[7][8] Membership in the organization was free "to interested grant makers", and 140 foundations, charities and nonprofits joined in the Roundtable's first year.

[16][17][18] In 2005, Philanthropy Roundtable created the Alliance For Charitable Reform (ACR), which opposes legislation that would create accreditation requirements for grant-making foundations, establish a five-year Internal Revenue Service review of tax-exempt status, or restrict the ability of donors to establish family foundations.

[9] In 2016, the Roundtable published the Almanac of American Philanthropy, a reference book that summarizes the history, purposes, effects, and modern direction of private giving.

Recipients of the prize since the Roundtable's administration of it include Bernie Marcus, Eli Broad, Charles Koch, Roger Hertog, Philip Anschutz and his wife Nancy,[22] S. Truett Cathy, and Frank Hanna III.

John P. Walters assumed administrative leadership of the organization in the new role of president in 1997 when the organization moved its headquarters to Washington, D.C.[12] Walters remained in that position until resigning in October 2001[11] to accept an appointment by George W. Bush as director of the Office of National Drug Control Policy.