Billions of Drops in Millions of Buckets: Why philanthropy doesn’t advance social progres

The sub-title of this book is clearly designed to provoke, but the plethora of endorsements from the great and the good of the philanthropy world (including from the UK’s own Martin Brookes) provides reassurance that Goldberg intends to be a critical friend rather than offer an utterly damning critique. The author’s thesis is that, despite record levels of giving, the “haphazard distribution” of charitable donations prevents philanthropy from achieving greater impact. The proposed solution is to “restructure the nonprofit capital market” so that funding is redirected to the best performing organisations. Brookes, chief executive of New Philanthropy Capital, endorses the book because, “Goldberg calls for more ‘performance-driven philanthropy’, where nonprofits are rewarded based on their results, in place of the current dysfunction. It is an important call and a valuable contribution to discussions about how to improve nonprofits in the US and internationally.”