The social sector in the United States is in a time of crisis. The cliff of funding from federal programs has sent budgets underwater in field after field, and people and communities in the United States and abroad will suffer. At risk is decades of work and investment in arts and culture that enrich rural and urban communities, environmental protections that ensure healthy air and water, public safety programs that advance justice, local media that informs people about news that matters, and scientific research that expands our understanding of the world and our ability to live in it.

The need for a surge in funding is plain. Philanthropy needs to step up. We at MacArthur believe it is time to tap our reserves to get more money flowing.

We at MacArthur believe it is time to tap our reserves to get more money flowing.

MacArthur Shift to 6 Percent Payout

We will immediately commit to increase our charitable payout to at least 6 percent for 2025 and 2026, and where possible, use flexible, trust-based models for our charitable gifts. We will set it at six—as a floor, not a ceiling, for the next two years. Many of our peers, we appreciate, have done and will do even more, which we applaud.

Our mission and values have not changed. We are committed to continue our support for organizations that address substantial problems with bold solutions and foster inclusive communities. And in this moment, that means increasing our baseline spending rate.

Support Grantee Health

Philanthropies should be countercyclical in our giving where possible, driven by need in the world not by market valuations. I wrote in 2020 in the Stanford Social Innovation Review, that “there are in fact times when we—those of us with the power and resources that legacy foundations have—should do more, not less.” At that time, we were facing an unprecedented crisis.

Read the full article about charitable payout increases by John Palfrey at MacArthur Foundation.