Reaction quote from Jan Masaoka and Jon Pratt on receiving NCRP's 2025 Pablo Eisenberg Memorial Prize for Philanthropy Criticism


Jan Masaoka and Jon Pratt,
The Philanthropy Project

The Pablo Eisenberg Memorial Prize for Philanthropy Criticism

Press Release | Video

 

The $2 trillion philanthropic sector faces an enormous challenge. Increasingly dominated by the financial services industry and billionaire donors, charitable vehicles are too often controlled for purposes other than the public good. These forces must be held accountable and The Philanthropy Project has stepped forward to make charitable funds actually benefit the public.

Criticism as a Public Good

Healthy organizations—and especially well-meaning foundations—depend on external influence and feedback to stay accountable. But philanthropy operates without voters, investors, or sustained press coverage. Without these checks, institutions can become self-referential, susceptible to self-interest and blind to their own shortcomings.

Many nonprofits—dependent on funders for their survival—feel they cannot publicly or privately criticize philanthropy. The Philanthropy Project was formed to occupy a position to speak out on behalf of those who cannot, and to support allied organizations and leaders who have direct knowledge and standing.

A Record of Struggle and Advocacy

The Philanthropy Project builds on decades of persistence by Jan Masaoka and Jon Pratt, who have worked through multiple organizations and campaigns to research, organize and lead efforts to seek greater accountability from philanthropy.

  • In Minnesota, Pratt led the original philanthropy project, a three-year campaign advocating for increased foundation funding for organizations serving communities of color, women, rural populations and low-income communities. Through strategic public reporting—front-page stories naming the percentage of grants made to these communities by the state’s 40 largest foundations—Minnesota saw giving to these people rise from 28% to 38% by 1986.
  • Pablo Eisenberg, for whom NCRP’s Impact Award for Philanthropy Criticism is named, played a crucial advisory role to this campaign and its successor the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits (MCN), and served as keynote speaker for the initial Philanthropy Project’s final conference.
  • Blue Avocado, which Masaoka founded and wrote for over 15 years highlighted systemic problems in foundation practice. Later, as CEO of CalNonprofits, she sponsored legislation to increase transparency for donor-advised funds, successfully passing a bill through both houses of the California legislature against great odds.
  • In 2019, Pratt and Masaoka co-founded Grant Advisor, a free platform modeled on TripAdvisor where nonprofits can anonymously review foundations, and foundations can respond—bringing authentic, real-time feedback into the philanthropic space.
  • In 2021, both MCN and CalNonprofits advocated for the Accelerating Charitable Efforts (ACE) Act, a bipartisan federal proposal to speed the flow of charitable dollars from DAFs and foundations to working nonprofits. Although the bill did not pass, the campaign elevated national conversation about delayed giving and accountability.

The Long Haul to Structural Reform

By 2024, it had become even clearer that the increasing domination of philanthropy by the financial services industry—and foundation complicity in sustaining wealth inequality—demanded government regulation and oversight on a scale equal to the problem. It is a serious flaw that the private tax benefit of charitable giving is realized immediately upon donation, while any public benefit is often delayed for decades, if realized at all. Too often charitable corporate forms are being used for personal tax advantage, as hidden investment funds, for political subterfuge or for celebrity aggrandizement.

The Philanthropy Project was created to deepen public awareness and spur action on these systemic problems, requiring long-term base building to grow the support needed for legislation.

Philanthropy Project's Jon Pratt with Minnesota Council of Nonprofit Staff

A Critical Moment and an Unusual Path

Today, as the nation faces political repression and retrenchment, including the abuse of executive power to reshape federal policy, the stakes for philanthropic reform have never been higher.

This is not an abstract policy debate: philanthropic reform is rooted in the central issues of tax fairness, transparency in the use of public dollars, and preventing the corruption of charitable structures—while safeguarding authentic donors and the communities they care about.

Philanthropy Project's Jan Masaoka at California Nonprofits Day

The Philanthropy Project recognizes that now is not a time when philanthropic reform can expect quick or easy wins. Instead, it is a time for building a broad network and constituency that will be ready to step up when the moment is ripe, along with many other community leaders and associations. The Philanthropy Project was formed to keep structural reform on the public agenda and let the public know that the nonprofit community is not merely a collection of supplicants automatically supporting unjust tax practices, but a mobilizable coalition in a special position to make this case for stronger laws and regulation.

Honoring the Legacy of Pablo Eisenberg

Finally, it is an honor to be associated in any way with the name Pablo Eisenberg, a key leader and founder of NCRP. No one more than Pablo brought more consistent bite and focus to philanthropy’s potential, its shortcomings, its misuse and its need to be regulated.

Jon and Jan are proud to build on Pablo’s impact and stand as NCRP allies in this ongoing campaign for accountability and reform.