Editors’ Note: Rhodri Davies continues this week’s focus on governmental reform of charities within the UK, as part of HistPhil’s forum on philanthropy and the state. The charity sector in the UK is currently going through a torrid time. A series of issues with the way charities operate and fundraise have recently come to the … Continue reading
Category Archives: Philanthropy in the News
Charities in the Firing Line
Editors’ Note: As part of HistPhil’s forum on philanthropy and the state, this week we bring you a series of posts on the situation in the UK, where a series of controversies in the charitable sector has led to calls for increased governmental regulation. Peter Grant opens the discussion. Both charities in general and fundraisers in particular have … Continue reading
Philanthropy and the quest for Civic Competence
The Chronicle of Philanthropy has just published an editorial I wrote on the responses to the Zuckerberg-Chan announcement and on what they might suggest about the public’s engagement with big philanthropy in the years to come. I was tempted to include in it some additional reflections on an earlier episode from American philanthropic history in … Continue reading
On Fortune, Linsey McGoey Compares Past & Present Philanthropy
Today, Fortune published a piece by sociologist Linsey McGoey, “Do today’s philanthropists hurt more than they help?” The author applies the history of philanthropy in furthering her argument on the contemporary state of philanthropic giving in the United States, so we are bringing the piece to readers’ attention. In her indictment of contemporary philanthropic practices, McGoey specifically draws comparisons … Continue reading
Why We Consider Public Schools Public & Charter Schools Private
Editors’ Note: This piece by Johann N. Neem continues the site’s philanthropy & education forum. Earlier this month, the Washington Supreme Court determined that charter schools are ineligible to receive public school funds under the 1889 state constitution. Article 9, section 2 of the Washington constitution states that “the entire revenue derived from the common … Continue reading
Responding to Nick Kristof’s NYTimes Piece on the Gateses
Over the years I have tried to teach myself not to fire until I see the whites of their eyes, but yesterday’s New York Times column by Nick Kristof has pushed me over the edge for what it says about philanthropy—and how the media covers the sector. The column apparently follows an interview Bill and Melinda … Continue reading
What it means to think historically about philanthropy
Broadly conceived, HistPhil is dedicated to encouraging the philanthropic and nonprofit sectors to think historically about their work. What, precisely, this means in practice is still something of an open question. Two recent op-eds have helped me in approaching an answer. In The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Tom Watson celebrates the Ford Foundation’s recently announced commitment … Continue reading
What is New about Sean Parker’s Vision for Philanthropy?
Editors’ Note: Whether it was meant to or not, the publicity roll-out for tech mogul Sean Parker’s Parker Foundation makes a series of historical arguments and raises a host of questions that are worth grappling with. What is really new about what Parker calls “hacker philanthropy?” What should we make about Parker’s arguments, best expressed in his Wall … Continue reading
HistPhil 