Stay Current on the Latest in Free-Market Philanthropy
As the landscape of nonprofits continues to grow, trying to stay current on all the good work going on can be overwhelming–especially if you target your support to efforts that help reduce government’s size and people’s dependence on it. Giving Ventures is designed to help charitable givers discover new opportunities to change the world for the better. Twice a month, the Giving Ventures podcast will highlight several non-profit efforts, initiatives, and projects that leverage private philanthropy to solve public problems.
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Episode 48
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.
Episode 47
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, Greg Peterson, one of the first venture capitalists, a former Marine and a Stanford University alumnus, mentor and trustee.
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with three policy experts working to make abortion unthinkable. Those experts are Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life; Jeff Bradford, president of Human Coalition; and Ryan Hanlon, president and CEO of the National Council for Adoption.
Episode 44
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with three policy experts working to expand diversity of thought and equal opportunity for all. Those experts are Edward Blum, founder of Students for Fair Admissions; Devon Westhill, president and general counsel of the Center for Equal Opportunity; and Kenny Xu, president and primary spokesperson for Color Us United. Read the show notes here.
Episode 43
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with three policy experts working to expand worker freedom. Those experts are Aaron Withe, president and CEO of Freedom Foundation; Joseph G. Lehman, CEO of Mackinac Center; and Elizabeth Messenger, Americans for Fair Treatment. Read the show notes here.
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, Peter talks with two donors: David Thayer and Tom Beach, They share their expert insights into the markets and offer thoughts on how donors and organizations might respond to economic and political uncertainty.
The episode, taken from a conversation originally aired as a webinar for nonprofit leaders, starts on a pessimistic note. David explains why we are likely in a recession and unlikely to see a great reduction in the inflationary environment. As he says, “It’s already worse than it seems.” Read the show notes.
Thomas Hand, a graduate of West Point and a successful businessman, joins DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett on the latest episode of Giving Ventures to talk about the unique grant program he created using DonorsTrust. The program, facilitated by DonorsTrust, awards grants to those preserving historic sites across the country — sites that tell the story of America and her founders. Read the show notes here.
Episode 38
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Pano Kanelos, president of the University of Austin, and Stephen Blackwood, founding president of Ralston College in Savannah, Georgia. Both gentleman are working hard to offer a higher-education alternative that is more open to intellectual curiosity and openness. Listen in to hear what they have to say about their hopes for the future of higher education in America. Read the show notes here.
Episode 37
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, DonorsTrust Vice President and host Peter Lipsett talks with three nonprofit executives working to revive and expand classical education. His guests include Robert Jackson, executive director of Great Hearts Institute; Bob Luddy, founder of Thales Academy; and Kathleen O’Toole, director of Barney Schools at Hillsdale College. Click here to read the show notes.
Episode 36
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Connor Boyack, founder and president of the Libertas Institute and Nicole Cassier-Mason, CEO of Lemonade Day. Both guests talk about the importance of helping kids build their entrepreneurial skills, something that will serve them throughout their life and skills they likely won’t learn in public school. Read the show notes here.
Episode 35
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett moderates a conversation with featured guest Chris Cousins, an experienced financial advisor who has helped many folks navigate wealth events like the sale of a business and windfalls like inheritance. DonorsTrust President & CEO Lawson Bader as well as DonorsTrust Chief Financial Officer Jeff Zysik also have helpful cameos on the episode. Read the show notes here.
Episode 34
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Marion Smith, president and CEO of the Common Sense Society; Margarita Mooney, executive director of Scala Foundation; and Justin Shubow, president of the National Civic Art Society. All three touch on the importance of beauty and the role it plays in securing freedom. Click here to read the show notes.
Episode 33
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Pacific Legal Foundation President and CEO Steven D. Anderson; New Civil Liberties Alliance President and General Counsel Mark Chenoweth; and Job Creators Network President Elaine Parker. All three detail past or present cases before the Supreme Court and what they’re doing to rein in an administrative state that often acts beyond its scope during the executive rule-making process. Click here to read the show notes.
Episode 32
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, host Peter Lipsett talks with DonorsTrust President and CEO Lawson Bader as he reflects on a year of giving marked by higher prices, recession fears and looming legislative threats and lays out a roadmap for what givers and prospective givers should look out for in the world of conservative and libertarian philanthropy in 2023. Click here to read the show notes.
Episode 31
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, Peter talks with three experts dedicated to preserving First Amendment rights for all Americans. His guests include Foundation for Individual Rights and Expression (FIRE) President Greg Lukianoff; FIRE Chief Operating Officer Alisha Glennon; and FIRE Executive Vice President Nico Perrino. Click here to read the show notes.
Episode 30
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, Peter talks with three enery-policy experts dedicated to crafting free-market regulatory reforms that make energy more affordable and accessible to everyone. His guests include Kent Lassman, president and CEO of Competitive Enterprise Institute; Steve Malloy, senior policy fellow at the Energy & Environment Legal Institute; and Tom Pyle, president of the Institute for Energy Research.Click here to read the show notes.
Episode 29
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, Peter talks with colleagues to discuss some of their favorite charities. The guests share their personal connections to the charities, why the charities are near and dear, and venture a guess at what kind of giver would likewise be interested in the charities listed during this episode. So, take the turkey out of the freezer, if you haven’t already, and listen to this special Thanksgiving edition of Giving Ventures. Read the show notes here.
Episode 28
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, Peter talks with three health-policy experts dedicated to crafting free-market solutions that make healthcare freer, more affordable and accessible to everyone. His guests include Brian Blase, president of Paragon Health Institute; Jonathan Wolfson, chief legal officer and policy director at the Cicero Institute; and Richard Walker, executive director of the Benjamin Rush Institute.
Episode 27
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, Peter talks with Star Parker, founder and president of the Center for Urban Renewal and Education; Kendall Qualls, president of TakeCharge Foundation; and Robert Woodson, founder and president of the Woodson Center. All three debunk the left’s narrative on the “state of black America” and offer ways policymakers and bureaucrats can help, not hurt, African American families. Click here to read the show notes.
Episode 26
Is your alma mater soliciting donations from you? Chances are they’ve asked you for money recently. In fact, U.S. colleges and universities raised $52.9 billion in the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2021, and that is a 6.9 percent increase over the previous year.
While the schools make giving easy, giving effectively is much harder. In other words, is your alma mater the best place for your charitable dollars when a different college or university is doing work that better reflects your values?
Emily Jae, director of the Fund for Academic Renewal at the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, joins Peter on the latest episode of Giving Ventures to discuss ways to make intentional gifts to colleges and universities that live up to our nation’s founding ideals. Click here to read the show notes.
Episode 25
Peter interviews Bryant Haines of 2ndVote, which scores companies on how liberal, conservative or neutral they are on social and political issues. Also on this episode is Will Hild of Consumers’ Research to discuss the social credit system that has become “ESG” standards, a problematic and flawed system that elites increasingly use to signal whether a company is worth investing in. And finally Derek Kreifels, co-founder and chief executive officer of the State Financial Officers Foundation gives a rundown on the role state officials play in the ESG tug-of-war. Click here to read the show notes.
Episode 24
On this episode of Giving Ventures, Peter talks with author Gideon Bernstein about the upside of giving and how the tragedy of his son’s murder changed the way Bernstein views the world and his philanthropy. You won’t want to miss this poignant conversation, especially if you need a fresh outlook and roadmap for your giving. Read the show notes here.
Episode 23 Part III
On the third installment of “Inspiring Liberty on Campus,” Young Americans for Liberty Executive Director Lauren Daugherty joins Peter on Giving Ventures to give an update on the organization. Born out of the “Youth for Ron Paul” movement, Young Americans for Liberty is defending the First Amendment rights of college students with a particular emphasis on pushing back against campus-free-speech zones. Why? Because all of campus should be fair game for free speech, says Daugherty. Listen to find out what else Daugherty and her team are doing to preserve the First Amendment rights of more than 1.5 million college students every year and what they did to help pass constitutional carry in Indiana. Read the show notes here.
Episode 23 Part II
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, Peter interviews Charlie Kirk, founder and president of Turning Point USA, “a national student movement dedicated to identifying, organizing, and empowering young people to promote the principles of free markets and limited government.” Charlie talks about his new book, titled “The College Scam: How Colleges and Universities Are Bankrupting and Brainwashing Away America’s Youth,” and what TPUSA chapters nationwide are doing to help students embrace liberty. Read the show notes here.
Episode 23
On the latest episode of Giving Ventures, Peter interviews Dr. Wolf von Laer, chief executive officer of Students for Liberty. Last year alone, says Dr. Laer, SFL-affiliated students organized nearly 2,000 events on campuses across the globe. The events included protests, town halls and creative activities or exhibitions spearheaded by students. The common thread that ensures students walk away empowered and hopeful about the future of academic inquiry? It’s community, says Dr. Laer. Hear all about it on this week’s episode of Giving Ventures, available wherever you get your podcasts. Click here to read the show notes.
Episode 22
UPDATE: In October, Peter spoke with several nonprofit leaders in the liberty movement that are helping strengthen family life in America. Here, we re-release that episode. Stay until the end to catch a brief update on the progress these organizations have made over the last nine months thanks in large part to our community of givers here at DonorsTrust. You can view the original show notes here.
Editor’s Note: Gen Justice announced on Oct. 11 that it’s changed its name to ‘The Center for the Rights of Abused Children.” It says the name change is an effort at “better communicating” its mission to help America’s abused and abandoned children.
Episode 21
On this episode of the Giving Ventures podcast, Peter interviews Ian Rowe, author of the new book “Agency: The Four Point Plan (F.R.E.E.) for ALL Children to Overcome the Victimhood Narrative and Discover Their Pathway to Power,” senior fellow at American Enterprise Institute and co-founder of Vertex Partnership Academies, a world-class charter high school, the first campus of which opened its doors this year in the Bronx. This wide-ranging conversation explores Ian’s experience as an education entrepreneur, what donors can learn from his time at the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, non-profits that are advancing the idea of agency, and so much more. Click here to read the show notes.
Episode 20
2026 will be a big year. No, it isn’t a presidential election year. Twenty-twenty-six marks the 250th birthday of our beloved United States of America. The fancy term for that is the semi-quin-centennial. The brand you will get to know it as, though, is America250. That is the name of the organization leading the planning and coordination of a national celebration for this remarkable birthday. Joseph C. Daniels, the new CEO and president of America250, joins host Peter Lipsett on the latest episode of Giving Ventures to talk about his plans for the big birthday bash. Click here to read the show notes.
Episode 19
Are free-markets dead? Not a chance. Young entrepreneurs and activists including Cindy Cerquitella of America’s Future; Amanda Covo of Teneo Network; and Marissa Gaston of Washington Policy Center join host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett on the latest episode of Giving Ventures to share how they’re fanning the flames of freedom in their respective communities. Read the show notes here.
Episode 18
What makes a good story? What makes a good story great? IronLight Labs President Jo Jensen, Kite & Key Media CEO and Co-Founder Vanessa Mendoza; Free to Choose Network President and CEO Rob Chatfield; and The Story Incubator Owner Erin O’Connor share the “secret sauce” of solid storytelling, including who should convey your message, how to connect with your audience and how quickly you need to reel in your listeners before they tune out. These tips and more on the latest episodes of the DonorsTrust Giving Ventures podcast. Click here to read the show notes.
Episode 17
In the seventeenth episode of our Giving Ventures podcast, titled “Winning in the States,” host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with State Policy Network President and CEO Tracie Sharp. State Policy Network is the membership organization for all the free-market, pro-liberty think tanks in the states, driving leadership development, information sharing, and a general cross-pollination of ideas critical to the success of pro-liberty principles. Tracie gives a run-down of hard-fought legislative and legal wins at the state level, including income-tax reform, union reform and, among others, protecting private workers’ civil liberty as it relates to the so-called “vaccine mandate.” Read the show notes here.
Episode 16
In the sixteenth episode of our Giving Ventures podcast, titled “Free Market Environmentalism,” host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with three nonprofit leaders working to implement changes that better steward earth’s natural resources without undermining its most precious resource of all: people. His guests include Brian Yablonski, chief executive officer at the Property and Environment Research Center; Benjamin (Benji) Backer, founder and president of the American Conservation Coalition; and Drew Bond, co-founder of Conservative Coalition for Climate Solutions (C3 Solutions). Read the show notes here.
In this bonus episode of the Giving Ventures podcast, host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Dr. Tom G. Palmer, executive vice president for international programs at Atlas Network, about the situation on the ground in Ukraine. It’s an interview you won’t want to miss, as Dr. Palmer shares about his weekly trips across the border into Ukraine. Read the bonus show notes here.
Episode 13
In the thirteenth episode of our Giving Ventures podcast, titled “Freedom in the Press,” host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with three nonprofit leaders carving out a voice for taxpayers and conservatives in the media world. His guests include John J. Miller, founder and executive director of the College Fix; Casey Given, executive director of Young Voices; and Christopher Krug, president and publisher of the Franklin News Foundation. Read the show notes here.
Episode 12
In the twelfth episode of our Giving Ventures podcast, titled “Engaging Conservative Women,” host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with three nonprofit leaders giving voice to the issues of particular interest to women, including parental leave, workplace flexibility and women in sports, to name a few. His guests include Carrie Lukas, president of Independent Women’s Forum; Stacy Blakeley, executive director of The Policy Circle; and Karin Lips, president of the Network of Enlightened Women. Read the show notes here.
In the ninth episode of our Giving Ventures podcast, titled “Leveling Up Our Civics Education, host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with Jeremiah Lorrig, deputy director of Generation Joshua; actress Janine Turner, founder and co-president of Constituting America; and Jonathan Greenberg of the Jack Miller Family Foundation, who runs point on a three-group effort called the American Civics and History Initiative, about what they are doing, respectively, to create engaged citizens. Read the show notes here.
Episode 8
In the latest Giving Ventures episode, titled “Giving in 2022,” our fearless leader Lawson Bader talks with host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett about the history of philanthropy over the last couple years; trends we’re seeing now; and what to expect in 2022, including challenges and hopefully triumphs for conservative philanthropy in the years ahead. Read the show notes here.
Episode 7
In the latest episode of Giving Ventures, titled “Bridging Divides,” host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with John Wood, national spokesperson for Braver Angels; Andrew Hanauer, president and CEO of One America Movement; and Jacquie Merrill, director of the Campus Free Expression Project at the Bipartisan Policy Center. Our guests share what they’re doing to spur civil discourse, encourage bicameral cooperation and generally encourage Americans to embrace the angel on their shoulder instead of the alternative. Read the show notes here.
Charitable givers on the political left are celebrated by those in the mainstream media. Charitable givers on the political right, however, are rebuked and accused of being part of a “dark money” conglomerate. There are people, though, working to set the record straight and share the positive things happening in conservative philanthropy—stories that aren’t splashed on the front-page of the New York Times, even when these stories deserve prominent above-the-fold placement.
DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett in the fifth episode, titled “Defending Philanthropy,” of our Giving Ventures podcast talks with Elizabeth McGuigan, director of policy at the Philanthropy Roundtable; Jennifer Butler, a consultant for People United for Privacy; and Scott Walter, president of Capital Research Center to talk all things philanthropy. The guests give a broad overview of what’s happening in conservative philanthropy and what their organizations are doing to protect donor freedom and advance philanthropic giving on the political right. Read the show notes here.
Episode 4
In the fourth episode, titled “Stronger Families, Stronger Freedom,” of our Giving Ventures podcast, host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks with three great guests working to strengthen families, protect children, and nurture new respect for dads. John-Paul “J.P.” DeGance, president and CEO of Communio, works with churches and communities to bolster marriage; Darcy Olsen, CEO of GenJustice, works to ensure foster children have legal representation; and John Papola, CEO of the Emergent Order Foundation, works to engage fathers and encourage them to create an impact in their community. Even if families, foster care, and fatherhood aren’t important pieces of your philanthropy, you will find some interesting tidbits in here—and some great reasons to be optimistic. Read the show notes here.
Editor’s Note: Gen Justice announced on Oct. 11 that it’s changed its name to ‘The Center for the Rights of Abused Children.” It says the name change is an effort at “better communicating” its mission to help America’s abused and abandoned children.
In our second episode of Giving Ventures, “Happy Warriors in the Tax Fight,” host and DonorsTrust Vice President Peter Lipsett talks taxes with a handful of experts, or “happy warriors,” fighting the good fight in the world of tax policy, including Tax Foundation President Scott Hodge; National Taxpayers Union Foundation President Pete Sepp; and Buckeye Institute Vice President of Policy Rea Hederman. Our guests discuss ways their organizations are poking holes in misguided federal and state tax policy, especially with regard to the giant tax reconciliation bill on the floor in the U.S. House of Representatives and how some of the proposed tax changes that would’ve hurt charitable givers have been tabled—for now. Read the show notes here.
Episode 1
In our inaugural podcast episode, “New Approaches to Reducing Poverty,” we explore ways to reduce poverty. Now, perhaps your first thought is wondering why an organization like DonorsTrust would be talking about poverty. After all, many people think mostly about DonorsTrust’s sizable support of public policy think tanks. That view, though, doesn’t give enough credit to the work that free-market ideas do to lift people out of poverty. We’ve all heard the old adage that you can give a man to fish and feed him for a day or teach him to fish and feed him for a lifetime. But what if it’s illegal to fish in the first place? Listen in for more information on programs across the country that are helping Americans out of poverty. Read the show notes here.
Trailer
Giving Ventures is produced by Peter Lipsett and Carolyn Bolton with music from Zapsplat.com.
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