Giving Ventures

While curmudgeonly complaining about “kids these days” is nothing new, it’s hard to deny that there’s cause for genuine concern about America’s youngest generations. The combination of radicalism and ignorance displayed in campus protests may be a variation on an old theme in higher education, but the fragility and emotional instability of these Gen Z students is notable. And even among their youn...

Autocracy is on the rise. There are only 34 liberal democracies – the lowest number in more than 25 years – and they are home to just 13 percent of the world population. How can we reverse that trend? Our guests today are at the vanguard of that work to reverse this decline in global freedom. First we will hear from World Liberty Congress, a newer group created and led by the very dissidents that...

American conservatives and libertarians can get really excited about ideas but aren’t generally known for their enthusiasm about Congress. Among free marketers, “government” can almost sound like a bad word. Yet seeing the ideas of limited government, personal responsibility, and free enterprise put into action means engaging with the legislative process. Peter recently sat down with some of the f...

Stories have incredible power to shape us. From the bedtime tales we tell our children to the latest installments of multi-billion-dollar film franchises, compelling characters and skillful storytelling grab our attention like nothing else. On the most recent episode of Giving Ventures, Peter is joined by guests from a trio of groups whose visual storytelling is capturing audiences with the messag...

How do you know if an organization you support is really effective? What are the metrics you as a donor should be looking for? And are they hard metrics like numbers of policy wins, softer metrics like the amount of press coverage, or really amorphous metrics like a feeling that the organization is going in the right direction? Today, we talk with Leah Kral of the Mercatus Center about how donors...

Perhaps you've followed the controversy about the most recent set of proposed changes to Title IX, the rules that define equality based on sex in education. The changes were originally offered in June of 2022, but it wasn't until April of this year that the final proposed changes came out. Colleges were given until August 1 of this year to comply, so this topic certainly has some urgency to it. To...

With just 27 words, the 2nd Amendment of the Bill of Rights secures gun rights for millions of Americans—at least in theory. In practice, the text of the Second Amendment has been subject to legal, political, and cultural controversies, and Americans’ gun rights are not always respected. In this episode of Giving Ventures, we hear from two of the most accomplished organizations in the gun rights s...

Today, we're digging into the media landscape and talking to three groups helping people to make sense of the narratives that are out there as well as challenge those narratives when they stray from the truth. First up is our watch dog, the Media Research Center. Then we'll hear from a group that has become a watchdog with teeth, Accuracy in Media. We'll round things out digging into investigative...

Ever since the terror attacks in Israel on Oct. 7 of last year, we have seen an increased focus on giving to causes related to Israel and Jewish life. Investor and venture philanthropist Adam Milstein joins us to offer his insights on how donors might think of challenging anti-Semitism, supporting Jewish culture, and the relationship between all of this to our own challenges in America.

Donor-advised funds are a powerful charitable vehicle, and one that has grown rapidly in the past decade. However, just because the use of DAFs has grown doesn't mean everyone fully grasps the value and power that a fund can offer. Even less, there are lots of questions around what the role of the provider of DAFs can offer both to donors but also to the nonprofits who receive grants from those pr...

In this interview with James Whitford, we explore a better way to do human-services charity. The word "charity" often leads people to think of the human-suffering side of giving, or rather efforts aimed to alleviate human suffering. Think homeless shelters, food banks, church-run thrift stores, and after-school programs in tough neighborhoods. All of these places have a role to play, but are they...

On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Darla Romfo, president and CEO of Children's Scholarship Fund; Norton Rainey, CEO of ACE Scholarships; and Carol Liebau, president of Yankee Institute. The guests share what their nonprofits are doing to ensure every child gets a quality education no matter where they live. Tune in for this and more on th...

On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Lawson Bader, president and CEO of DonorsTrust, and Christie Herrera, president and CEO of PhilanthropyRoundtable. The two guests share insights and trends in philanthropy and discuss regulatory and legislative threats that, if approved, would chill giving. Tune in for this and more on the latest episode...

On the latest episode of the Giving Ventures podcast, DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Rod Richardson, co-chair of the Climate & Freedom International Coalition and president of the Grace Richardson Foundation; Lord Daniel Hannan, former member of European Parliament, founding president of the Institute for Free Trade and a peer in the House of Lords; and Diego Sánchez de la Cru...

On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Hans Zeiger, president of the Jack Miller Center. Zeiger shares how he's sounding the alarm on government-funded universities and what conservative charitable givers can do to promote pluralism, defend American values and develop principled academic leaders.

On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Norman Horn, founder and president of Libertarian Christian Institute; Nicholas Sarwark, executive director of the Libertarian Policy Foundation; and Tom DiLorenzo, president of the Mises Institute. The guests, among other things, make the Christian case for Austrian economics.

On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Lindsay Craig, president of National Review Institute; David McIntosh, president of Club for Growth Foundation; and Rebecca Good, managing director of outreach for American Enterprise Institute. The leaders explain what they're doing to nurture people's love and knowledge of liberty long after graduation.

On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Archbridge Institute President and CEO Gonzalo Schwarz and Justin Callais, research fellow at Archbridge Institute and lead author of its Social Mobility Index project. Discover how the institute is mapping out state-by-state the ability of one to improve their economic situation.

On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Bill Simon, co-chair of the William E. Simon Foundation; Bob Rubin, founder and president of Rubin Wealth Advisors; and Lawson Bader, president and CEO of DonorsTrurst. The charitable-giving experts talk about ways to preserve one's charitable wishes even as organizations drift away from their original mi...

On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Marcus Ruzek, senior program director at the Marcus Foundation. Ruzek shares ways givers can shrink the disconnect that exists between veterans and non-veterans as military service wanes, reviews the resources available for givers interested in helping military veterans and discusses strategies for overco...

On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Adam Josefczyk, co-founder and president of Forge Leadership Network; Noah Sofio, director of alumni and careers programming at the David Network; and Yael Levin Hungerford, executive director of the Adam Smith Society, a project of Manhattan Institute. Tune in and discover the unique ways these nonprofit...

On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Marissa Streit, CEO of PragerU, and Fred Fransen, CEO of Certell. The three talk about the need to create history and civics materials that are even-handed and rooted in historical accuracy. Tune in to discover how Streit and Fransen are preserving commonsense ideas through their educational materials.

On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Tal Tsfany of the Ayn Rand Institute and Jennifer Grossman of Atlas Society. The three talk about the life and philosophy of Ayn Rand, author of "The Fountainhead" and "Atlas Shrugged." A libertarian icon, Rand was born under Soviet rule and saw first-hand the destructive influence of communism. Tune in t...

On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with three education experts working to expand school choice. His guests include Don and Ashley Soifer, CEO and chief innovation officer, respectively, of the National Microschooling Center; Jenny Clark, founder of Love Your School; and Denisha Allen, founder of Black Minds Matter.

On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Nicole Hoplin, president of Hoplin Jackson Charitable Advisors and representative for the Gregor G. Peterson Prize in Venture Philanthropy. The one-time $250,000 grant is awarded annually to a trailblazing non-profit newer than five years old. Tune in to learn about the prize and its namesake, Gr...