Philanthropisms

Send us Fan Mail In the tenth 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:  Bouke Klein Teeselink (Assistant Professor in Economics at the Department of Political Economy, King's College Londo...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode of the Philanthropisms podcast we talk to Róisín Wood, CEO of the Community Foundation Northern Ireland (CFNI), about the landscape for philanthropy and civil society in Northern Ireland. Including: How and why was CFNI originally formed, and what is the organisation’s focus today? What is the history and current context for civil society in NI? What is the overall...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we take a look at the recent announcement by Bill Gates that he now plans to give away 99% of his wealth and spend down his foundation over the next 20 years. Including: Should we be excited about this news? Why has the announcement been made now? Should it be seen in part as a response to the Trump administration?  Do the sums stack up? Can we square what has been...

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...

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...

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 be...

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 Fo...

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 t...

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 particula...

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 existi...

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 thems...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we talk to Daniel Stid, Director of Lyceum Labs and former Program Director of U.S. Democracy at the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, about philanthropy, pluralism and democracy. Including: Why has the long-standing consensus on the value of philanthropic pluralism been challenged in recent years?  Is there a danger of being naïve about pluralism, and holding...

Send us Fan Mail In the eighth edition of our podcast partnership with the European Research Network on Philanthropy (ERNOP), we hear from more academics whose work is featured in the latest batch of short, practitioner-focused ERNOP Research Notes. In this episode we hear from:    Marlene Walk ( University of Freiburg, Germany) and Jamie Levine Daniel (New York University Robert F. Wagner Graduat...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we look ahead to 2025, and offer our annual set of predictions-that-aren't-really-predictions-but-more-like-thoughts-about-interesting-trends. This year we consider: UK Grantmaking on pause Implementing policies to boost giving Debate over tax relief for charitable giving US foundations under populist attack  Next Gen philanthropy and new models Continued grow...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we discuss social investment and impact investing with Scott Greenhalgh, Chair of Social and Sustainable Capital. Including: Is there a difference between social investment and impact investing? If so, what is it? Do we need to be clearer about this distinction? What is the relationship of ESG investing to impact investing and social investment? What is the current...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we talk to Milos Maricic (entrepreneur and founder of the Altruist League) and Giuseppe Ugazio (Edmond de Rothschild Assistant Professor of Behavioral Philanthropy at the Geneva Finance Research Institute),  the co-editors of the newly published Routledge Handbook of Artificial Intelligence and Philanthropy. We discuss: How the book came about, what is in it, and w...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we explore the way that philanthropic donations are taxed. Why do so many governments around the world choose to offer tax breaks for charitable giving? What is the history behind this? How are tax breaks for philanthropy designed and implemented, and are they effective? Including: What are the possible theoretical justifications for a government choosing to offer...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we talk to Lisa Greer, philanthropist and author of "The Essential Fundraiser's Handbook" and "Philanthropy Revolution", about how philanthropy and fundraising interact and what we could be doing better. Including: Have fundraisers become too reliant on the tools they use, rather than the deeper skills of relationship building?  Do the ince...

Send us Fan Mail In the seventh edition of our partnership with the European Research Network on Philanthropy (ERNOP), we hear from more academics whose work is featured in the latest batch of short, practitioner-focused ERNOP Research Notes.  In this episode we hear from:   Georg von Schnurbein (Centre for Philanthropy Studies, University of Basel), on research looking at specialist "foundat...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we take a deep dive into the relationship between philanthropy and social justice. Does philanthropy necessarily deliver social justice; does it only do so under certain conditions, or does it sometimes actively get in the way of social justice? Including: Philanthropy as an individual act vs philanthropy as a societal mechanism, and why this creates a tension betw...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we take a deep dive into the world of philanthropic foundations. What are they, how did they evolve, and what light can their history shed on continuing debates about the role of foundations in our society today? Including: What are the key features that define philanthropic foundations?  Are these consistent around the world and across time periods? Why do foundat...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode, we sat down to talk about how we understand and measure global generosity with Pamala Wiepking,  Stead Family Chair in International Philanthropy and Associate Professor of Philanthropy at the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy at IUPUI in Indianapolis (and also Professor of Societal Significance of Charitable Lotteries at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, the Ne...

Send us Fan Mail In the sixth edition of our partnership with the European Research Network on Philanthropy (ERNOP), we hear from more academics whose work is featured in the latest batch of short, practitioner-focused ERNOP Research Notes. In this episode we hear from:  René Bekkers ( Vrije University, Amsterdam), about his work on measuring coherence and consensus within the growing field of non...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we talk to philanthropy and social change experts Mandy van Deven and Chiara Cattaneo about their work on building and resourcing narrative power within civil society. Including: What is narrative power and why is it such an important tool for CSOs? Does narrative work tend to focus more on developing narratives that are relevant to cause areas in which philanthrop...

Send us Fan Mail In this episode we talk to Kate Symondson, Head of Philanthropy at the Symondson Foundation, about family foundations, grantmaking & next gen philanthropy. Including How do the various members of a family foundation agree on what to fund and how? Which aspects of giving as a family are most rewarding, and which most challenging? Does doing philanthropy together have an impact...