Sunday, December 4, 2016

Dunn's Foundation gives libertarians $10M/year

This Foundation Is a Stalwart Backer of Libertarian Policy. Have You Heard of It? — Inside Philanthropy - Philip Rojc:

June 2, 2016 - "Most of the time, it’s hard to pick up on a foundation’s funding philosophy from its name alone. Dunn’s Foundation for the Advancement of Right Thinking makes it easier than most.... Founded in 1994, Dunn’s Foundation ... isn’t the oldest or most well-known funder around, but its low profile belies grantmaking of about $10 million a year, money that goes a long way in the think tank world.

"Dunn’s Foundation is devotedly libertarian in its outlook. While the foundation maintains no website or social media presence, public tax documents reveal a twofold purpose: to advocate for free enterprise and market capitalism, and to 'reduce the impact of the use or threat of force by coercive organizations (both public and private) against the people of America and the world, principally through education.'

"Since the year 2000, Dunn’s Foundation has provided major and ongoing funding to some of the biggest names in libertarianism like the Cato Institute, the Reason Foundation, the Competitive Enterprise Institute, and the Atlas Society. Dunn’s persistent support for the Marijuana Policy Project cements the foundation’s libertarian status....

"Another feature of Dunn’s grantmaking is its direct support for several libertarian public interest law firms. Some highlights: the Institute for Justice ($5,910,000 between 2002 and 2013), the Pacific Legal Foundation ($3,713,000), and the Landmark Legal Foundation ($2,340,000)....

"A theoretical physics Ph.D., Dunn left the sciences for finance in 1974, establishing what is now Dunn Capital Management, LLC. According to the firm’s website, Dunn was an early pioneer of quant trading in commodity futures, applying then-new computer technology to manage financial portfolios.... Dunn ...  is a Reason Foundation trustee and sits on the board of the Cato Institute, both major recipients of his money....

"Dunn is said to maintain strict control over his foundation’s grantmaking. Despite assets of around $130 million, Dunn’s Foundation has a small, tight-knit board of trustees and few apparent staff. In addition to Dunn himself, officers include Dunn’s wife Rebecca Walter Dunn, Dunn Capital general counsel David Dreyer, and Thomas A. Beach, who is also current chairman of the Reason Foundation....

In addition to the grantees mentioned above, others include the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, Americans for Limited Government, Chapman University, the Heartland Institute, and the Institute for Humane Studies.... The foundation has also given around $4 million over the past decade to the Property and Environment Research Center, a proponent of free market solutions to environmental problems and a critic of the Clean Air and Clean Water Acts."

Read more: http://www.insidephilanthropy.com/home/2016/6/2/this-foundation-is-a-stalwart-backer-of-libertarian-policy-h.html
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