Philanthropisms – Details, episodes & analysis

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode we talk to Asha Curran, CEO of GivingTuesday, about the evolution of Giving Tuesday from its origins as a US-based giving day to its current incarnation as a global generosity movement operating in over 100 countries worldwide; and what she has learned about the power of everyday acts of giving. Including:

• How has GivingTuesday evolved since its inception over a decade ago?
• What are the key aims of the organisation today?
• How important does the actual Giving Tuesday day itself remain? What does success look like on the day?
• What is the role of the GT Data Commons? 
• Is there a decline in generosity in the US (and other countries), or is giving just evolving into new forms?
• Can emphasising the impact of small acts of generosity give people a sense of agency at a time when they might otherwise feel powerless in the face of major challenges facing our world? 
• Does collective giving build social capital? 
• Can mass giving movements help to counter concerns about the potentially anti-democratic impact of big money philanthropy?
• Have the Trump administration’s attacks on philanthropy and nonprofits had any impact on GivingTuesday as an organisation and on its mission?
• What lessons should the nonprofit sector should be taking from populist attacks?

FURTHER READING:

• Giving Tuesday
• Giving Tuesday Data Commons
• Asha's 2023 SSIR article "The Case for Effusive Altruism"
• BBC article from 2022, "Giving Tuesday: How day for 'radical generosity' went global"
• 2021 event "Rewriting the Rules of Giving", moderated by Rhodri, featuring Asha, Lucy Bernholz and Edgar Villanueva.
• WPM articles, "Language Barriers: is the way we talk about philanthropy and civil society holding us back?" and "Why Are We So Bad at Measuring Giving and Why Does It Matter?"
• Philanthropisms podcast episodes with Pamala Wiepking, Sara Lomelin and Lucy Bernholz.

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode we talk to Sonal Sachdev Patel, CEO of GMSP Foundation, inaugural Philanthropist In Residence at the Marshall Institute at the London School of Economics & Political Science (LSE) and executive coach working with philanthropists and senior leaders. In a wide-ranging conversation, we discuss:

• How did the LSE Philanthropist in Residence role come about? What is the aim of the role, and what are the key insights so far?
• How did Sonal and her family get started in philanthropy, and what shaped their approach?
• What can philanthropists bring to the table beyond money?
• How do philanthropists use their skills with the required humility?
• How useful is access to a philanthropist’s networks for grantees?
• Do Next Gen wealth holders have distinctive characteristics when it comes to their attitudes towards philanthropy, or their methods of doing it?
• How valuable is it for Next Gen donors to be able to meet like-minded peers?
• What are the rewards and challenges of giving as a family?
• What sort of due diligence and relationship building do you have to do to be able to fund in a trust-based way?
• What kind of advice is necessary or useful for people when starting out on their philanthropy journey? 
• Is it currently easy enough for existing and potential donors to access good advice about philanthropy? How can we improve this?

Further Resources:

• Sonal's blog article, "Reflections of a Philanthropist in Residence"
• Sonal's conversation with volunteer Andrea for the homelessness charity, Crisis.
• Article in The Philanthropist, "From Humble Beginnings to Trust-Based Giving: The Journey of GMSP Foundation" 
• LSE Marshall Institute
• WPM article "Why isn't all philanthropy trust-based philanthropy?"
• Philanthropisms podcast conversations with Kate Symondson, Ewan Kirk and Emma Beeston & Beth Breeze.

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode we talk to Allison Fine (President of Every.org and nonprofit tech expert) about the impact of AI on philanthropy, and how it can be used to make fundraising more relational at scale. Including:

•  Is everyday giving in decline? If so, what are the key drivers?
• Are there particular declines among certain demographics or age groups?
• Has this led to an over-reliance on a small group of donors giving larger amounts? What are the practical and ethical issues with this?
• Has fundraising become too transactional? If so, why?
• Has a paradigm of transactional fundraising led many nonprofits to measure the wrong things, and therefore misjudge “success”?
• How do donors feel about transactional fundraising?
• What is the ‘leaky bucket problem’?
• Has an over-reliance on transactional methods of fundraising played any part in damaging or eroding public trust in nonprofits?
• Has a lack of opportunities for genuine connection and participation as a result of nonprofits becoming too transactional led donors to look elsewhere? (E.g. to online social movements, or individual crowdfunding requests?)
• What impact does transactional fundraising have on fundraisers themselves? (Do they actually want to use these methods?)
• What are the key components of a relational approach to fundraising? (E.g. personalisation of approach, tailored reporting etc).
• What have traditionally been seen as the barriers to making this work at scale?
• How can AI tools help?
• How do nonprofit leaders ensure that AI tools are adopted in the right way? (i.e. in ways that add value to human work, or free up human time, rather than just replacing it)?
• What new opportunities and challenges does the growth of online giving via digital platforms bring?
• What is the current market for cryptocurrency donations?

Related Links:

• Every.org
• Every.org's "Relational Fundraising Playbook"
• Allison's pieces for Chronicle of Philanthropy: "How to Treat Every Donor Like They Matter — and Keep Them" and "Relentless Fundraising Is Eroding Trust in Nonprofits. Here’s How to Fix Things". 
• Excerpt from The Smart Nonprofit  in SSIR (2022)
• WPM guide to philanthropy and AI,
• Philanthropisms podcast episodes with Milos Maricic & Giuseppe Ugazio, Lisa Greer and J. Bob Alotta.
• Philanthropisms podcast deep dives on philanthropy and AI and the platformisation of giving.

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode we discuss risk, success and failure in the context of international development and philanthropy, with Sarah Jeffrey (Vitol Foundation), Victoria Tayler (Risk Pool Fund) and Lonnie Hackett (Healthy Learners). Including

• What is the Risk Pool Fund and how does it work?
• What are the key market failures or needs it is designed to address?
• Are grantees often unwilling to highlight “failures” to their funders, for fear of losing future support?
• Are funders less likely to be objective in evaluating challenges faced by grantees when their own money is directly affected?
• Is a drive to keep “overheads” low part of the challenge?
• Can the collectivisation of risk through pooling offer reassurance to funders?
• How do you distinguish between foreseeable and unforeseeable problems? 
• What role does RPF’s External Review Panel play?
• Does the experience of organisations on the ground give them a different perspective on risk?
• Is scaling the goal? Would replication be more appropriate? Or is the aim to highlight a market failure and thereby change funder behaviour? 
• Has the RPF had an impact on the perception of risk among the funders involved in it?
• Are the insights from the fund being used to inform any preventative work designed to reduce the risks of certain kinds of failures occurring?
• What impact are we seeing so far from the dismantling of USAID, and what should we expect to see longer term? 

Related Links:

• Risk Pool Fund
• Healthy Learners
• Risk Pool Fund model analysis report
• RPF paper, "Charting the divide: When funders perceptions of risk collide with on-the-ground realities"
• WPM article on "Philanthropy at a time of chaos"
• Philanthropisms interviews with Ewan Kirk, Sadaf Shallwani and Martha Lackritz-Peltier.

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode we discuss participatory grantmaking with Natasha Friend, Director of Camden Giving, and Maria Ahmed, a participant in Camden Giving's own participatory grantmaking work. Including:

•  How did Camden Giving’s experiments with participatory grantmaking first come about?
• How does it work in practice?
• What has been the primary driver for keeping going?
• What have been the main insights from grantmaking meetings? 
• Do the citizen grantmakers have full autonomy over grant decisions, or do they make recommendations that are then considered and implemented by foundation staff? 
• How do you manage disagreements or differences of opinion?
•  Are there any constraints on the causes/organisation types that the citizen panels can recommend?
• Are all the grants made in the form of unrestricted gifts? If so, over what time period? What is the average size of grant?
• Does Camden Giving provide advice or data to help guide decision-making? If so, how do participants make use of this? 
• Do participatory approaches work particularly well for place-based giving schemes, due to the nature of the donor base?
• Could these approaches work for all funders?
• Should ALL grantmaking be participatory?
• What sort of infrastructure is needed to enable more funders to adopt participatory approaches?
• What kind of challenges might there be for traditional grantmakers when it comes to bringing communities and people with lived experience into decision making processes? How do you overcome these challenges?
• How should you measure the impact of participatory grantmaking? Is it this just about the impact on grantees, or does it need to take into account the impact on participants in the process?
• Does participatory grant making work best in places that already have a high degree of civic engagement, or can it be a tool for building civic engagement?
• Does Camden Giving’s participatory approach act as a motivating factor for any of the donors to the organisation?

Related links

• Camden Giving
• Research on "Building London’s Participation Infrastructure"
• Participatory Grantmaking global community
• Centre for Evidence and Impact report on "Participatory Grantmaking - Building the evidence"
• WPM article "Why isn't all philanthropy trust-based philanthropy?"
• Natasha's guest article for WPM "Fears for Tears – Why Are We So Afraid to Allow Emotion Into Philanthropy?"
• Philanthropisms podcast interviews with Mandy van Deven & Chiara Cattaneo; Fozia Irfan and David Clarke.

Send us Fan Mail

In the ninth edition of our podcast partnership with the European Research Network on Philanthropy (ERNOP), we talk to more academics whose work is featured in the latest batch of short, practitioner-focused ERNOP Research Notes.
 
In this episode we hear from: 

• Mark Ørberg (Department of Business Humanities and Law, Copenhagen Business School), about his research on Enterprise Foundations
• Michele Fugiel Garnter (Carleton University, Ottawa; and formerly University of St Andrews) about her work on the experiences of foundation professionals
• Oonagh Breen (Sutherland Law School, University College Dublin) about her work on regulatory reviews of charity law

Further Resources:

• Mark's paper "Enterprise Foundations and Faithful Agency as Drivers of Sustainable Long-Termism in Philanthropy", and the ERNOP research note based on it (by Hannah Surmatz from Philea).
• Michele's paper, "The Changing Nature of Foundation Work: Advancing the Field by Understanding the Foundation Professional Experience" (with Tobias Jung and Alina Baluch) and the ERNOP research note based on it (by Maliha Hasan from University of Toronto).
• Oonagh's paper "Regulatory Reviews: Revolutionary Re-imagining of Charity Law or Simply Restatements of Convenience?" and the ERNOP research note based on it (by  Ana Carolina Barros Pinheiro Carrenho from Lisbon University)

 If you would like to contribute to making academic work accessible and more relevant for people working in, with or for philanthropy, then why not consider becoming an ERNOP practitioner expert and help translate academic work on philanthropy into research notes in close collaboration with the authors of the original work.
 https://ernop.eu/information-for-practitioner-experts/

Or, if you or your organisation might be interested in supporting ERNOP's wider mission to advance philanthropy research and make it accessible to those working in, with, and for philanthropy, then why not consider joining as a member:
https://ernop.eu/member-portal/subscription-plan/  

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode we talk to Marina Jones,  Executive Director of Development & Public Affairs at the English National Opera and project lead on the history of fundraising for the fundraising think tank Rogare. Including:

• Why is a historical perspective on fundraising valuable?
•  Is fundraising a particularly hidden part of the history of charity/philanthropy? If so, why?  
• Are there useful practical lessons modern fundraisers can learn from their historical counterparts about techniques and approaches that work? 
• Are there relevant historical lessons about some of the potential ethical issues that arise from fundraising?
• Can we find useful historical precedents for some of the recurrent criticisms of fundraising?
• How have fundraisers harnessed new communications technologies throughout history (e.g. printing, radio, telegraph, TV)?
• What role has commemoration and recognition of donors played in the history of fundraising?
•  How have celebrities been used for fundraising purposes throughout history
• How far back can we trace the idea of using commercial approaches to raise money for charity?
• What role did fundraising play in bringing women further into the public sphere?
• What can we learn from portrayals of philanthropy and fundraising in literature or popular culture? 

Related links:

• Rogare's history of fundraising project
• Timelines of fundraising history: the classical world (1000BCE-475CE), The Middle Ages (476-1499), Modern era (1500-1899), 20th and 21st century
• Marina's blog
• Scott Cutlip's seminal 1965 book Fund Raising in the United States: Its role in America's Philanthropy (available to borrow on Internet Archive).
• WPM timeline of UK Philanthropy
• Rhod's 2016 book Public Good by Private Means: How philanthropy shapes Britain
• Philanthropisms interview with Ian MacQuillin from Rogare
• Philanthropisms episodes on philanthropy and music; gratitude and recognition; and tainted donations

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode, we talk to Farai Chideya, journalist, writer, academic and lead author of a recent report from Bridgespan Group, "Philanthropy for a Multiracial Democracy: How Investing in Pluralism Can Open the Aperture for Democracy Funders". We discuss:

• Why is pluralism so important as an ideal, and what barriers/threats prevent it being realised?
• Why is it particularly important to emphasise multiracialism as an aspect of pluralism?
• What does it look like in practice to foster pluralism as a philanthropic funder?
• Does philanthropic pluralism naturally lead to a pluralistic society, or are there regressive philanthropic actors who want limit pluralism in society? Can we square these two things?
• Is there too much focus on elections when it comes to defining democracy-building philanthropy, at the expense of other elements of democracy?
• Why is a long-term perspective so important when it comes to funding democracy and pluralism?
• Why is collaboration so important?
• Why does it often pay to focus at a local level?
• How are funders harnessing storytelling and creative arts as tools for fostering pluralism?
• Might donors need to look beyond traditional nonprofit structures at times, and support work that is more overtly political? Does there need to be a clear distinction between this work and traditional philanthropy, or at the lines increasingly blurred?
• Can progressive funders take any lessons from the successes of conservative philanthropic funders in the US over the last 50 years, when it comes to the power of long-term, unrestricted funding for grassroots organisations as a means of shifting the parameters of political debate? 
• Do concerns about an authoritarian crackdown on civil society during the2nd Trump administration mean that funders might have to put longer term ambitions of fostering pluralism on hold in order to address more immediate challenges, or is leaning into support pluralism part of an effective response?
•  Has the idea of pluralism itself become more politicised, and is there a risk that this might make some funders more reluctant to fund this kind of work?

Related links:

• Bridgespan's report, "Philanthropy for a Multiracial Democracy: How Investing in Pluralism Can Open the Aperture for Democracy Funders"
• Upcoming webinar on the report (March 25th)
• Farai's podcast "Our Body Politic" (currently on pause, but past episodes available).
• Philanthropisms podcast interview with Daniel Stid
• Philanthropisms episode on pluralism
• WPM article on "Philanthropy at a time of chaos"

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode we discuss climate philanthropy with Edouard Morena, Senior Lecturer in French Studies and International Politics at the University of London Institute in Paris. Including:

• How much philanthropy is currently aimed at climate issues?
• Can philanthropy play a meaningful role with respect to an issue of the scale of climate? If so, what is that role?
• In terms of existing climate philanthropy, what is the balance between downstream activity (i.e. direct interventions designed to address climate breakdown symptoms) and upstream activity (i.e. advocacy and influencing aimed at addressing underlying causes)
• Is there a danger of philanthropy skewing focus towards unhelpful “solutions” to climate challenge, or perpetuating the idea that technological “fixes” can be found instead of there being a need for fundamental structural reform?
• Is the focus on technological solution reflective of the fact that a growing amount of philanthropic wealth comes from the tech world?
• How will the election of Donald Trump affect climate philanthropy?
• Will funders "obey in advance" when it comes to the US's new anti-climate stance, or will they position themselves in opposition to it? 
• Does this raise questions about the democratic legitimacy of philanthropy, even if you agree with the need to fund climate work?
• What does it mean to take a justice-based approach to climate funding?
• Should more climate philanthropy be aimed at supporting activists and movements?
• Youth climate movements and activists are often using tactics that traditional nonprofits would shy away from, such as direct action or strategic litigation. Does this present a challenge or an opportunity when it comes to convincing funders to support them?
• Is it particularly difficult to measure the impact of funding movements or individual activists? Does this present a challenge for climate movements?
• What will the rise of new centres of global philanthropic power, e.g China, mean for climate philanthropy?
• Might this start to rebalance global climate discussions away from their historic skew towards US interests? 

Related Links:

• Edouard's profile page
• Edouard's 2016 book, The Price of Climate Action Philanthropic Foundations in the International Climate Debate
• Morena, Krause and Stevis (eds) Just Transitions: Social Justice in the Shift Towards a Low-Carbon World
• Edouard's paper "The climate brokers: philanthropy and the shaping
  of a ‘US‑compatible’ international climate regime"
• Edouard's 2022 report for UN Research Institute and EDGE Funders alliance, "Beyond 2%: From Climate Philanthropy to Climate Justice Philanthropy"
• Philanthropisms podcast episode on "Philanthropic Foundations: history, role and controversy"
• Philanthropisms podcast interview with Joshua Amponsem from Youth Climate Justice Network
• WPM article on Patagonia's nonprofit takeover
  
  
  

Send us Fan Mail

In this episode we talk to political philosopher Ted Lechterman about why philanthropy should be an important topic of study for philosophers, and what some of the key questions a philosophical approach raises are. Including:

• Why is a philosophical perspective on philanthropy valuable/important?
• Is there a danger that philosophical critiques of philanthropy too often confine themselves to the realms of ideal theory, or fall into the trap of comparing worst-case examples of philanthropy with idealized conceptions of the alternatives (e.g. government)? 
• Are there substantive qualitative differences between the giving of everyday donors and the giving of the very wealthy, or do the same critical arguments apply to both (albeit perhaps to different degrees)?
• Should philanthropy be seen as supererogatory (once the demands of law, justice, social contract etc have been met through taxation?) or should we understand some (or all) philanthropic giving as a form of duty too?
• Is philanthropy to some extent a product of structural inequality and injustice, and does this limit its utility as a means of delivering structural reform/injustice? 
• Do the demands of justice apply to all philanthropy, or just a subset? (i.e. is there room for philanthropic choices that do not meet this criterion? E.g. if a donor has given substantially to justice-furthering causes, is it acceptable for there to be some supererogatory portion that they give in a different way?)
• What is the core role of philanthropy within society which differentiates it from either state or market provision?
• Can philanthropy be used to strengthen democracy, or is it inherently anti-democratic?
• What are the possible theoretical justifications for a government choosing to offer tax breaks on philanthropy?
• Was Milton Friedman right that “the social responsibility of business is to increase its profits”? If so, was it for the reasons he outlined or for different reasons?
• What should we make of Effective Altruism as a philosophical analysis of philanthropy?

Links

• Ted's Website
• The entry on "philanthropy" in the Stanford Encyclopedia of Philanthropy
• Ted's paper with Johanna Mair, "Social Enterprises as Agents of Social Justice: A Rawlsian Perspective on Institutional Capacity"
• Ted's paper "The effective altruist's political problem"
• WPM article "In An Ideal World, Would There Be No Philanthropy?"
• WPM article "Does Philanthropy Make You a Good Person?"
• Philanthropisms podcast interviews with Daniel Stid, Emma Saunders-Hastings and Amy Schiller.
• Philanthropisms episodes on "The Philosophy of Philanthropy" and "Why Do We Have Tax Breaks on Donations?"