Walter Olson on Why The Freedom to Give Helps Protect Everyone’s Liberty
By | June 23, 2026
Writing on the Cato Institute’s At Liberty blog, Olson summarizes a recent panel discussion:
Joining us were two major figures in contemporary American philanthropy: Lawson Bader, president and CEO at DonorsTrust, which helps right-of-center benefactors create donor-advised funds (DAFs), and John Palfrey, president of the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, known for supporting many progressive causes. I was on the panel as well.
Much common ground was in evidence: on the importance of neutral and impartial law to govern the nonprofit and charitable world, on the strong spillover benefits of the sector, and on the dangers to be apprehended from government encroachment and arbitrary official action.
Palfrey called the philanthropic sector part of “what makes America so distinctive” and joined Maria Santos Bier in discussing how Tocqueville saw Americans’ habits of voluntary association as essential to its fledgling democracy.
Read the full piece here and watch a recording of the event.
