Professor Roger Colinvaux of The Catholic University of America Columbus School of Law (Catholic Law) was quoted by Rolling Stone in an October 19 article on the involvement of charities in funding through donations anti-vaccine nonprofits affiliated with now-independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr.

Rolling Stone
Date: October 19, 2023
By: Walker Bragman & Alex Kotch
America’s Biggest Charities Bankrolled RFK Jr.’s Anti-Vax Outfit

. . .

In April 2020, as the first wave of the deadly coronavirus pandemic was breaking across the U.S., the largest charitable fund in the country, Fidelity Charitable, announced a plan to help mitigate the crisis.

“As the nation’s largest grantmaker, Fidelity Charitable is committed to supporting the nonprofit sector and the communities affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, as well as to enabling our nearly quarter-million donors to respond effectively to the many needs emerging daily,” the fund, which distributed $11.2 billion in grants last year and is affiliated with Fidelity Investments, declared.

. . .

Donor-advised funds (DAFs) have become a popular vehicle for wealthy individuals and foundations to distribute cash — and remain under the radar. Functionally, these entities operate as passthrough organizations: Donors deposit money into an account managed by a DAF sponsor like Fidelity Charitable, which disburses it with the donor’s input. While donor clients “advise” the sponsor, the sponsor has full legal control of the money and where it ends up. Typically, the sponsors’ board of trustees has the final say.

“Some speculate that DAFs are facilitating contributions to controversial organizations that might not otherwise occur,” says Roger Colinvaux, a professor of law at the Catholic University of America. “DAFs provide a layer of anonymity between donor and recipient. This is the very nature of a DAF as an intermediary organization.”

. . .

Click here to view the article.