Think Tanks Supported by Millions of Dollars From Open Philanthropy

The grantmaking foundation Open Philanthropy has only been around for several years but it has already given millions of dollars to more than a dozen think tanks for a variety of projects.  Facebook co-founder Dustin Muskowitz and wife Cari Tuna are the main funders of the entity, which is based in San Francisco, California.

Here is a look at the think tanks that have received money from Open Philanthropies as well as some of the projects that the foundation has funded:

• Center for Global Development (CGD): Research on the net health impacts of COVID-19 on various countries (here)
• RAND Corporation: Research on the state of AI assurance methods (here); legalizing marijuana in Vermont (here)
• Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP): To support the Full Employment Project (here)
• Carnegie Endowment for International Peace: Chinese and Indian perspectives on biotech security risks (here)
• Urban Institute: History of Philanthropy Project (here)
• Niskanen Center: Research on immigration policy (here)
• Center for American Progress (CAP): Macroeconomic stabilization (here)
• Peterson Institute for International Economics (PIIE): Macroeconomic research projects (here)
• Roosevelt Institute: Macroeconomic policy research (here)
• Economic Policy Institute (EPI): Macroeconomic policy research (here)
• Center for a New American Security (CNAS): Outreach on technological risk (here)
• Wilson Center: AI policy seminar series (here)
• Washington Center for Equitable Growth: Macroeconomic policy research (here)

Muskowitz's net worth is estimated to be $14.9 billion, so it looks like he will have plenty of funds to continue funding think tanks for many years to come.

Think Tanks Could Get Boost from Pledge by Top Foundations

While many think tanks have lost significant funding revenue amid the coronavirus pandemic and subsequent economic downturn, some policy shops may actually benefit from a move by several major foundations to redouble efforts to fund nonprofits.

Here is more from the New York Times:

The Ford Foundation plans to announce on Thursday that it will borrow $1 billion so that it can substantially increase the amount of money it distributes. To raise the money, the foundation — one of the country’s most well-known and oldest charitable organizations — is preparing to issue a combination of 30- and 50-year bonds, a financial maneuver common among governments and companies but extremely rare among nonprofit groups.

Four other leading charitable foundations will pledge on Thursday that they will join with Ford and increase their giving by at least $725 million.

The decision by the five influential foundations — major sponsors of social justice organizations, museums and the arts and environmental causes — could shatter the charitable world’s deeply entrenched tradition of fiscal restraint during periods of economic hardship. That conservatism has provoked anger that foundations, which benefit from generous federal tax breaks, are hoarding billions of dollars during a national emergency, more interested in safeguarding their endowments than in helping those in need.

The four other foundations are among America’s most storied: the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; the W.K. Kellogg Foundation; the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation; and the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The MacArthur and Doris Duke foundations plan to issue bonds. Mellon and Kellogg are still working out their financing plans.

All five of those foundations contribute generously to think tanks.  For example, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation has recently given grants to the Aspen Institute, East-West Center, and World Resources Institute (WRI).

The MacArthur Foundation has given to nearly every major US think tank, including the American Enterprise Institute (AEI), Aspen Institute, Atlantic Council, Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC), Brookings Institution, Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, Cato Institute, Center for American Progress (CAP), Center for Global Development (CGD), Center for National Policy (CNP), Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments (CSBA), Center for a New American Security (CNAS), Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (CBPP), Council on Foreign Relations (CFR), Economic Policy Institute (EPI), Hudson Institute, Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), Middle East Institute (MEI), Migration Policy Institute (MPI), New America, R Street Institute, Resources for the Future (RFF), Stimson Center, Truman Center for National Policy, US Institute of Peace (USIP), Urban Institute, Wilson Center, and World Resources Institute (WRI).

Think Tank Watch should also point at that think tanks are starting to consider raiding their endowments at a faster pace.

Docs Reveal Bradley Foundation's Quiet Funding of Think Tanks

Some interesting tidbits about the Bradley Foundation's funding of think tanks from PRWatch:

Documents examined by the Center for Media and Democracy (CMD) expose a national effort funded by the Milwaukee-based Lynde and Harry Bradley Foundation to assess and expand right-wing "infrastructure" to influence policies and politicians in statehouses nationwide.

The documents were made public in October 2016 on two Twitter accounts that cyber security analysts have linked to one of the Russian hackers alleged to have breached the Democratic National Committee. The Bradley Foundation confirmed in a statement that the hack had taken place and was reported to the FBI. More information about how the Bradley files became public is available here.

The documents open a window to the behind-the-scenes workings of one of America's largest right-wing foundations. With $835 million in assets as of June 2016, the Bradley Foundation is as large as the three Koch family foundations combined, yet receives much less attention as a significant funder of the right.

Bradley funds the MacIver Institute ($1,079,640) and Wisconsin Policy Research Institute ($13,055,000 since 1987). The State Policy Network "think tanks" work closely with ALEC legislators on model bills, including recently on ALEC's private sector union-busting legislation, ALEC's rollback of prevailing wages and more.

The Bradley Foundation was recently honored as "a force for what makes America so good" by the Heritage Foundation, a think tank that has benefited from the Foundation's support for more than 35 years.

A recent annual report shows that the Bradley Foundation supports a variety of conservative and libertarian think tanks, including the Heritage Foundation, Hudson Institute, Hoover Institution, Cato Institute, and Competitive Enterprise Institute (CEI).