Devastating losses in states and the courts are not philanthropy’s burden to bear alone, but many funders are surely asking themselves how they let it get to this point. Fortunately, some are learning from past missteps.
Most Urgent Cause for Next Year: Saving American Democracy
Funding for democracy is on the rise, but still a drop in the bucket. Furthermore, philanthropy for democracy too often follows boom-and-bust cycles and fails to support sustained local organizing. If funders don’t get serious about this urgent threat, much of what the sector works toward could be lost.
Most Sinister Philanthropic Cause: Voter Fraud Claims
Right-wing philanthropies have spent years inflating baseless voter fraud claims into a broad narrative that fuels voter suppression tactics, animates a large part of the electorate and lurked behind the January 6 insurrection. And they’ve received tax benefits for doing so.
Lost Cause of the Year: The Giving Pledge
In 2021, while the world continued to flail in the wake of COVID, the wealthiest among us only grew wealthier. Even billionaires who have committed to giving away their fortunes face a perhaps-impossible task of keeping up with the disturbing pace of wealth accumulation and inequality. And, of course, most of them aren’t even trying.
Worst Idea of the Year: CBS Reality Show “The Activist”
Do we need to say more?
Worst Case of Donor Influence: The Nikole Hannah-Jones Saga
Publisher Walter Hussman, Jr. lobbied against the hiring of Hannah-Jones at the journalism school that bears his name. While Hannah-Jones did get the job, she was denied tenure and ultimately rejected the offer, citing Hussman’s meddling as a key factor. Hannah-Jones went on to launch a new home for her work at Howard University.
Rip Van Winkle Award: Bloomberg’s Charter School Gift
It’s not 2005, but you wouldn’t know it judging by Mike’s big investment in charters—even as other education donors migrate away from a K-12 strategy that has yielded mixed results after billions in funding.
Philanthropy Drama of the Year: Bill and Melinda French Gates’ Divorce
This typically personal matter dominated philanthropy headlines for weeks, and for good reason. The future of the world’s biggest foundation will be shaped by whether the Gateses can get along as co-chairs in the years ahead.
Punching Bag of the Year: Bill Gates
Gates has always had his critics. But never before have they had so much ammunition to work with as they did this year.
Most Omnipresent Mega-Donor: Laurene Powell-Jobs
She and the Emerson Collective have their fingers in more pies than we can count, now including the Ford Foundation, where Powell-Jobs was named a board member this year. Yet because her LLC-based giving is so opaque, it’s hard to keep tabs on exactly what she’s doing.
Best Role Model for Wall Streeters: Bill Ackman
Ackman has long stood out as a financier who’s serious about giving. When the hedge fund billionaire made a huge score with Coupang stock last year, he didn’t just add it to his growing pile. He donated shares worth $1.3 billion to philanthropy.
Funder Collaborative We’ll Miss the Most: Magnify Community
Magnify sunsetted in September after a three-year run working to spur greater local giving in Silicon Valley, a region packed with billionaires and millionaires who often forget their own community when they do philanthropy.
Philanthropy Organizers of the Year: Ellen Dorsey, Stephen Heintz, Clara Vondrich and the Fossil Fuel Divestment Movement
After years of banging their heads against a brick wall, divestment proponents had a big year, as some of the largest foundations in the country committed to publicly divest from fossil fuel stocks. Organizers have been building momentum and racking up allies for a long time, but in 2021, we really saw the dominoes fall.
Most Unexpected New Philanthropists: Van Jones and José Andrés
In one of the weirdest gift announcements ever, Jeff Bezos announced after his trip to space that he was giving the longtime activist and the celebrity chef $100 million each to regrant as they pleased. What are they doing with the money? Stay tuned.
Climate Funder of the Year: Bezos Earth Fund
While we have problems with Jeff Bezos, we have to give credit where credit is due—this rapidly growing philanthropy is moving money, making waves and prioritizing climate justice, something its institutional predecessors failed to do for years. Don’t worry, we’ll be the first to sound the alarm if it takes any ill-advised turns.
New Hire of the Year: Danielle Deane-Ryan, Bezos Earth Fund
On that note, the most encouraging news that we’ve seen from Bezos Earth Fund was the hire of Danielle Deane-Ryan as director of equitable climate solutions. Hiring one of its past critics to prioritize equity says a lot about the fund’s responsiveness.
Health and Science Funder of the Year: K. Lisa Yang
Yang and her husband Hock Tan have made impressive gifts to a range of causes, including $24 million to MIT for bionics research that could be a game-changer for people with disabilities. In previous years, they’ve made substantial gifts for autism and neuroscience research.
Mental Health Donors of the Year: Steve and Connie Ballmer
One of the biggest challenges in mental health is that demand always outstrips supply. There simply aren’t enough professionals to meet the surging needs. The Ballmers’ $38 million unique gift to the University of Washington will expand the number and diversity of students who go on to work in community-behavioral health programs.
Arts Funder of the Year: The Ralph C. Wilson, Jr. Foundation
“Resiliency” was the watchword across the arts funding space in another year ravaged by the pandemic. This regional grantmaker, due to sunset in 2035, led the way by earmarking $117.5 million over 10 years to establish endowments at community foundations, providing a perpetual stream of support for 24 regional arts organizations.
Journalism Hero of the Year Who Wasn’t (and Then Was): Stewart Bainum Jr.
Journalism advocates held their collective breath when the billionaire hotel magnate tried to purchase the Baltimore Sun and turn it into a nonprofit, safe from the clutches of rapacious hedge funds. When his efforts fell through, Bainum created a nonprofit news outlet, the Baltimore Banner, because if you can’t beat ‘em, compete with ‘em.
Sports Philanthropist We’ll Miss the Most: Hank Aaron
Baseball legend and civil rights hero Hank Aaron passed away early this year, leaving behind a legacy of activism and philanthropy. He and his wife Billye have awarded hundreds of scholarships and are major backers of HBCUs.
Healthcare Funder of the Year: Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
This year reminded us once again that RWJF isn’t just America’s biggest healthcare grantmaker, it’s the most innovative and influential, supporting a wide range of work that spanned local health justice organizing, a higher minimum wage, and vaccine equity.
Gender Equity Funder of the Year: Melinda French Gates
With an independent fortune of around $6 billion, Gates continues to carve out her own role as a major funder of gender equity, outside the Gates Foundation—helping bankroll Equality Can’t Wait and other initiatives.
Corporate Funder of the Year: The LEGO Foundation
The LEGO Foundation has a pretty niche focus on supporting learning through play. When COVID struck, the foundation found new ways to honor that mission, providing COVID relief funding to its partners and expanding funding to meet new challenges facing youth.
Tech Watchdog of the Year: Pierre Omidyar
Facebook whistleblower Frances Haugen received PR and government relations support from Omidyar’s Luminate, representing an escalation in the eBay founder’s campaign to counteract online misinformation. Will other civic-oriented donors follow his lead and stand up to Big Tech?
Best Under-the-Radar Philanthropy Success Story: Access to Affordable Dental Care
In Alaska’s far-flung tribal lands, access to dental care is extremely limited. In response, Tribal leaders, with the help of the Rasmuson Foundation, the Kellogg Foundation and others, started a dental therapy training program, which helped launch a new category of accessible dental care that’s spreading across the country.
Cause That’s (Almost!) Reached Critical Mass: Early Childhood Education
We now know the cascading benefits of early childhood education, which can disrupt the cycle of poverty and carry on well into adulthood. A growing list of major funders are getting behind this cause, including from corporate America.
Mixed Messages Award: Walton Family Foundation
Countless foundations made DEI a top priority this year, including Walton. So why does the foundation continue to back the Independent Women’s Forum? IWF vocally opposes DEI efforts in philanthropy and beyond, among other extreme stances that contradict WFF’s stated values.
Program Director of the Year: Geri Mannion
Mannion has played a key role over decades in rallying philanthropy to invest more in strengthening democracy, helping to build up groups that now are facing their greatest test yet. She also led the way in catalyzing new grantmaking for immigration issues.
Philanthropy Critics of the Year: Ray Madoff and John Arnold
While the fate of the Accelerate Charitable Efforts (ACE) Act is uncertain, the billionaire donor and Boston College professor have teamed up to form an unprecedented coalition of philanthropic heavy hitters demanding reform to DAF payout and other rules.
Philanthropy Critic Lifetime Achievement Award: Chuck Collins
If he hadn’t given away his Oscar Meyer inheritance in his 20s, Collins could have been a philanthropist himself. Instead, he’s spent decades sounding the alarm about the harms caused by wealth inequality, including the growing problem of “top-heavy philanthropy.”
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