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Philanthropy Reconsidered: Private initiatives – public good – quality of life
George McCully
Bloomington, Indiana: Authorhouse, August 2008. 130pp. Paperback. ISBN 978-1-4389-0561-7. £24.49. www.authorhouse.com
This small book has a big aim: to illuminate what is happening in American philanthropy today, and what it all means. Taking a scholarly approach, drawing on philosophy, the classics and history, it claims to re-interpret philanthropy and provide a strategic overview of its meaning, values, greatest accomplishments, current transformations and future directions. The author draws on material published over the last 12 years in the Catalogue for Philanthropy, an annual publication which McCully created to disseminate discussions about philanthropic issues and descriptions of charities, and is mailed to c.120,000 affluent US households.
Philanthropy, Patronage and Civil Society: Experiences from Germany, Great Britain and North America
Thomas Adam (ed). Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 2004
These ten essays are intended to help re-assess current approaches to philanthropy and offer a fresh perspective on how existing attitudes to charity have been formed. The style is at times too esoteric for the general reader but it is worth persevering to uncover the role that philanthropy has played at the heart of many of the most exciting and important changes within three societies in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.
• Read the review in September 2006 Newsletter
Taking Philanthropy Seriously, Beyond Noble Intentions to Responsible Giving
William Damon and Susan Verducci (editors). Bloomington and Indianopolis: Indiana University Press, 2006
This collection of essays features contributions from many of the most interesting current thinkers on philanthropy. It has an unusual angle – the potential of philanthropy to fail in its goals and even to do harm because, as the foreword notes, “progress cannot be made without learning from past efforts”.
Strategic Giving: the art and science of philanthropy
Peter Frumkin. Chicago and London: University of Chicago Press, 2006
Based on interactions with over 100 donors, Frumkin identifies five functions of philanthropy: change, innovation, redistribution, pluralism and enabling donors to find meaning and purpose in their lives. This book also provides a framework for ‘strategic philanthropy’: once donors find a cause they are passionate about, they must make a series of choices regarding the value they seek to produce, the model to be pursued, the vehicles to be deployed, the style to be adopted and the time-frame that will guide the effort.
• Read the review in March 2007 Newsletter
Philanthropy in the World’s Traditions
Warren F. Ilchman, Stanley N. Katz & Edward L. Queen II. Bloomington & Indianapolis: Indiana University Press, 1998
A treasure-trove of a book looking at how philanthropy has contributed to, and been shaped by, the various historical periods and different cultures in which it has existed. The scope of the essays is vast, including pre-colonial Africa, twentieth-century Russia and modern China.
Philanthropy in England 1480-1660: A study of the changing pattern of English social aspirations
W. K. Jordan. London: George Allen & Unwin, 1959
The first of the two major histories of English philanthropy to be published in the mid-twentieth century, Jordan bases his work on a comprehensive study of all charitable legacies made within this period from the late 15th to mid 17th century. Whilst not as comprehensive or widely appreciated as Owen’s history, the fine detail provided in the data, and his argument that benefactions allow us to trace changing social aspirations, makes this a fascinating read.
English Philanthropy 1660-1960
David Owen. London: Oxford University Press, 1965
Owen’s panoramic study is the starting point for most people who want to learn about the history of English philanthropy. Sprinkled with fascinating facts and quotes, this is literally a treasure trove of a book, as well as a learned introduction to an often under-appreciated aspect of England’s past.
The Nonprofit Sector: A Research Handbook, 2nd edition
Walter Powell & Richard Steinberg. London: Yale University Press, 2006
Whilst weighted towards the American experience, this book provides an exhaustive account of what is known about non-profits from a range of academic disciplines. Philanthropy is explained by economists, sociologists, historians, lawyers and social policy experts. It’s not a light read but it is comprehensive.
Christianity and Social Service in Modern Britain: The Disinherited Spirit
Frank Prochaska. Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2006
Prochaska is probably the most readable contemporary historian of UK philanthropy and readers will gain useful insights from any of his publications. The focus of this latest book is the importance of Christianity as an inspiration for political and social behaviour in the nineteenth century and an examination of the forces that undermined both religion and philanthropy in the twentieth century.
• Read the review in September 2006 Newsletter
Value led, market driven: Social enterprise solutions to public policy goals
Andrea Westall. London: Institute of Public Policy Research, 2001
The report explores the many possibilities of socially oriented enterprise and some of their opportunities and barriers to development.
• The publication is available from Central Books
