Jacobin | R Corkery/NY Daily News/Getty
The US tax code’s definition of charity is so broad that this subsidy is available for donations to college sports programs, political think tanks, and elite private schools where wealthy donors attended and/or their children attend. In fact, less than one-third of the money US individuals donate to nonprofits is focused on the needs of the economically disadvantaged. As Rob Reich, Stanford political science professor and author of Just Giving: Why Philanthropy is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better, concludes, “We should stop kidding ourselves that charity and philanthropy do much to help the poor.”