For-Profit Philanthropy - Elite Power Threat of Limited Liability Companies, Donor Advised

This book exposes a migration of business practices, players, and norms into philanthropy that strains the regulatory regime sustaining public trust in elite generosity through accountability and transparency and proposes legal reforms and private solutions to restore it. Practices, players, and norms native to the business sector have migrated into philanthropy, shattering longstanding barriers between commerce and charity. Philanthropies organized as limited liability companies, donor-advised funds sponsored by investment company giants, and strategic corporate philanthropy programs aligning charitable giving by multinationals with their business objectives paint a startling new picture of elite giving. In For-Profit Philanthropy, Dana Brakman Reiser and Steven A. Dean reveal that philanthropy law has long operated as strategic compromise, binding ordinary Americans and elites together in a common purpose. At its center stands the private foundation. The authors show how the foundation neatly combines donor autonomy with a regulatory framework to elevate the public's voice. This framework compels foundations to spend a small but meaningful portion of the assets their elite donors have pledged to the public each year. Prophylactic restrictions separate foundations from their funders' business and political interests. And foundations must disclose more about the sources and uses of their assets than any other business or charity. The philanthropic innovations increasingly espoused by America's most privileged individuals and powerful companies prioritize donor autonomy and privacy, casting aside the foundation and the tools it provides elites to demonstrate their good faith. By threatening to displace impactful charity with hollow virtue signaling, these actions also jeopardize the public's faith in the generosity of those at the top. Private ordering, targeted regulation, or a new strategic bargain could strike a modern balance, preserving the benefits of the compromise between the modest and the mighty. For-Profit Philanthropy offers a detailed roadmap to show how it can be accomplished.

Sommario

• Introduction


• Chapter 1: The Philanthropy LLC


• Chapter 2: Commercially Affiliated Donor-Advised Fund Sponsors


• Chapter 3: Strategic Corporate Philanthropy


• Chapter 4: The Grand Bargain


• Chapter 5: In Search of Lost Trust


• Chapter 6: Tailored Regulatory Interventions


• Chapter 7: Private Ordering Solutions


• Chapter 8: A More Perfect Bargain


• Conclusion


• Index

Info autore

Dana Brakman Reiser holds a chair as Centennial Professor of Law at Brooklyn Law School, where she also served as Vice Dean. Her globally recognized expertise in the law at the intersection of business and charity has made her a leading voice on charitable organizations diversifying their revenue streams and on business firms striving for corporate social responsibility.

Steven A. Dean is Professor of Law and Co-Director of the Center for the Study of International Business Law at Brooklyn Law School, where he previously served as Vice Dean. He focuses on inequality both domestically and globally, with a particular focus on tax policy and anti-Black racism.

Riassunto

This book exposes a migration of business practices, players, and norms into philanthropy that strains the regulatory regime sustaining public trust in elite generosity through accountability and transparency and proposes legal reforms and private solutions to restore it.

Practices, players, and norms native to the business sector have migrated into philanthropy, shattering longstanding barriers between commerce and charity. Philanthropies organized as limited liability companies, donor-advised funds sponsored by investment company giants, and strategic corporate philanthropy programs aligning charitable giving by multinationals with their business objectives paint a startling new picture of elite giving.

In For-Profit Philanthropy, Dana Brakman Reiser and Steven A. Dean reveal that philanthropy law has long operated as strategic compromise, binding ordinary Americans and elites together in a common purpose. At its center stands the private foundation. The authors show how the foundation neatly combines donor autonomy with a regulatory framework to elevate the public's voice. This framework compels foundations to spend a small but meaningful portion of the assets their elite donors have pledged to the public each year. Prophylactic restrictions separate foundations from their funders' business and political interests. And foundations must disclose more about the sources and uses of their assets than any other business or charity. The philanthropic innovations increasingly espoused by America's most privileged individuals and powerful companies prioritize donor autonomy and privacy, casting aside the foundation and the tools it provides elites to demonstrate their good faith. By threatening to displace impactful charity with hollow virtue signaling, these actions also jeopardize the public's faith in the generosity of those at the top.

Private ordering, targeted regulation, or a new strategic bargain could strike a modern balance, preserving the benefits of the compromise between the modest and the mighty. For-Profit Philanthropy offers a detailed roadmap to show how it can be accomplished.

Testo aggiuntivo

Reiser and Dean argue that philanthropy law represents a strategic Grand Bargainbinding ordinary Americans and elites together in a common purpose: in exchangefor relatively modest controls and a requirement that a private foundationdistribute roughly 5% of its assets each year for the public good, donors can receive generous tax writeoffs. The authors are concerned that today, innovationsincluding commercially affiliated donor-advised funds, strategic corporate philanthropy, and philanthropy limited liability companies have set that Bargain aside to provide elites with greater autonomy and privacy, with a commensurate reduction in benefit to the public.

Dettagli sul prodotto

• Autori: Dana Brakman Reiser, Dana (Centennial Professor of Law Brakman Reiser, Steven A. Dean, Steven A. (Professor Dean, Dana Brakman/ Dean Reiser
• Editore: Oxford University Press
• Lingue: Inglese
• Formato: Copertina rigida
• Pubblicazione: 03.03.2023
• EAN: 9780190074500
• ISBN: 978-0-19-007450-0
• Pagine: 344
• Categorie: Scienze sociali, diritto, economia > Diritto > Diritto commerciale, diritto economico; SOCIAL SCIENCE / Philanthropy & Charity, LAW / Corporate, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Affairs & Administration, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Public Policy / Social Security, Commercial law, Political science & theory, Public Administration, Political science and theory, Company law