The Givers

The Givers PDF Author: David Callahan
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 1101947055
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 353

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Book Description
An inside look at the secretive world of elite philanthropists--and how they're quietly wielding ever more power to shape American life in ways both good and bad. While media attention focuses on famous philanthropists such as Bill Gates and Charles Koch, thousands of donors are at work below the radar promoting a wide range of causes. David Callahan charts the rise of these new power players and the ways they are converting the fortunes of a second Gilded Age into influence. He shows how this elite works behind the scenes on education, the environment, science, LGBT rights, and many other issues--with deep impact on government policy. Above all, he shows that the influence of the Givers is only just beginning, as new waves of billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg turn to philanthropy. Based on extensive research and interviews with countless donors and policy experts, this is not a brief for or against the Givers, but a fascinating investigation of a power shift in American society that has implications for us all.

The Givers

The Givers PDF Author: David Callahan
Publisher: Knopf
ISBN: 1101947055
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 353

Get Book Here

Book Description
An inside look at the secretive world of elite philanthropists--and how they're quietly wielding ever more power to shape American life in ways both good and bad. While media attention focuses on famous philanthropists such as Bill Gates and Charles Koch, thousands of donors are at work below the radar promoting a wide range of causes. David Callahan charts the rise of these new power players and the ways they are converting the fortunes of a second Gilded Age into influence. He shows how this elite works behind the scenes on education, the environment, science, LGBT rights, and many other issues--with deep impact on government policy. Above all, he shows that the influence of the Givers is only just beginning, as new waves of billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg turn to philanthropy. Based on extensive research and interviews with countless donors and policy experts, this is not a brief for or against the Givers, but a fascinating investigation of a power shift in American society that has implications for us all.

Just Giving

Just Giving PDF Author: Rob Reich
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691202273
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 258

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Book Description
The troubling ethics and politics of philanthropy Is philanthropy, by its very nature, a threat to today’s democracy? Though we may laud wealthy individuals who give away their money for society’s benefit, Just Giving shows how such generosity not only isn’t the unassailable good we think it to be but might also undermine democratic values. Big philanthropy is often an exercise of power, the conversion of private assets into public influence. And it is a form of power that is largely unaccountable and lavishly tax-advantaged. Philanthropy currently fails democracy, but Rob Reich argues that it can be redeemed. Just Giving investigates the ethical and political dimensions of philanthropy and considers how giving might better support democratic values and promote justice.

Policy Patrons

Policy Patrons PDF Author: Megan E. Tompkins-Stange
Publisher: Harvard Education Press
ISBN: 1612509142
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 197

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Book Description
Policy Patrons offers a rare behind-the-scenes view of decision making inside four influential education philanthropies: the Ford Foundation, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, and the Eli and Edythe Broad Foundation. The outcome is an intriguing, thought-provoking look at the impact of current philanthropic efforts on education. Over a period of several years, Megan E. Tompkins-Stange gained the trust of key players and outside observers of these four organizations. Through a series of confidential interviews, she began to explore the values, ideas, and beliefs that inform these foundations’ strategies and practices. The picture that emerges reveals important differences in the strategies and values of the more established foundations vis-à-vis the newer, more activist foundations—differences that have a significant impact on education policy and practice, and have important implications for democratic decision making. In recent years, the philanthropic sector has played an increasing role in championing and financing education reform. Policy Patrons makes an original and invaluable contribution to contemporary discussions about the appropriate role of foundations in public policy and the future direction of education reform.

The Tyranny of Generosity

The Tyranny of Generosity PDF Author: Theodore M. Lechterman
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0197611419
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
The practice of philanthropy, which releases private property for public purposes, represents in many ways the best angels of our nature. But this practice's noteworthy virtues often obscure the fact that philanthropy also represents the exercise of private power. In The Tyranny of Generosity, Theodore Lechterman shows how this private power can threaten the foundations of a democratic society. The deployment of private wealth for public ends may rival the authority of communities to determine their own affairs. And, in societies characterized by wide disparities in wealth, philanthropy often combines with background inequalities to make public decisions overwhelmingly sensitive to the preferences of the rich. Allowing private wealth to dictate social outcomes collides with core commitments of a democratic society, a society in which people are supposed to determine their common affairs together, on equal terms. But why exactly is democracy valuable? How should these values be weighed against the liberty of donors and the many social benefits that philanthropy promises? Lechterman explores these questions by examining various topics in the practice of philanthropy: the respective roles of philanthropy and government, public subsidies for private giving, the use of donations for political speech, instruments of perpetual giving, the rise in giving by commercial corporations, and effective altruism as a guide for individual giving. These studies build to a surprising conclusion: realizing the democratic ideal may be impossible without philanthropy--but making philanthropy safe for democracy also requires fundamental changes to policy and practice.

The Politics of Knowledge

The Politics of Knowledge PDF Author: Ellen Condliffe Lagemann
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 9780226467801
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 372

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Book Description
The Carnegie Corporation, among this country's oldest and most important foundations, has underwritten projects ranging from the writings of David Riesman to Sesame Street. Lagemann's lively history focuses on how foundations quietly but effectively use power and private money to influence public policies.

Philanthropy in America

Philanthropy in America PDF Author: Olivier Zunz
Publisher: Princeton University Press
ISBN: 0691161208
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 400

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Book Description
How philanthropy has shaped America in the twentieth century American philanthropy today expands knowledge, champions social movements, defines active citizenship, influences policymaking, and addresses humanitarian crises. How did philanthropy become such a powerful and integral force in American society? Philanthropy in America is the first book to explore in depth the twentieth-century growth of this unique phenomenon. Ranging from the influential large-scale foundations established by tycoons such as John D. Rockefeller, Sr., and the mass mobilization of small donors by the Red Cross and March of Dimes, to the recent social advocacy of individuals like Bill Gates and George Soros, respected historian Olivier Zunz chronicles the tight connections between private giving and public affairs, and shows how this union has enlarged democracy and shaped history. Demonstrating that America has cultivated and relied on philanthropy more than any other country, Philanthropy in America examines how giving for the betterment of all became embedded in the fabric of the nation's civic democracy.

The Profits of Charity

The Profits of Charity PDF Author: Kerry O'Halloran
Publisher: Oxford University Press
ISBN: 0199996032
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages :

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Book Description
The Profits of Charity examines the contemporary law governing the involvement of charity in commerce, explores the reasons why this involvement is dramatically changing and considers the resulting implications for charities and the nonprofit sector. From a perspective familiar to charity lawyers, NGO managers, and scholars, Kerry O'Halloran identifies the concepts and the law underpinning charities and their profits by tracing legal developments in the field and identifying the resulting opportunities and challenges for the future. At a time when many leading nations are confronting economic recession, the threat of terrorism, and the retreat of the 'welfare state,' this book explores how and why governments are now turning to charities in their quest to cultivate social capital, consolidate civil society, and promote civic engagement. In The Profits of Charity, Professor O'Halloran undertakes a comparative analysis of the balance struck between government, charity, and commerce in the EU and leading common law nations, including the United States, Canada, England and Wales, New Zealand, and Australia. He uses analysis of legislation, outcomes of charity law reviews, and recent case law to illustrate jurisdictional differences, and concludes with an assessment of the extent and significance of the recalibrated relationships and considers the overarching issues that arise for charity law and social policy.

Giving to Help, Helping to Give

Giving to Help, Helping to Give PDF Author: Tade Akin Aina
Publisher: Amalion Publishing
ISBN: 2359260219
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 357

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Book Description
The past decade has seen a flowering of philanthropic activities across many parts of Africa. Unlike before, this flowering has the distinct character of African agency, energy and engagement. Philanthropy is no longer about narratives of passive, poor and miserable Africans receiving help from rich, fortunate and often Western outsiders. The emerging narratives about philanthropy in Africa are about an increasingly confident and knowledgeable assertion of African capacities to give not only to help but also to transform and seek to address the root causes of injustice, want, ignorance and disease. The narratives are also about the increasing questioning of the role and place of Africans in the world’s philanthropic traditions and what constitutes African specificities but also African differences and varieties. This book is about African philanthropic experiences, their varieties, challenges and opportunities. It is about documenting, investigating, describing, questioning and reflecting on philanthropy in Africa. Because Africa is not a monolithic entity with one single history, cultural, political and economic experience, this ground-breaking book rightly tackles the varied modes, forms, vehicles and means in which the philanthropic experiences are expressed in Africa. It is a pioneering and ambitious effort in a field and community of practice that is new both in terms of scholarship and in professional practice. Many of the chapters boldly engage the burden of reflections, questions, ambivalences and ambiguities that one often finds in an emerging field, innovatively positing the outlines, concepts, frameworks and theories of scholarship and practice for a field critical to development on the continent.

Pink Ribbons, Inc

Pink Ribbons, Inc PDF Author: Samantha King
Publisher: U of Minnesota Press
ISBN: 9780816648986
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 206

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Book Description
The commercialization of the breast cancer movement is challenged in this analysis of how breast cancer has been transformed from a stigmatized disease and individual tragedy to a market-driven industry of survivorship.

Philanthropy in Democratic Societies

Philanthropy in Democratic Societies PDF Author: Rob Reich
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
ISBN: 022633578X
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 334

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Book Description
Philanthropy is everywhere. In 2013, in the United States alone, some $330 billion was recorded in giving, from large donations by the wealthy all the way down to informal giving circles. We tend to think of philanthropy as unequivocally good, but as the contributors to this book show, philanthropy is also an exercise of power. And like all forms of power, especially in a democratic society, it deserves scrutiny. Yet it rarely has been given serious attention. This book fills that gap, bringing together expert philosophers, sociologists, political scientists, historians, and legal scholars to ask fundamental and pressing questions about philanthropy’s role in democratic societies. The contributors balance empirical and normative approaches, exploring both the roles philanthropy has actually played in societies and the roles it should play. They ask a multitude of questions: When is philanthropy good or bad for democracy? How does, and should, philanthropic power interact with expectations of equal citizenship and democratic political voice? What makes the exercise of philanthropic power legitimate? What forms of private activity in the public interest should democracy promote, and what forms should it resist? Examining these and many other topics, the contributors offer a vital assessment of philanthropy at a time when its power to affect public outcomes has never been greater.