Wall Street’s Nonprofits Use Selective, Opaque Logic to Defund Charities

Three major donor-advised fund sponsors—Vanguard Charitable, Fidelity Charitable, and Charles Schwab's DAFgiving360—blocked donations to the Southern Poverty Law Center after the Justice Department indicted the civil rights group on fraud charges. Donor-advised funds are the new gatekeepers of American charity: these three alone oversee more than three hundred twenty-seven billion dollars in assets and handle about one-quarter of all individual giving nationwide. ProPublica's investigation found they applied their policies unevenly—while cutting off the SPLC, they continued allowing donations to numerous other groups under government investigation, including hospitals, universities, and charter schools. The SPLC received twenty million dollars from these three sponsors over three years, roughly seven percent of its twenty twenty-five contributions. The sponsors offered little explanation to affected organizations or donors about why. A law professor told ProPublica the precedent is alarming: it enables politically motivated actors to damage nonprofits on mere allegations, especially now, amid a flood of over one hundred thirty-five congressional investigations into charities since twenty twenty-five, many targeting groups allegedly tied to foreign influence or particular ideologies.

Listen to this story

Hear this and more stories in a personalized audio briefing.

Open The Chonkerton