Givers, Doers, & Thinkers—A Podcast on Philanthropy and Civil Society

We’re back with the fifth season of Givers, Doers, & Thinkers! To launch the next ten episodes, Jeremy sits down with Carrie Tynan, CEO of the Adolph Coors Foundation in Colorado.

As CEO, Carrie oversees all the foundation’s operations--both charitable and non-charitable--and implements the trustees’ vision for America. She loves visiting nonprofits and learning how they are improving the lives of the people in their communities, as well as finding new, innovative ways to have a larger impact. Before her current role, Carrie worked for the Adolph Coors Foundation as a program officer, director of programs, and executive director. Her background provides a lens into the framework of a highly effective grantmaking foundation. 

Jeremy and Carrie discuss donor intent and local giving, combining human service and public policy grantmaking, and measuring the impact of initiatives. They also dive into the practical side of grantmaking and the importance of in-person site visits, communication with nonprofits, grant applications, and best practices for supporting grantees. To close the conversation, Jeremy and Carrie discuss the pros and cons of starting a foundation versus a donor-advised fund.

You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers here at Philanthropy Daily, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

To close the fourth season of Givers, Doer, & Thinkers, Jeremy sits down with political philosopher Mark T. Mitchell about why and how the health of the American constitutional order is connected to private property.

Mark is the Dean of Academic Affairs at Patrick Henry College. He is the author of The Limits of Liberalism: Tradition, Individualism, and the Crisis of Freedom, The Politics of Gratitude: Scale, Place, and Community in a Global Age, and Michael Polanyi: The Art of Knowing. He is co-editor of Localism in the Mass Age: A Front Porch Republic Manifesto, The Humane Vision of Wendell Berry, and The Culture of Immodesty in American Life and Politics. He is the co-founder of the web-zine Front Porch Republic. In 2008-2009, he was a fellow at the James Madison Program in American Ideals and Institutions at Princeton University.

Is the system rigged? Mark dives into the details of how often we are tricked into “playing the game” that favors some and creates barriers of entry for others and the dangers it poses to the health of our republic. What is the real state of play when it comes to property ownership in America? Mark expounds on what is special about private property, how it works to help secure freedom, and what’s left of our constitutional order. Jeremy and Mark also discuss work, the essentials of happiness, and the wisdom of limits. All of this and more are in today’s podcast.  

Are you planning to launch a capital campaign in 2023? Then, you’ll want to hear from American Philanthropic managing consultant Steve Bird about the pitfalls of running a capital campaign during this week’s practicalities segment. 

You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers here at Philanthropy Daily, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy chats with the Ian Rowe about why we need to replace our obsession with equity with the empowering concept of agency. 

Ian V. Rowe is a senior fellow at the American Enterprise Institute, where he focuses on education and upward mobility, family formation, and adoption. He is co-founder & CEO of Vertex Partnership Academies, a new network of character-based, International Baccalaureate public charter high schools opening in the Bronx in 2022. He is widely published and quoted in the popular press, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, C-SPAN, the New York Post, and the Washington Examiner. With his recent book Agency, Ian Rowe seeks to inspire young people of all races to build strong families and become masters of their own destiny.

To kick off the conversation, Ian shares about being a son of Jamaican immigrants in the 1960s and the wisdom and mindset his father passed down to him as a young man. Inspiring questions such as: How do we create better environments for young people to flourish? Why do young people feel like they have little control over their future? Ian identifies the trapping narratives that deprive people of a sense of agency and why it is such a hard concept to accept by those who follow the victimhood narrative. He then outlines how to address this issue in ways attainable for people from all backgrounds. Noting that, shockingly, the “gatekeepers” for the less advantaged don’t always know what is best.

Today's GDT Reader’s Guide recommendation comes from American Philanthropic's Chief Solutions Officer, Kieran Raval. He shares Peter Thiel's book, Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future. Kieran identifies helpful takeaways like "taking risks is good," "having a bad plan is better than no plan," and "sales and product both matter," and how it applies to nonprofits.   

You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers here at Philanthropy Daily, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy sits down with theologian and journalist Rusty Reno about how and why the strong gods are reappearing in American society and what that means for our common future.

R.R. Reno is the editor of First Things, a journal of religion and public life, and serves on the board of advisers of the Edmund Burke Foundation. After earning his doctorate in religious studies from Yale, he taught theology at Creighton University for twenty years. He is the author of several books, including Genesis: A Theological Commentary, Fighting the Noonday Devil, and Resurrecting the Idea of a Christian Society.

To kick start the conversation, Jeremy discusses Rusty’s recent book, Return of the Strong Gods: Nationalism, Populism, and the Future of the West. How do we devote ourselves to something greater than ourselves? Rusty outlines what these strong (and weak) gods are. He also touches on hot topics like woke culture, true justice, and the crisis in Ukraine. To close, they discuss the danger of half-truths and the pride of America.

Jessica Cooper is a consultant with American Philanthropic and has extensive experience with government grants. You’ll want to listen to these three tips before applying for your next government grant.  

 You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers here at Philanthropy Daily, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

This week of Giver, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy speaks with nonprofit leader Jay Hein about innovative social impact investing, religion and social policy, and what the George W. Bush White House got right. 

Jay Hein is the president of Sagamore Institute and serves as managing director of an impact investing platform called Commonwealth. Together, Sagamore and Commonwealth advance game-changing ideas through innovations and investments. Jay also served President George W. Bush as the White House Office of Faith-Based Initiatives director. In addition, he formerly directed Civil Society Programs at Hudson Institute and served as a welfare policy advisor to then-Wisconsin Governor Tommy Thompson. Jay is the author of The Quiet Revolution and The New Wisconsin Idea. 

To kick off today's conversation, Jay shares about his time working for President George W. Bush's Office of Faith-Based Initiatives and the controversy surrounding its formation. They discuss the weariness of faith-based organizations receiving government support for their programs and whether the concern is legitimate. From there, Jay shares a little more about the Sagamore Institute and Commonwealth and their innovative approach to social investing. What's the future of America's heartland? Jay answers whether the Midwest has "arrived" and, if so, its implications. To close, Jay offers his thoughts on different legislative reforms that have been proposed that could influence the future of philanthropy.

During this week’s practicalities segment, Jeremy chats with Ben Domingue about major-gifts fundraising. Ben addresses two questions that often come up with his clients: How do you know how much to ask for? Where can I find that million-dollar donor? If you’re wrestling with these questions, I’d suggest listening to this somewhat unconventional advice.

 You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers here at Philanthropy Daily, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

Today on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy talks to investor and commentator David Bahnsen about the intersection of current trends in philanthropy and economics, including why stakeholder capitalism is a bad idea.

David L. Bahnsen is the founder, managing partner, and chief investment officer of The Bahnsen Group, a national private wealth management firm managing over $3.5 billion in client assets. David is a founding trustee for Pacifica Christian High School of Orange County and serves on the Board of Directors for the National Review Institute. He is the author of several best-selling books, including Crisis of Responsibility: Our Cultural Addiction to Blame and How You Can Cure It (2018) and The Case for Dividend Growth: Investing in a Post-Crisis World (2019). His newest book, There’s No Free Lunch: 250 Economic Truths, was released in November 2021.

Jeremy kicks off the conversation by asking David to share how he strives to achieve a good return on investments and how he uses those returns to advance his philanthropic goals. He offers insights on measuring the success of nonprofits and utilizing resources like Charity Navigator. You’ll hear his thoughts on regulatory and bureaucratic systems within charitable institutions and whether it’s a good idea. And are we headed into a recession? David outlines what he thinks will happen in the coming months and how it will impact the world of philanthropy.

You’ll also hear from Iain Bernhoft, a managing consultant for American Philanthropic’s writing and communications department. Iain recommends Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, a book by Nassim Nicholas Taleb. What does it have to do with civil society? You’ll have to listen during this week’s GDT Reader’s Guide segment!

You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers here at Philanthropy Daily, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy speaks with Mary Eberstadt about family breakdown, identity politics, and atheism.

Mary Eberstadt holds the Panula Chair in Christian Culture at the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C. and is Senior Research Fellow at the Faith & Reason Institute. She has written many works, including How the West Really Lost God: A New Theory of Secularization; Adam and Eve after the Pill: Paradoxes of the Sexual Revolution; and Primal Screams: How the Sexual Revolution Created Identity Politics.

Jeremy and Mary waste no time jumping straight into the topic of identity, along with the roots of identity politics—where it comes from and why it falls short. Is the sexual revolution really to blame for the weakening of civil society? Mary shares why she believes the current cultural identity crisis was fostered by a breakdown of families and the collapse of religion. Deprived of traditional ways of understanding “winner takes all,” politics destroys the building blocks of true identity. One survival response? Androgenicity. Mary goes on to outline why she believes such drastic cultural evolutions are happening now. She notes the compounding actions and influences that have created the boiling point we are facing today. All of this and more on today’s episode with Mary Eberstadt.

During this week’s practicalities segment, Jeremy hears from Aaron Brown, a managing consultant at American Philanthropic. Aaron shares how to keep development staffs motivated and focused with the highs and lows of fundraising. With year-end fundraising on the horizon, this segment is particularly beneficial!

You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers here at Philanthropy Daily, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy speaks with journalist Teddy Schleifer about how American billionaires practice their philanthropy and why it matters.

Teddy Schleifer is a reporter and founding partner at Puck who covers the influence of Silicon Valley billionaires. He’s based in the San Francisco Bay Area and writes about the tech fortunes being made and deployed during this extraordinary era of capitalism, diving into topics like campaign finance, big philanthropy and tax avoidance. He was originally based in Washington and wrote about similar topics for CNN.

Who are the rich and powerful influencing philanthropy in America today? Jeremy and Teddy kick off the discussion by identifying the surprising tendency of the very rich to be risk averse when it comes to philanthropy and taking on innovative initiatives. Teddy shares who he thinks are some of the most interesting up-and-coming philanthropists and some trendy theories and philosophies of giving he finds particularly interesting. They discuss the different approaches by new money and old money philanthropists. And end the conversation with Teddy’s views of big tech’s key figures and influencers.  

Looking for book recommendations to help strengthen civil society? We are starting a new segment called "GDT Reader's Guide" to share what other nonprofit leaders are reading and found to be particularly insightful in the work they do. Today's recommendation comes from American Philanthropic's Chief Solutions Officer, Kieran Raval. He shares Peter Thiel's book, Zero to One: Notes on Startups, or How to Build the Future. Kieran identifies helpful takeaways like "taking risks is good," "having a bad plan is better than no plan," and "sales and product both matter," and how it applies to nonprofits. 

You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers here at Philanthropy Daily, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, Jeremy sits down with businessman and philanthropist Dean Riesen about his effort to deliver and access clean water in Tanzania and what the rest of us can learn from his work.

Dean is the Managing Partner of Redrock Partners, a private equity investment firm. As part of the firm’s work, he has served as the Chairman of Romano’s Macaroni Grill, Chairman of Famous Dave’s of America, and Managing Partner of Rimrock Partners, a commercial real estate investment and development firm. He founded and serves as Chairman of the Tanzania Water Fund, which has completed over 35 community-based water systems in the Singida Region of Tanzania.

Does a localist approach translate to international giving? Dean shares his method for charitable sustainability through the Tanzania Water Fund—along with systems, people, and protocols to enact. He outlines what he calls the “human development pyramid” and why clean water is foundational to transformative impact for many developing communities—even more essential than economic development or healthcare. Dean closes out by offering wisdom on starting new endeavors and charitable work, noting the importance of patience and persistence when things fail and measuring the desired output instead of input.

During our practicalities segment, Jeremy speaks with American Philanthropic consultant Michela Petrosino. She shares her insights and unique approaches to cultivating genuine relationships with your donors that go beyond the typical run-of-a-mill suggestions.

You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers here at Philanthropy Daily, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel

This week on Givers, Doers, & Thinkers, we talk to theologian Gary Anderson about the surprising things the biblical tradition has to say about the poor, charity, and charity’s rewards.

Gary Anderson is the Hesburgh Professor of Catholic Theology at the University of Notre Dame and holds a doctorate from Harvard University. He is interested in all dimensions of biblical studies. His specialization is in the Hebrew Bible/Old Testament, but because of his interest in the history of interpretation, he also works in Second Temple Judaism and early Christian sources. He has written several works on these topics, most notable being Sin: A History and Charity: The Place of the Poor in the Biblical Tradition, which is what we spend time discussing in this episode. 

To kick off this chat, Jeremy and Gary walk through a brief history of charity in the biblical tradition. They touch on weighty questions such as charity’s place in social reform, its “worthy” recipients, and how different faiths and denominations express it. Then they shift gears a bit to discuss the somewhat uncomfortable and confusing ways influential figures like Mother Teresa of Calcutta and Bill Gates practice charity and what that means for ordinary folks. As someone concerned about the flourishing of civil society, this episode will challenge your thinking on the best ways to understand and offer charity and how it impacts your soul. 

You’ll hear from senior consultant Mark Diggs on why he thinks direct response is like fishing from a riverbank and what that means for nonprofit leaders when communicating with donors.

You can find Givers, Doers, & Thinkers here at Philanthropy Daily, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Amazon Music, Google Podcasts, Buzzsprout, and wherever you listen to podcasts.

We’d love to hear your thoughts, ideas, questions, and recommendations for the podcast! You can shoot Katie Janus, GDT’s producer, an email anytime!

Center for Civil Society's YouTube Channel