Key Facts
Career & Education
About
Whitney L. Ball was an American conservative philanthropist and nonprofit executive from West Virginia, and a graduate of Sweet Briar College. She was a pioneer and key architect of anonymous conservative philanthropy and donor-advised fund strategies. Ball conceptualized and founded DonorsTrust in 1999, serving as its Founding President until her death from breast cancer in 2017. She also served as president of Donors Capital Fund, which specialized in anonymous donor-advised giving for conservative and libertarian causes. These organizations became central hubs for donors, offering a high degree of anonymity for contributions to a wide array of policy and advocacy groups, and earned the nickname "the dark money ATM" due to significant media scrutiny. Her work focused on donor privacy, advancing free-market causes, and shaping the principles of "donor intent." Prior to founding DonorsTrust, she was Executive Director of The Philanthropy Roundtable, where she helped develop these principles, and also served as Development Director at the State Policy Network and Director of Development at the Cato Institute. Throughout her career, Ball was a strategic architect of the modern conservative funding infrastructure, frequently collaborating with major financiers such as the Koch brothers and various foundations within the State Policy Network. After her death, Bader was appointed President of DonorsTrust.