Making the case for free markets requires sound research and clear communication. The American Institute for Economic Research is one of the top think tanks doing that work today. AIER, founded in 1933 amidst the Great Depression, has long championed classical liberal principles—yet today, it faces the challenge of restoring momentum on both sides of the aisle.

In this episode of Giving Ventures, Peter sits down with Sam Gregg, AIER’s newly appointed president, to explore how the organization aims to reestablish free market ideas as essential to America’s economic and cultural renewal. They break down AIER’s strategic efforts beyond research—outreach, education, social media, and coalition-building—designed to influence policymakers, journalists, and everyday Americans. Sam emphasizes AIER’s steadfast adherence to principles amid growing ideological divergence on the right. He believes reimagining fusionism can unify conservatives around the principles of liberty and virtue.

The foster care system remains one of the most overlooked yet urgent issues affecting society’s most vulnerable children. Darcy Olsen, founder and CEO of the Center for the Rights of Abused Children, offers a clear-eyed perspective on why current reforms are insufficient and how legal advocacy can reshape outcomes for millions of kids.

With a personal story rooted in her own journey fostering and adopting children, Darcy emphasizes that many kids in the system are victims of drug exposure and neglect, not delinquency, and highlights the dire consequences of government failure. She walks through pragmatic reforms, including constitutional protections, legal representation, and safety measures that could drastically reduce child trafficking and abuse. Darcy’s work demonstrates that systemic change is possible when driven by accountability, rights-based law, and a commitment to creating safe, loving homes for every child.

The legal battles shaping the future of liberty often unfold behind the scenes, yet their impact resonates across society. This episode of Giving Ventures explores how public interest law firms like Liberty Justice Center are leveraging strategic litigation to reinforce constitutional rights and curb government overreach. Sara Albrecht, chairman of the Liberty Justice Center, joins Peter to dissect landmark LJC wins at the Supreme Court like Janus v. AFSCME, which banned mandatory union dues for public-sector employees, and VOS Selections v. Trump, which ruled the Trump administration’s tariffs unconstitutional.

These cases reveal the intricate, multi-year process of securing a public interest legal win, from identifying plaintiffs to preparing for trial. Sara shares how the organization’s success hinges on disciplined messaging, careful plaintiff selection, and unwavering dedication to constitutional principles. For strategic donors interested in long-term impact, this conversation illustrates how targeted legal action can protect individual freedoms by establishing important precedents.

Most donors overlook the one thing that could undermine their entire legacy: donor intent—and a simple strategy to safeguard it. In this episode of Giving Ventures, we’re sharing a recent webinar we hosted for our clients on the topic of donor intent.

Kim Dennis, co-founder of DonorsTrust and a longtime advocate for protecting donor intent, reveals how the concept of donor intent was born out of resistance to external pressures—and why it’s more relevant today than ever. Discover how well-crafted donor intent statements can prevent your philanthropic vision from drifting, even when organizations change or close their doors.

Most state-level political breakthroughs happen when social entrepreneurs step up — but few leverage the full potential of strategic philanthropy and advocacy. Matt Brouillette, the architect behind Pennsylvania’s powerful free-market movement, reveals the blueprint social entrepreneurs can follow to transform states from within. This episode of Giving Ventures explores the unique role of entrepreneurial leaders in shaping public policy and building durable infrastructure for freedom.

Matt Brouillette is the president and CEO of Commonwealth Partners, leading efforts to shift state policy and race ahead of progressive infrastructure. His work demonstrates that real change begins with bold, entrepreneurial leadership — and that everyone, from philanthropists to grassroots citizens, has a part to play. Matt’s newest book is You Gotta Win Pennsylvania.

Filmmaker and Acton Institute scholar Michael Matheson Miller joins Peter to discuss poverty in America. Back in 2014, Michael directed Poverty, Inc., an award-winning documentary that investigated and challenged the multi-billion-dollar poverty industrial complex around the world. His soon-coming film is Poverty Trap, which turns its attention to the failures of America’s anti-poverty efforts.

There is a Hall of Fame for just about everything in this country. But where is the Hall of Fame celebrating the inventors, the creators, the entrepreneurs that have made America so great? Well, there isn’t one yet.

However, the great social entrepreneur John Tillman is working on a $350 million project aimed at building a hall of fame for entrepreneurship and American innovation, which he is calling the Hall of Giants. John joins Giving Ventures to share his vision and provide a peek at the special soft launch it has coming up on the mall later this summer.

Many people underestimate how fragile liberty really is and how much it relies on a vibrant global movement. Brad Lips, CEO of Atlas Network, pulls back the curtain on the strategies empowering think tanks worldwide to defend freedom, fight corruption, and lift communities out of poverty. Brad describes how how Atlas Network’s “Coach, Compete, Celebrate” model accelerates achievement among liberty advocates across more than one hundred countries—and what the liberty movement in the US can learn from our international friends.

In a world where authoritarian regimes sometimes seem to have the upper hand, understanding how to nurture, fund, and scale liberty efforts is crucial. If you’re you’re a donor eager to deploy your resources smartly across borders to make an impact that lasts, this episode is essential listening.

For the past decade, one entity has become predominant in secretive giving on the left of the political spectrum: Arabella Advisors. It goes by a lot of different names, like the New Venture Fund, the Windward Fund, 1630 Fund. This panoply of organizations represents hundreds of nonprofit entities ranging from full-fledged 501(c)3s and 501(c)4s to astroturf groups that only exist as websites. Billions of dollars have flowed into and out of these Arabella entities, all working to counter free markets and conservative ideas and to advance progressive ideology.

Despite its major influence, Arabella is still pretty secretive. But one individual thoroughly understands the reach of Arabella and its tentacles: Scott Walter, the president of Capital Research Center, which focuses on the sources and influence of philanthropic dollars on the left.

America’s national debt now has surpassed $38 trillion, and we’re adding another $2 trillion each year with our deficit spending. The situation is even more bleak when you consider our unfunded liabilities for the future. Couple that with the cliffs we’re facing on Social Security, the continued problems with Medicare and Medicaid that we’re seeing play out in Congress now: It feels like an insurmountable problem.So how in the world do we get America’s finances back to some orderly system? Romina Boccia is the Director of Budget and Entitlement Policy at the Cato Institute, and she spends her days analyzing problems and promoting solutions around debt, entitlement, federal spending broadly. She’s the co-author of a new book, Reimagining Social Security: Global Lessons for Retirement Policy Changes. Romina also serves on the board of America’s Future.

We want our doctors to treat us as individuals, not members of an identity group, and we would hope that our medical establishments would resist today’s fixation on identity politics. But unfortunately, that’s not the case. We have seen identity politics creep into doctors’ offices and medical schools, and we’ve seen its negative effects, particularly in the fight over gender-affirming care. In this episode of Giving Ventures, Dr. Stanley Goldfarb joins Peter to discuss these issues and describe the good work his organization, Do No Harm, is doing to combat progressive ideas in the medical field.

Dr. Goldfarb has a long history as a teacher, researcher, and practitioner of medicine. He’s also been a keen observer of the shift that the medical profession has taken over the last couple of decades. He is the author ofTake Two Aspirin and Call Me By My Pronouns and Doing Great Harm: How DEI and Identity Politics Are Infecting American Healthcare and How We Are Fighting Back.

Here at DonorsTrust, we’ve mostly focused on the charitable giving provisions of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, signed into law by President Trump earlier this year. But the big bill also brought about some significant changes to America’s welfare programs. Emphasizing work requirements and accountability, this legislation has the potential to transform lives and foster economic independence.

Tarren Bragdon, founder and CEO of the Foundation for Government Accountability, joins this episode of Giving Ventures to discuss the importance of these reforms.

2026 marks 250 years since our Founding Fathers declared their independence on July 4, 1776. The fireworks are sure to be bigger and many Americans will pause to reflect on the meaning of our country’s founding. Many charities supported by the DonorsTrust community of givers have already begun producing materials and planning events to help us all think about the values that inspired our Founders to throw off the British yoke a quarter millennium ago.

Central to one of those efforts is Jay Lapeyre, a philanthropist who is passionate about the ethical basis of America’s freedoms. Jay has launched the Free Society Coalition to organize an effort to center our semiquincentennial conversations around the ideas of the Declaration of Independence. The group has produced a brochure titled “Happy Birthday, Freedom!” which introduces readers to the essential values of liberty and responsibility as seen in the Declaration. In this episode, Jay joins Peter to discuss the inspiration behind the project and what lies ahead as 2026 approaches.

In this capstone episode of the “What Is the Right?” series, we consider the state of the Right today and where it’s headed in the years to come. In this limited series, we’ve explored the different factions and flavors that make up what we would broadly call “the Right” in America today. We’ve looked at freedom conservatives and the New Right, talked to libertarians and traditionalists, explored fusionism and MAGA, and we’ve considered how Catholic, Jewish, and Evangelical conservatives define themselves today.

Through it all, we’ve heard a variety of takes on where we stand, where we’re going, and how the ideological landscape has shifted. There are some clear fault lines, particularly between the New Right or National Conservative crowd and the Freedom Conservative/fusionist set, notably in how to utilize power in this current moment where it’s clear the right has power and political capital to spend. So what’s next? Can these factions come together in a new fusionism? If so, what does that look like? And if not, are we bound for a fracturing of the Right unlike we’ve seen in our lifetimes?

Our summer series on “What Is the Right?” has examined the factions that shape the modern conservative movement, from libertarians and traditionalists to fusionists and the New Right. Yet one force has loomed in the background throughout our conversations: Trumpism. While we have focused on ideas more than individuals, it’s impossible to take stock of today’s Right without considering the MAGA movement and the impact it has had on conservative policy and priorities.

As we look ahead to a post-Trump political era—whether in 2029 or sooner—the question isn’t just what becomes of Donald Trump the man, but what becomes of Trumpism as a set of ideas and a policy agenda. In this episode, we explore what MAGA means, how it has shaped the intellectual and institutional life of the Right, and what influence it may continue to exert in the years ahead.

This episode of “What Is the Right?” features a conversation on the coalition of newcomers who have moved to the right in recent years. In response to the Black Lives Matter movement, the erosion of free speech on the left, and the rise of gender ideology, many who would not have formerly considered themselves conservative now feel at home on the right. Some have adopted the traditional values and policies of the conservative movement, while others appear to be temporary fellow travelers who would drift leftward again should the Democratic Party move to the center.

To help make sense of this new coalition of defectors, Peter is joined by John Papola. John is Founder and CEO of Emergent Order Foundation, a nonprofit studio dedicated to telling heroic stories of virtue that celebrate American freedom and the potential it unlocks in each of us.

Christian thought has long been intertwined with political life in America, and churches have long played a central role in civic life and in social movements. Groups like Moral Majority and the Christian Coalition were essential to conservative victories, both at the ballot box and in policy during the ’80s and the ’90s. And sometimes we’ even hear the term “evangelical” used synonymously to mean conservative or Republican, whether rightly or wrongly. In this episode, Peter explores where the Christian community fits on the right side of the ideological spectrum as part of the “What is the Right?” series. Joining him are Ralph Reed and Mark Tooley.

Ralph Reed leads the Faith and Freedom Coalition, formed in 2009 to educate and mobilize people of faith to advance pro-family and pro-freedom policies. Ralph is also chairman and CEO of public affairs firm Century Strategies. Mark Tooley is the president of Institute on Religion and Democracy, an ecumenical think tank that aims to rally Christians to advance biblical historical Christianity and affirm its role in democratic society.

Our summer series on “What Is the Right?” has explored the many ideological camps that make up the Right today, from libertarians and traditionalists to fusionists and “FreeCons.” In this episode, we explore the intersection of the Jewish faith with conservative thought. Today, antisemitism is on the rise, Israel is at war, and U.S. Republicans are thinking through what an America-First foreign policy should look like. By stepping back and getting a bird’s-eye view of how the Jewish community interacts with conservative movement, the contributions of Jewish thought to Western Civilization, and the work Jewish nonprofits are doing, we hope to have a better sense of where to go from here. Two of the thinkers and leaders best positioned to speak to the Jewish conservative intersection are Tevi Troy and Jonathan Silver, who join Peter for this episode.

Tevi Troy is a senior fellow at the Ronald Reagan Institute, a Senior Scholar at Yeshiva University’s Straus Center, and a former Deputy Secretary of HHS and senior White House aide. Jonathan Silver is the Chief Programming Officer of Tikvah, the editor of Mosaic, and the Warren R. Stern Senior Fellow of Jewish Civilization.

In this episode of “What Is the Right,” we’re turning our attention to the religious dimension at play on the American Right. From the often-talked-about, rarely-understood Evangelical voting bloc to observant Jews and everything in between, it’s a confusing landscape. Religious groups add a layer of complexity to the freedom-vs.-order tension we’ve been exploring in this series as we think about what it means to be conservative or liberal theologically, in addition to politically. Indeed, our guests in this first episode are hesitant to apply today’s political labels to their own tradition.