Briefly overviewing some potential grantmaking options.
The upheaval in conservatism caused, or perhaps merely signified, by the political ascendance of Donald Trump in 2016 is intensifying, as David Brooks noted in his astute survey of the conservative intellectual landscape in The New York Times earlier this month. “Off in the corners,” according to Brooks, “there’s a lot of intellectual ferment on the right.”
Many of those already-established, familiar, philanthropically supported institutions and publications that were caught somewhat flat-footed by that which gave rise to the Trump phenomenon have steadied themselves and are currently attempting to address it. They all have much to contribute, of course, to the refinement or redefinition—or, in some cases, what they would consider the restoration—of conservatism moving forward.
Other new organizations and projects have themselves arisen since ’16, too. These “new kids on the block” have begun to contribute to the turbulence in their own ways, and they likely will have much more to contribute to the refinement and redefinition, as well, along with others who will be joining them. Moving forward, step by step, they may really be running soon.
These new think tanks and magazines and journals, many online, provide ideas-driven, policy-oriented conservative grantmakers with additional grantmaking options to consider. Some of them are briefly overviewed in this updated, one-page Giving Review document, “New Organizations and Projects Seeking to Help Refine or Redefine Conservatism Moving Forward (Updated),” the original version of which appeared on October 29, 2019.
It includes only Internal Revenue Code § 501(c)(3) groups or projects undertaken by such groups. It is partial, we fully realize, and may be revised again.
(Note: One of us, Dan Schmidt, serves on the board of advisors of The Edmund Burke Foundation, which is included on the list.)