Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund is a donor-advised fund provider associated with the Goldman Sachs. A donor-advised fund, it distributes charitable donations at the direct request of donors. It was founded in 2001 and is the third-largest fund of its kind.

Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund reported “approximately 8,000 grants totaling approximately $317,572,338 to charitable organizations” in 2016. The Fund received over $3.2 billion in donations in 2016, and had assets of $4.7 billion. ¹

Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund does not pay any staff directly, according to its 2016 IRS filing (Form 990). ¹

According to its 2021 990 form, the Fund reported its revenue at $2,555,591,623; its expenses at $3,168,921,660; and its total assets at $9,038,446,000. ²

Background

Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund is a provider of donor-advised funds, charitable vehicles that allow donors to establish directed giving through funds within a large nonprofit. A number of financial institutions and brokerages, such as Schwab, Fidelity Investments, and Goldman Sachs established charitable arms to operate donor-advised funds; Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund is one such charity.

According to the National Philanthropic Trust, a provider of such funds, donor-advised funds make up more than three percent of all charitable donations in the U.S. Donors to such funds receive a tax deduction, cannot revoke their donation, and see their dollars invested tax-free through the fund. Donors are then able to recommend grants from their money. ³

Because public charities like GSPF are not required to disclose their donors, donors seeking privacy may establish donor-advised funds to anonymize contributions to controversial organizations. ⁴

Policies

According to its formal Program Circular, the Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund’s minimum initial gift amount is $25,000 to open an account. Additional minimum contributions are $5,000. ⁵

Contributions are generally managed by the Fund itself. However, an individually managed account may be created for accounts with at least $5 million. These are accounts where the donor may direct some investment efforts. ⁵

Grant recommendations of any size must be at least $250 in size and made in $50 increments, according to the Program Circular. The grant amount cannot be larger than the amount of money in one’s account. ⁵

Fund Recipients

Many of the donations made by donors through the Fund are given to educational institutions and other groups without political affiliations. In 2014, however, GSPF reported making contributions of $155,850 to five Planned Parenthood affiliates, including the Planned Parenthood Federation of America. ⁶ It also donated $19,750 to the Heritage Foundation in 2014.

2018 Donor Disclosure Error

Two pages from IRS documents were temporarily publicized on the non-profit data site GuideStar in January 2018. Bloomberg reported that the Fund’s three largest donors were Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, Steve Jobs’ widow Laurene Powell Jobs, and Whatsapp founder Jan Koum. The publicization of the pages revealed that Ballmer donated $1.9 billion in 2016, Jobs gave $526 million in 2016, and Koum donated $114 million. ⁷ These donors seem to have driven Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Funds’ 450 percent growth in donations between 2015 and 2016. The Fund received $623 million in 2015 ⁸ and $3.2 billion in 2016. ⁹

Criticism

The high wealth of many donors, tax benefits of donations, lack of disclosure requirements as compared to private foundations, and more have led to criticism of these donor-advised funds as a concept, as well as of Goldman Sachs Philanthropy the GSPF donors became public, Marc Gunther at The Nonprofit Chronicles highlighted the tax write-off which Ballmer likely received for his donation – up to $600 million. ¹⁰

A column written by Alan Cantor in 2018 at the Chronicle of Philanthropy criticized the lack of transparency. Cantor claimed that funds like Goldman Sachs’ are part of “Wall Street’s takeover of the charitable world” and quoted critiques from EO Tax Journal Editor Paul Streckfus about how “real charities” hesitate to critique donor-advised funds. According to Streckfus, charitable groups which critique donor-advised funds’ allegedly “siphoning off billions of dollars into investment,” critics may be taken off of donor-advised funds’ list of potential recipients.

Leadership

According to Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund’s 2021 990 form, the organization’s chair of the board is Esta Stecher. Stecher has served in several positions with Goldman Sachs beforehand including CEO of Goldman Sachs Bank USA from 2011-2016 and as General Counsel and Executive Vice President of Goldman Sachs from 2000 to 2011. Before joining the company, she worked for the law firm of Sullivan & Cromwell. ^{11 12}

The group’s 2021 990 form also lists Karey D Dye as the president of Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund. ¹¹

1. Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund, 2016 990, Accessed February 9, 2019. https://pdf.guidestar.org/PDF_Images/2016/311/774/2016-311774905-0dfe53e9-9.pdf
2. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund. 2021. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/311774905/202243089349301314/full
3. National Philanthropic Trust, “What is a Donor-Advised Fund (DAF)?”, Accessed February 9, 2019. https://www.nptrust.org/what-is-a-donor-advised-fund/
4. Ludwig, Hayden. “Charitable Infidelity: Providing Clear Intent.” Capital Research Center. September 20, 2018. Accessed March 08, 2019. https://capitalresearch.org/article/charitable-infidelity-part-2/.
5. Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund, Program Circular, Accessed February 9, 2019. https://gspf.goldman.com/gspf/LinkClick.aspx?fileticket=2PilKgnPYjA=&tabid=111&mid=554&forcedownload=true
6. Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund, 2014 990, Accessed February 9, 2019. http://990s.foundationcenter.org/990_pdf_archive/311/311774905/311774905_201412_990.pdf
7. Tom Metcalf, “A Peek Into Goldman’s Black Box Charity Reveals Tech Billionaires,” March 14, 2018. Accessed February 9, 2019. https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-03-14/peek-into-goldman-s-black-box-charity-reveals-tech-billionaires
8. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund. 2015. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/311774905/2016_08_EO%2F31-1774905_990_201512
9. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund. 2016. Part I. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/display_990/311774905/IRS%2F311774905_201612_990_2017082114660713
10. Marc Gunther, “Philanthropy’s Dark Money,” March 20, 2018. Accessed February 9, 2019. https://nonprofitchronicles.com/2018/03/20/philanthropys-dark-money/
11. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Goldman Sachs Philanthropy Fund. 2021. Part VII. https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/311774905/202243089349301314/full
12. “Esta Stecher.” Office of the Secretary – Columbia University, Accessed January 12, 2024. https://secretary.columbia.edu/content/esta-stecher