Tuesday, October 7, 2014
Arcus and Ford Named as Top Funders who Champion Marriage Equality
It's always hard to pinpoint the role of philanthropy in bringing about big changes in society and, to be sure, there are many reasons why same-sex marriage is fast becoming legal across the United States, a trend that yesterday's Supreme Court decision has accelerated.
But, wow, if ever there was a great case study of focused and strategic philanthropy that got results, this is it. For nearly 15 years, a relatively small group of super-wealthy individuals, along with a handful of foundations, have pushed hard for marriage equality and other changes to grow public support for LGBT rights more generally. They have spent hundreds of millions of dollars, exponentially ramping up funding since the start of the century....