In response to an increase in anti-democratic extremism, hate speech, and violence in the United States, many foundations have taken steps to prevent the funding of hate and extremism, while others are interested in doing so, a white paper from the Council on Foundations finds.

Based on interviews with representatives of twenty-four foundations and advocacy groups as well as a former foundation leader, the report, Values-Aligned Philanthropy: Foundations Resisting Hate and Extremism (25 pages, PDF), found that in taking action to prevent philanthropic funding of causes associated with hate and extremism, foundations face multiple challenges, including defining the terms and identifying organizations that promote extremism and hate. Other challenges include aligning organizational values across varying levels of knowledge and engagement among board members, staff, and donors and their competing interests; a lack of best practices and resources for decision making and establishing policies and procedures; issues specific to donor-advised funds, such as how legally and ethically to handle conflicts with donors' wishes; and the potential role of government agencies, particularly the Internal Revenue Service, in providing enforcement and information.

The white paper outlines eight action steps the philanthropic sector can take to advance meaningful change: formulate a policy proactively, before a difficult situation arises; pair policies with a process for making decisions; ensure that foundation staff clearly understand and can explain the legal issues; use existing resources to inform decisions; align policies with organizational values; create consistency across policies for both allocating and receiving funds; communicate clearly and constantly with all stakeholders; and join together with other philanthropic organizations in taking a stand.

The report is part of the council's Values-Aligned Philanthropy initiative launched in late 2020 with support from the Gill Foundation to "prevent hate funding within the philanthropic sector." In addition to publishing the white paper, the initiative has launched a resource hub that provides information and resources from across the sector with the goal of building foundations' awareness and capacity to prevent hate funding.

"A key component of the council's new strategic direction is to help ensure philanthropy is a trusted partner in advancing the greater good," said Council on Foundations president and CEO Kathleen Enright. "Our values-aligned philanthropy efforts examine core issues related to the funding of hate and extremism and provide foundations with the knowledge and capacity-building tools to engage in ethical giving."

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