ABSTRACT
Massive trusts with billions of dollars in holdings are a distinctively US institution. No other civilization has been “designed by the imagination of its organized philanthropists to quite the same degree”. US foundations helped shape medical research, health, university and other education, the arts and culture, religion, science, public affairs, the environment, and a multitude of areas that impact the lives of ordinary Americans. The most successful nonprofit organizations created after 2007 involved partnerships between journalists and wealthy individual philanthropists who donated large sums of startup capital. These funders, many of whom were self-made millionaires and billionaires, possessed an entrepreneurial spirit and an understanding of how to grow and operate enterprises – key skills that were lacking in journalists. Small to medium donations by readers and supporters of nonprofit news organizations had the potential to provide a substantial percentage of a site’s revenue.
