Philanthropy as a Social Change Agent

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Philanthropy as a Social Change Agent

• The Past, Present, and Future

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Institutional Philanthropy
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What is Institutional Philanthropy?

• An area of charitable giving by nongovernmental
  institutions
• Financial assets are managed, monitored, and
  stewarded by trustees or directors for a public
  purpose.

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Earliest Forms of Philanthropy

• Egyptian, Greek, and Roman societies
• Endowments were created to sustain the essential
  social institutions of the time
• General Purposes
• Religious
• Educational
• Social purposes

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Philanthropy in theUnited States
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Development of US Foundations

• Institutional philanthropy rose out of the need
  to
• Create a framework to fund education
• Create resources for the impoverished
• Perform works for the public good
• Create solutions for other societal challenges.

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Development of US Foundations

• Five main periods define the development of
  foundations in the United States
• The governments granting of a federal charter to
  the Rockefeller Foundation and the Carnegie
  Corporation in 1910 and 1911, respectively,
  marked the initial era of foundation work. 
• The creation of several large, general purpose
  foundations characterized the second major time
  period of institutional philanthropy. 
• Third, foundations began to re-direct their work
  in response to the decade-long economic crises
  and World War II in the early 1930s and
  mid-1940s. 

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Development of US Foundations

• Five main periods define the development of
  foundations in the United States (cont)
• Fourth, foundations experienced more regulatory
  enforcement and reporting requirements between
  the 1940s and 1970s. 
• Lastly and most recently, the fifth period is
  characterized by shrinking resources for
  foundations, greater concern for measurable
  outcomes, loss of faith in governmental
  initiatives, and a greater willingness to devolve
  resources and responsibility to states and
  localities. 

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The Channels of Philanthropy

• Foundations
• Corporations
• Federations
• Gift funds

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1. US Foundations

• By the end of 2005
• More than 68,000 grant-making foundations exist
  in the United States
• These foundations gave approximately 33.6
  billion, which was recorded that as the second
  year of modest growth in foundation giving. 

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2. US Corporations

• Giving from corporations
• Includes both foundation direct corporate giving
• Totaled 12 billion in 2004

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3. US Giving Federations

• Federations - entities appointed to coordinate
  appeals to support a specific initiative
• United Way
• American Cancer Society
• American Red Cross
• March of Dimes
• Typically, Americans give between 5-10 of their
  charitable contributions through federations.

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4. US Gift Funds

• Gift funds, the most recent form of institutional
  philanthropy, provide donors the opportunity to
  receive an immediate tax deduction by depositing
  money in an account for philanthropic
  contributions. 

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Interesting Read!

• Civil Society in Comparative Perspective
• Lester M. Salamon, Helmut K. Anheier, and
  Associates

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Philanthropy Tradition or Revolution?

• Global Associational Revolution
• characterizes the widespread growth,
  proliferation, and activity of nonprofit
  organizations.
• Nonprofit Sector
• Totaling 1.1 trillion dollars
• Employs 19 million full-time workers
• Placed eighth in the context of the world economy
  (ahead of the economies of Brazil, Russia,
  Canada, and Spain), and employs more individuals
  that the largest private firms.

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Findings

• The nonprofit sector is larger in more developed
  countries
• The US no longer has the worlds largest
  nonprofit sector.
• Countries including the Netherlands, Ireland,
  Belgium, and Israel (all developed countries),
  have larger sectors measured as a portion of
  total employment than does the United States.

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Findings

• In countries including Germany, the Netherlands,
  Belgium, Austria, and Spain, the nonprofit sector
  is the first to react to and address societal
  challenges.
• In these countries, religion has had a strong
  influence on social services and systems,
  promoting them as areas of focus for nonprofit
  organizations.

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Philanthropy Civil Society
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Philanthropy Civil Society

• What is Civil Society, and what is the role of
  Philanthropy in it?
• Organizations, institutions, conglomerates,
  federations, and other entities that form the
  nonprofit sector
• Number, scale, and growth patterns of nonprofit
  organizations
• Crisis of the state
• Devolution
• Societal issues and challenges left largely
  unaddressed by state entities

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Why care about Civil Society?

• The impact of the nonprofit sector on
• The world economy
• Employment base
• Its contributions to social stability

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Foundations and Civil Society

• As some communities are building civil society
  within the various sectors, foundations are
  recognized as the convener and initiator of
  various programs.
• Challenges that were historically in the realm of
  other sectors are now a part of the work that the
  nonprofit community has assumed.
• Foundations demonstrate democratic
  decision-making, and they can establish a
  structure in which the business sector, local
  government, the people, and NGOs can work
  together
• One of the main purposes of foundations is to
  provide a leadership role within a specific
  geographic area to help solve community problems
  and address local issues
• Sowing the Seeds of Local Philanthropy Two
  Decades in the Field of Community Foundations
• Charles Stewart Mott Foundation

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New Opportunities in Philanthropy
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New Opportunities in Philanthropy

• Intergenerational transfers of wealth
• High-engagement philanthropy
• Donor collaboration and interaction
• Collaborative funding

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New Opportunities in Philanthropy

• Professional support
• Family philanthropy
• Public Support Tests
• Community Indicator Projects
• Policy Reform

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Discussion