The Philanthropy Roundtable is a national association of individual donors, corporate giving officers, and foundation trustees and staff. The Roundtable attracts philanthropists who benefit from being part of an organization dedicated to helping them achieve their charitable objectives. In addition to offering expert advice and counsel, the Roundtable puts donors in touch with peers who share similar concerns and interests. Members of the Roundtable gain access to a donor community interested in philanthropic strategies and programs that actually work.

“The Roundtable is the leading voice in philanthropy for objectivity, integrity, open-mindedness, and a spirit of stewardship with a commitment to measurable results.”
        —John M. Templeton Jr., M.D., chairman and president, John Templeton Foundation

We currently provide six principal services:

• Annual Meeting: The Annual Meeting is The Philanthropy Roundtable's flagship event. Donors from across the country meet to share ideas, strategies, and best practices, and hear from America’s leading experts in private innovation and forward-thinking policy.

  The Philanthropy Roundtable is greatly honored to have been asked by the William E. Simon Foundation to administer the William E. Simon Prize for Philanthropic Leadership. The prize is awarded during a special session at the Annual Meeting.

  The Philanthropy Roundtable will host its 2010 Annual Meeting, Explore, Dream, Discover: The Power of Philanthropy, on October 14-16, at the Ritz-Carlton in Amelia Island, Florida. Featured speakers at this year's Annual Meeting include: John A. Allison, former chairman, BB&T Corporation; Peter H. Diamandis, chairman and CEO, X Prize Foundation; John Fisher, Doris & Donald Fisher Fund; William Kristol, editor, Weekly Standard, Robert J. Mazzuca, chief scout executive, Boy Scouts of America; Carrie Walton Penner, trustee, Walton Family Foundation; and Jeff Raikes, chief executive officer, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

• Regional Meetings: Held across the country throughout the year, our regional meetings assemble grantmakers to develop strategies, programmatic solutions, and effective innovations for local, state, and national giving. Donors hear from experts in K-12 education, economic opportunity, conservation, higher education, national security, and other noteworthy topics and learn how to apply sound policy to their philanthropy.
   
• Philanthropy: The Roundtable’s quarterly magazine is “must reading” among donors committed to promoting freedom, opportunity, and personal responsibility. Each issue offers donors insights on topics of significance in the philanthropic world, focuses on broad strategic questions in line with our principles, and provides real guidance and clear examples of effective philanthropy. Recent features include an examination of non-Catholic donors who support Catholic schools, the new philanthropic push for college completion, and six ways philanthropy can catalyze medical breakthroughs.

“Both the quality and the content of Philanthropy are excellent.”
        —Vartan Gregorian, president, Carnegie Corporation of New York

• Guidebooks: The Roundtable’s guidebooks are in-depth examinations of the principled and practical aspects of charitable giving. Our guidebooks connect donors with the best information available for achieving philanthropic excellence. The Roundtable publishes new guidebooks every year and maintains a library of past publications for members to access. Recent titles include Stephanie Saroki and Christopher Levenick's Saving America's Urban Catholic Schools: A Guide for Donors, Nick Schulz's A Stimulus That Works: Philanthropic Strategies for Boosting Entrepreneurship, Evelyn Brody and John Tyler's How Public is Private Philanthropy? Separating Reality from Myth.
   
• Alliance for Charitable Reform: Through ACR, the Roundtable works in support of philanthropic freedom with legislators, policymakers, and interest groups. ACR is dedicated to educating the public about the contributions of American private philanthropy, its longstanding tradition and the role it plays in the nation’s communities. It also works to help members communicate their message effectively, and to encourage thought, discussion, and debate on issues related to charity and public policy. To date, ACR has played a leading role in protecting grantmaking foundations from unnecessary and sometimes harmful legislation.  
   
• Breakthrough Groups: The Roundtable’s five Breakthrough Groups focus on K-12 education, conservation, national security, higher education, and economic opportunity—all subjects where we think philanthropy can achieve dramatic breakthroughs over the next decade.