Bolder Giving was founded as a project of the Zing Foundation in 2007 by Anne and Christopher Ellinger to promote charitable giving among wealthy left-progressive activists. In 2016, the left-of-center National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) bought Bolder Giving’s assets and announced plans to use the initiative to advance environmentalism, feminism, and left-of-center criminal justice policy. ^{1 2}

Bolder Giving has been credited with inspiring the “Giving Pledge,” an initiative under which American billionaires pledge to donate almost all of their wealth to charity prior to their deaths. Bolder Giving received a matching grant from the left-of-center Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in 2010. ³

Bolder Giving has encouraged large donors to support left-of-center causes such as “domestic worker rights,” climate issues, and the expansion of voting privileges. It has also held “Give Out” days to focus on sending donations to left-of-center LGBT organizations. ⁴

In 1996, Bolder Giving co-founder Christopher Ellinger helped establish Resource Generation, a left-of-center coalition of wealthy individuals who claim that wealth and racism are “inextricably linked.” ⁵

Background

Anne and Christopher Ellinger started Bolder Giving as a project of the Zing Foundation in 2007 to encourage large-scale philanthropic giving by wealthy donors, especially young donors. ^{6 7} The Ellingers gave away 50% of their fortune while in their 30s. ⁸

Bolder Giving has collected stories of donors who gave 20%, 50% or 90% of their income and assets to charity to inspire other donors to do the same. ⁹ Bolder Giving’s website lists 180 separate personal stories from high-level givers who have supported left-of-center policy on labor, climate issues, and electoral policy. ^{10 11}

Bolder Giving has also supported left-of-center identity politics. Bolder Giving hosts “Give Out Day,” an initiative to promote to promote LGBT-related nonprofits, and has promoted giving to charities which focus specifically on African American interests. ¹²

Bolder Giving was listed as the primary program for the Zing Foundation. ¹³ Other Zing Foundation initiatives have included Wiser Giving, a 2014 initiative which seeks to provide more transparent information to donors, and the Presidents’ Pledge Against Global Poverty, a national initiative to engage college and university presidents to donate money to anti-poverty initiatives. ¹⁴

The Gates Foundation and Giving Pledge

The “Giving Pledge,” which Warren Buffett started along with Bill and Melinda Gates to encourage wealthy people to pledge to give most of their wealth to charity, was inspired by Bolder Giving. ^{15 16} In 2010, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation gave Bolder Giving a three-year, $675,000 matching grant to expand its reach. ¹⁷

After the Gates Foundation matching grant in 2010, the organization hired Jason Franklin as its executive director. Franklin remained with the organization until 2015, leaving to become the W.K Kellogg Chair in Community Philanthropy at the Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University. Franklin also became the chair of the center-left Proteus Fund’s board of directors. ^{18 19}

Acquisition

In November 2016, the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP) bought the assets of Bolder Giving. The NCRP stated in its strategic framework plan for 2017 through 2026 that it would continue Bolder Giving’s programs, primarily sharing stories of high-net-worth donors who gave high percentages of their incomes to left-of-center causes. ²⁰

In a letter announcing the acquisition, NCRP CEO Aaron Dorfman and NCRP board chairwoman Sherece West-Scantlebury stated that Bolder Giving could improve the organization’s left-leaning social policy goals regarding environmentalist and feminist causes. ²¹

NCRP is a left-leaning philanthropic advocacy organization. NCRP also takes credit for pressuring the United Way, a charitable organization, to push a left-of-center “social justice” agenda on behalf of what it claims to be marginalized communities. ²² The organization has also claimed credit for making it easier for federal employees to engage in workplace giving to social and policy advocacy organizations. ²³

The NCRP also claims to have helped to shape the way left-leaning political and public policy nonprofits use their resources through a 1997 NCRP study which it claims inspired organizations such as the Center for American Progress (CAP) and the Democracy Alliance (DA). ²⁴ Moreover, the organization claims to have reframed philanthropy around “equity and social justice.” ²⁵

In late 2016, Dorfman claimed that the NCRP strategic plan had taken on added urgency because of the election of former President Donald Trump. Dorfman claimed that President Trump had promoted inflammatory rhetoric toward immigrants and Muslims. ²⁶

Leadership

As of March 2021, Bolder Giving still has an active website. The organization’s page for “staff” only lists its board members, and the Zing Foundation’s most recent filing with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) was in 2017. ^{27 28}

Anne and Christopher Ellinger founded Bolder Giving in 2007 and are listed as members emeritus on its board of directors. The couple inherited money in their 20s and decided to give away 50% of their fortunes in their 30s. The couple spent about three decades working on donor organizing and founded More Than Money, a nonprofit peer donor network. The couple co-authored the books We Gave Away a Fortune and Welcome to Philanthropy. ²⁹

Christopher Ellinger helped to start the left-wing Resource Generation in 1996. The organization was geared toward promoting giving among young wealthy people. Despite being extremely wealthy themselves, Resource Generation members assert that wealth and racism are “inextricably linked.” Resource Generation members have also claimed that the economic system exploits people of color and the working class. ³⁰

Aaron Dorfman is the president and CEO of the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP), a research and advocacy nonprofit organization that acquired Bolder Giving in 2016. He is also a board member of Capital & Main, the Center for Popular Democracy (CPD), and Re:Power. ³¹ Dorfman was formerly a lead organizer with the controversial, now-defunct Association of Community Organizers for Reform Now (ACORN). ³²

Levani Lipton is listed as the chairwoman of the six-member board of directors for Bolder Giving and president of the organization. ³³ Lipton is the executive director of the Ananda Foundation, which funds grants for nonprofits in Asia, Africa, Latin America, and the South Pacific for poverty alleviation. ³⁴

1. Who We Are. Bold Giving. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.boldergiving.org/staff.php
2. Staff. “NCRP Acquires Bolder Giving, Boosts Efforts to Engage Wealthy Donors.” Philanthropy News Digest. November 29, 2016. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/ncrp-acquires-bolder-giving-boosts-efforts-to-engage-wealthy-donors
3. History. Bolder Giving. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.boldergiving.org/history.php
4. Zing Foundation. Cause IQ. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/zing-foundation,571190359/
5. Altmann, Jennifer. “Reckoning With Wealth: These millennials have privilege — and they don’t want it.” Princeton Alumni Weekly. March 4, 2020. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://paw.princeton.edu/article/reckoning-wealth
6. History. Bolder Giving. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.boldergiving.org/history.php
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8. Who We Are. Bold Giving. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.boldergiving.org/staff.php
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14. Zing Foundation. Cause IQ. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/zing-foundation,571190359/
15. [1] Murray, Sarah. “Rich Give Less, But May ‘Invest in Solutions’ More.” Financial Times (via CNBC). March 15, 2013. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.cnbc.com/id/100557570
16. History. Bolder Giving. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.boldergiving.org/history.php
17. Helm, Kristi. “The inspiration behind the billionaire pledge: Bolder Giving.” Seattle Times. August 12, 2010. Accessed March 26, 2021. https://www.seattletimes.com/business/the-inspiration-behind-the-billionaire-pledge-bolder-giving/
18. History. Bolder Giving. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.boldergiving.org/history.php
19. Williams, Wendy. “A Time to Give | PBA.” Pro Bono Australia. May 29, 2017. Accessed January 26, 2018. https://probonoaustralia.com.au/news/2017/05/a-time-to-give/
20. Strategic Framework 2017-2026. National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. Accessed March 25, 2021. http://bjn9t2lhlni2dhd5hvym7llj-wpengine.netdna-ssl.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/NCRP-strategic-framework-for-2017-2026.pdf
21. Staff. “NCRP Acquires Bolder Giving, Boosts Efforts to Engage Wealthy Donors.” Philanthropy News Digest. November 29, 2016. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/ncrp-acquires-bolder-giving-boosts-efforts-to-engage-wealthy-donors
22. “Pushed United Way to be Response to Communities of Color and Fund Nonprofit Advocacy.” National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. Accessed April 7, 2021. https://www.ncrp.org/timeline/pushed-united-way-to-be-responsive-to-communities-of-color-and-fund-nonprofit-advocacy
23. “Opened Up Combined Federal Campaign to Advocacy Organizations and Nontraditional Charities.” National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. Accessed April 7, 2021. https://www.ncrp.org/timeline/opened-up-the-combined-federal-campaign-to-advocacy-organizations-and-nontraditional-charities
24. “Shaped the Way Progressive Foundations Deployed Resources to Strategically Effect Public Policy.” National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. Accessed April 7, 2021. https://www.ncrp.org/timeline/shaped-the-way-progressive-foundations-deployed-resources-to-strategically-effect-public-policy
26. Staff. “NCRP Acquires Bolder Giving, Boosts Efforts to Engage Wealthy Donors.” Philanthropy News Digest. November 29, 2016. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/ncrp-acquires-bolder-giving-boosts-efforts-to-engage-wealthy-donors
27. Who We Are. Bolder Giving. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.boldergiving.org/staff.php
28. [1] Zing Foundation. IRS 990. 2017. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/view_990/571190359/69a52ec30ee966efca94f0bae248f483 
29. Who We Are. Bold Giving. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.boldergiving.org/staff.php 
30. Altmann, Jennifer. “Reckoning With Wealth: These millennials have privilege — and they don’t want it.” Princeton Alumni Weekly. March 4, 2020. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://paw.princeton.edu/article/reckoning-wealth
31. Aaron Dorfman. Staff. National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy. Accessed March 26, 2021. https://www.ncrp.org/about-us/staff/adorfman 
32. Aaron Dorfman. LinkedIn. Accessed April 7, 2021. https://www.linkedin.com/in/aaron-dorfman-a48a369/
33. Zing Foundation. IRS 990. 2017. https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/view_990/571190359/69a52ec30ee966efca94f0bae248f483 
34. Who We Are. Bold Giving. Accessed March 25, 2021. https://www.boldergiving.org/staff.php