What could Warren Buffett's adult children support?

OMAHA, Nebraska. – Warren Buffett’s adult children – Susie, Howard and Peter Buffett – have a long track record as philanthropists, having donated over $15 billion of their father’s wealth through their foundations since 2006.

However, since they typically do not seek publicity for their donations, they remain unnoticed as a driving force within philanthropy.

Having been entrusted by their father with donating the rest of his fortune after his death, the next generation of Buffetts is poised to become the country's biggest donors, tasked with giving away what is now estimated to be around $144 billion over the next ten years.

The next generation of Buffetts has supported different causes over the years, but their foundations have some things in common. They operate with small staffs, and when they talk publicly about their giving, they talk about taking risks to tackle difficult problems or fund projects that others might not.

The work of family foundations can provide insight into what they support and how they might proceed when the time comes to give away their assets.

The Susan Thompson Buffett Foundation

Named after Warren Buffett's first wife, the organization has donated $8.4 billion, mostly to reproductive health organizations, according to the Candid fundraising database. It also funds access to abortion and contraception and has donated hundreds of millions over the years to Planned Parenthood affiliates, the National Abortion Federation and Population Services International that operate outside the United States.

The foundation has been criticized by some experts in the reproductive justice field. They say anonymous funding without a public application process perpetuates inequities. Essentially, those who have relationships receive funds and those who don't don't. The foundation did not respond to a request for comment from The Associated Press.

Susie Buffett's ex-husband Allen Greenberg is president of the foundation, Susie Buffett is chairwoman of the board and Peter Buffett is a board member, according to the foundation's most recent tax returns.

The Sherwood Foundation

Susie Buffett's foundation is a loyal donor to early childhood education in the USA

The foundation's largest grantee is the nonprofit Buffett Early Childhood Fund, chaired by Susie Buffett, which has provided hundreds of millions of dollars for research, advocacy, education and support for child care centers.

In 2005, the fund helped launch the Alliance for Early Success, which advocates for early childhood education programs at the state level. Since then, it has provided “unconditional” funding without an annual application or report, says Helene Stebbins, the executive director.

“You talk about trust-based philanthropy – and there's a lot of work being done right now to push philanthropy in that direction – Susie and the Buffett Early Childhood Fund have been doing that for 20 years,” Stebbins said.

The Howard G. Buffett Foundation

The lion's share of Howard Buffett's grants go to international food security and conflict mitigation.

His foundation has supported coffee and cocoa farmers in El Salvador and in Virunga National Park in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

An important partner is Catholic Relief Services, which has been funding the organization for at least 15 years to support farmers in Central America.

“Howard was particularly interested in addressing the factors that drove people to leave rural communities in Central America and Mexico and risk everything to migrate to the United States, and that's where our vision really came together,” said Erica Dahl-Bredine, a senior adviser at CRS.

When Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022, Howard Buffett visited the country within weeks and revised the foundation's plans to respond to the humanitarian crisis and the war's impact on agriculture.

“Every time I leave Ukraine to return home, I ask myself the same question: If we do not stand by Ukraine in its fight to defend its freedom, what value does our own freedom have for us?” he wrote in the foundation's 2023 report.

NoVo Foundation

For many years, Peter Buffett and his wife Jennifer focused their programs on supporting girls around the world, such as the Nike Foundation's “Girl Effect” campaign, and supported the use of social-emotional learning methods in schools.

In 2020, they made a major shift in strategy, laying off a significant portion of their staff and divesting or planning to stop spending much of their funding to support girls' rights and combat gender-based violence. The decision sparked strong reactions from groups who felt the foundation had abused their trust, even as it remains a significant philanthropic supporter of girls, particularly Black girls and other girls of color.

“We had to make very difficult decisions about what was meaningful change and what was a fight against a seemingly senseless system,” Peter Buffett wrote in an email to the AP. “We have also always been concerned about reliance on a single funder and are happy to see other funders enter the field.”

Since 2022, the foundation has increased its support for Native American organizations that have been close to Peter Buffett's heart since he composed some of the music for the film “Dances with Wolves” and the miniseries “500 Nations.” As part of its support for sustainable, local communities, his foundation now also funds projects such as a community farm, a grain mill and a radio station near Kingston, New York, where Peter and Jennifer Buffett live.

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