Philanthropy

Philanthropy (from Greek φιλανθρωπία) means etymologically, the love of humanity, in the sense of caring and nourishing, it involves both the benefactor in their identifying and exercising their values, and the beneficiary in their receipt and benefit from the service or goods provided. A conventional modern definition is "private initiatives, for the public good, focusing on quality of life," which combines an original humanistic tradition with a social scientific aspect developed in the 20th century. The definition also serves to contrast philanthropy with business endeavors, which are private initiatives for private good, e.g., focusing on material gain, and with government endeavors, which are public initiatives for public good, e.g., focusing on provision of public services. A person who practices philanthropy is called a philanthropist.

Philanthropy has distinguishing characteristics separate from charity; not all charity is philanthropy, or vice versa, though there is a recognized degree of overlap in practice. A difference commonly cited is that charity aims to relieve the pain of a particular social problem, whereas philanthropy attempts to address the root cause of the problem—the difference between the proverbial gift of a fish to a hungry person, versus teaching them how to fish.

Definitions

The literal, classical definitions and understandings of the term philanthropy derive from its origins in the Greek φιλανθρωπία, which combines the word φίλος (philos) for "loving" and ἄνθρωπος (anthropos) for "human being" (see below).

The most conventional modern definition, according to the Catalogue for Philanthropy, is "private initiatives, for public good, focusing on quality of life".^[1] This combines the social scientific aspect developed in the century with the original humanistic tradition, and serves to contrast philanthropy with business (private initiatives for private good, focusing on material prosperity) and government (public initiatives for public good, focusing on law and order). These distinctions have been analyzed by Olivier Zunz,^[2] and others.

Instances of philanthropy commonly overlap with instances of charity, though not all charity is philanthropy, or vice versa. The difference commonly cited is that charity relieves the pains of social problems, whereas philanthropy attempts to solve those problems at their root causes (the difference between giving a hungry person a fish, and teaching them how to fish).

Etymology

The word was first coined as an adjective by the playwright Aeschylus in Prometheus Bound (5th century BCE), to describe Prometheus' character as "humanity loving" (philanthropic troops), for having given to the earliest proto-humans who had no culture, fire (symbolizing technological civilization) and "blind hope" (optimism); together, they would be used to improve the human condition, to save mankind from destruction. Thus, in the perspective of this early writer, humans were distinguished from all other animals by being a civilization with the power to complete their own creation through education (self-development) and culture (civic development), expressed in good works benefiting others. The new word, φιλάνθρωπος philanthropic, combined two words: φίλος Philos, "loving" in the sense of benefitting, caring for, nourishing; and ἄνθρωπος Anthropos, "human being" in the sense of "humanity", or "human-ness." The first use of the noun form philanthrôpía came shortly thereafter (c. 390 BCE), in the early Platonic dialogue Euthyphro. Socrates is reported to have said that his "pouring out" of his thoughts freely (without charge) to his listeners was his philanthrôpía.

In the first century BCE, both paideia and philanthrôpía were translated into Latin by the single word humanity, which was also understood to be the core of liberal education study humanities, the studies of humanity, or simply "the humanities." In the second century CE, Plutarch used the concept of philanthrôpía to describe superior human beings. This Classically synonymous troika, of philanthropy, the humanities, and liberal education, declined with the replacement of the classical world by Christianity. During the Middle Ages, philanthrôpía was superseded by Caritas charity, selfless love, valued for salvation. Philanthropy was modernized by Sir Francis Bacon in the 1600s, who is largely credited with preventing the word from being owned by horticulture. Bacon considered philanthrôpía to be synonymous with "goodness", which correlated with the Aristotelian conception of virtue, as consciously instilled habits of good behavior.^[3] Then in the 1700s, an influential lexical figurehead by the name of Samuel Johnson simply defined philanthropy as "love of mankind; good nature".^[4] This definition still survives today and is often cited more gender-neutrally as the "love of humanity." However, it was Noah Webster who would more accurately reflect the word usage in American English.^[5]

The precise meaning of philanthropy is still a matter of some contention, its definition being largely dependent on the particular interests of the writer employing the term. Nevertheless, there are some working definitions to which the community associated with the field of "philanthropic studies" most commonly subscribes. One of the more widely accepted of these is the one employed by Lester Salamon, who defines philanthropy as "the private giving of time or valuables (money, security, property) for public purposes; and/or one form of income of private non-profit organizations".

History

Classical philanthropy

The Ancient Greek view of philanthropy—that the "love of what it is to be human" is the essential nature and purpose of humanity, culture and civilization—was intrinsically philosophical, containing both metaphysics and ethics. The Greeks adopted the "love of humanity" as an educational ideal, whose goal was excellence (arete)—the fullest self-development, of a body, mind, and spirit, which is the essence of liberal education. The Platonic Academy's philosophical dictionary defined Philanthropy as "a state of well-educated habits stemming from love of humanity, a state of being productive of benefit to humans". Just as Prometheus' human-empowering gifts rebelled against the tyranny of Zeus, philanthropic was also associated with freedom and democracy. Both Socrates and the laws of Athens were described as "philanthropic and democratic".

The replacement of Classical civilization by Christianity replaced philanthropy with Christian theology and soteriology, administered through the Roman Catholic Church's ecclesiastical and monastic infrastructures. Gradually there emerged a non-religious agricultural infrastructure based on peasant farming organized into manors, which were, in turn, organized for law and order by feudalism.

When it was rediscovered in the Italian Renaissance, humanism consisted of a specific academic curriculum: grammar, rhetoric, poetry, history, and moral philosophy, or ethics, designed to train laymen for effective leadership in business, law, and government. One of the clearest literary expressions of Renaissance humanist philosophy is Pico Della Mirandola's famous 15th-century Oration on the Dignity of Man, which echoes the philanthropic myth of human creation, though with the Christian God as the Promethean Creator. Francis Bacon in 1592 wrote in a letter that his "vast contemplative ends" expressed his "philanthropic", and his 1608 essay On Goodness defined his subject as "the affecting of the weal of men ... what the Grecians call philanthropy". Henry Cockeram, in his English dictionary (1623), cited "philanthropy" as a synonym for "humanity"(in Latin, humanities)—thus reaffirming the Classical formulation.

Modern philanthropy

The Foundling Hospital. The building has been demolished.

Philanthropy began to reach its modern form in the Age of Enlightenment; after the Wars of Religion in 17th century Europe, secular alternatives such as rationalism, empiricism, and science inclined philosophers toward a progressive view of history. This tendency achieved an especially pure articulation in the Scottish Enlightenment, especially in the works of Anthony Ashley-Cooper, 3rd Earl of Shaftesbury and Francis Hutcheson, who proposed that philanthropy is the essential key to human happiness, conceived as a kind of "fitness" (living in harmony with Nature and one's own circumstances). Self-development, manifested in good deeds toward others, was the surest way to live a pleasing, fulfilling, and satisfying life, as well as to help build a commonwealth community.

Influenced by these ideas, and as a facet of the expansion of civil society, charitable and philanthropic activity among voluntary associations and rich benefactors became a widespread cultural practice. Societies, gentleman's clubs, and mutual associations began to flourish in England, and the upper-classes increasingly adopted a philanthropic attitude toward the disadvantaged. This new social activism was channeled into the establishment of charitable organizations; these proliferated from the middle of the century.^[6]

This emerging upper-class fashion for benevolence resulted in the incorporation of the first charitable organizations. Captain Thomas Coram, appalled by the number of abandoned children living on the streets of London, set up the Foundling Hospital in 1741 to look after these unwanted orphans in Lamb's Conduit Fields, Bloomsbury. This was the first such charity in the world^[7] and served as the precedent for incorporated associational charities everywhere.^[8]

Jonas Hanway, another notable philanthropist of the era, established The Marine Society in 1756 as the first seafarer's charity, in a bid to aid the recruitment of men to the navy.^[9] By 1763, the society had recruited over 10,000 men and it was incorporated by an Act of Parliament in 1772. Hanway was also instrumental in establishing the Magdalen Hospital to rehabilitate prostitutes. These organizations were funded by subscription and run as voluntary associations. They raised public awareness of their activities through the emerging popular press and were generally held in high social regard—some charities received state recognition in the form of the Royal Charter.

Philanthropists, such as anti-slavery campaigner William Wilberforce, began to adopt active campaigning roles, where they would champion a cause and lobby the government for legislative change. This included organized campaigns against the ill treatment of animals and children and the campaign that eventually succeeded in ending the slave trade throughout the British Empire at the turn of the 19th century.

Andrew Carnegie's philanthropy. Puck magazine cartoon by Louis Dalrymple, 1903

During the 19th century, a profusion of charitable organizations was set up to alleviate the awful conditions of the working class in the slums. The Labourer's Friend Society, chaired by Lord Shaftesbury in the United Kingdom in 1830, was set up to improve working class conditions. This included the promotion of allotment of land to labourers for "cottage husbandry" that later became the allotment movement, and in 1844 it became the first Model Dwellings Company—an organization that sought to improve the housing conditions of the working classes by building new homes for them, while at the same time receiving a competitive rate of return on any investment. This was one of the first housing associations, a philanthropic endeavor that flourished in the second half of the nineteenth century, brought about by the growth of the middle class. Later associations included the Peabody Trust, and the Guinness Trust. The principle of philanthropic intention with capitalist return was given the label "five per cent philanthropy."^[10][11]

In 1863, the Swiss businessman Henry Dunant used his personal fortune to finding the Geneva Society for Public Welfare, which became the International Committee of the Red Cross. During the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, Dunant personally led Red Cross delegations that treated soldiers. He shared the first Nobel Peace Prize for this work in 1901.^[12]

Philanthropy became a very fashionable activity among the expanding middle classes in Britain and America. Octavia Hill and John Ruskin were an important force behind the development of social housing and Andrew Carnegie exemplified the large-scale philanthropy of the newly rich in industrialized America. In Gospel of Wealth (1889), Carnegie wrote about the responsibilities of great wealth and the importance of social justice. He established public libraries throughout the English-speaking countries^[13] as well as contributing large sums to schools and universities. Other American philanthropists of the early 20th century were John D. Rockefeller and Henry Ford. The sheer size of their endowments directed their attention to addressing the causes and instruments, as distinct from the symptoms and expressions, of social problems and cultural opportunities.^[2]

21st century efforts

In recent decades, wealth creators in new high tech sectors have turned to second careers in philanthropy at earlier ages, creating large foundations. Individual philanthropy began to be chic, attracting celebrities from popular arts. Commercial movies and television adopted the idea, and many initiatives have been led by wealthy individuals such as Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. Despite this emergence of high tech and celebrity philanthropic foundations, studies by The Chronicle of Philanthropy have indicated that the rich—those making over $100,000 a year—give a smaller share of their income to charity (4.2% on average) than those making more than $50,000–$100,000 a year.^[14][15]

Trends in philanthropy have been affected in various ways by a technological and cultural change. Today, many donations are made through the Internet (see also donation statistics).^[16]

A social movement of effective altruism has emerged. Members of this movement use a scientific approach to consider all causes and actions and then act in the way that brings about the greatest positive impact, based on their values. Many effective altruists pursue a high-earning career for the purpose of donating a significant portion of earned income to charities they consider to be most effective.

Charity evaluators, like Givewell, Charity Navigator were established, which assess charities in various ways to help prospective donors make their choice.

Organizations such as Opportunity International and Kiva (microlending), Raise5 (micro-volunteering), or Charity kicks (micro-donating) leverage crowdfunding philanthropy to raise money for charity. GlobalGiving helps local nonprofits in more than 166 countries access the funding, tools, training, and support they need to become more effective. GiveDirectly facilitates direct cash transfers to individual low-income households in East Africa. Zidisha is a nonprofit person-to-person microlending website which uses an eBay-style marketplace to allow individuals in developing countries to crowd-fund loans from individual web users worldwide. Vittana is an online platform that allows low-income youth in developing countries to crowd-fund tuition for higher education.

Organizations supporting

A variety of organizations that have been created over the decades to study, support, and evaluate practical philanthropic endeavors and ideas exist today and continue research into philanthropy, analysis of its trends, and student-training for its occupations and further study.

Large individual gifts

John D. Rockefeller in 1885

Front building of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle

The following is a list of reported gifts, by date, with their date and source, where the gift values are nominal (not been adjusted for inflation, to current dollars):

• From 1860–1890, millions, from Charles Henry de Soysa to undertake various projects in Ceylon and overseas.
• From 1895–1915, millions, from Charles T. Hinde to undertake various projects in Southern California.
• In 1901, $350 million from Andrew Carnegie, who distributed almost 90% of his wealth to philanthropic causes, including the building of Carnegie Hall and the founding of Carnegie Mellon University.^[17]
• Especially in the teen years of the early 20th century, $540 million from John D. Rockefeller to the Rockefeller Foundation and various other Rockefeller Charities.^[18]
• In 1984 and the years preceding and following, as disclosed in 1997, $4.1 billion ($3.5 billion from sale of the 38.75% equity stake in DFS Group, alongside $600 million in other giving), from Chuck Feeney, to Atlantic Philanthropies.^[19][20]
• In July 1992, $100 million from Henry and Betty Rowan to Glassboro State College, to become Rowan University.^[21]
• In 1993, $1 billion from Walter Annenberg to various education efforts, including a single $500 million bequest to support public schools in the United States.^[22]
• In 1998, $1 billion from Ted Turner to create the United Nations Foundation, in support of children's (especially girl's) and women's issues, climate change and energy, sustainable development and technology, and other areas mediated by the United Nations.^[23] The main issue areas that the Foundation addresses are .^[24]
• In 2003, $200 million from Joan B. Kroc to National Public Radio.^[25]
• In 2005 and years following, a total of ~$500 million from T. Boone Pickens (as of 2011, although ~$115 million was lost by Pickens' BP Capital in 2008), to Oklahoma State University, the initial approximate half to the university's athletic program, and a subsequent amounts of ~$220 M for faculty chairs and scholarships.^[26]
• In 2006, Warren Buffett donated $40 billion to five different foundations. Out of that $30 billion went to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
• In 2010, $100 million from Mark Zuckerberg's Startup: Education fund, to the Newark, New Jersey public schools, with concurrent negotiation with New Jersey Governor Chris Christie to allow Newark Mayor Cory Booker " a strong voice in choosing a new superintendent of schools," with the state retaining the ultimate control of the school system that it has had since 1995.^[27]
• In 2011, $225 million from Raymond and Ruth Perelman, parents of Ronald O. Perelman, to The University of Pennsylvania, to create the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.^[28]
• In February 2013, $2.3 billion from Azim Premji, an Indian IT business leader sometimes referred to as India's Bill Gates, via a 12% stake, in his IT outsourcing company Wipro, to "a trust to fund his education-focused Azim Premji Foundation."^[29]
• Announced in 2014, to be given over 10 years, $100 million from James Packer to "improving indigenous education, assisting community welfare programs and making artistic endeavours accessible to more Australians."^[30]
• In 2016, Phil Knight made two major gifts. The first was to Stanford University for $400 million. The second was to the University of Oregon for $500 million.^[31]

Gifts for which dates are not stated:

• $424 million from managers of the Reader's Digest fortune, to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.^[25]
• ~$400 million from Oprah to educational causes.^[32]
• $350 million from Michael Jackson, who supported over 39 charity organizations, and was listed in Guinness World Records for the "Most Charities Supported By a Pop Star".
• $220 million from Phil and Penny Knight (co-founder of Nike) to Oregon Health and Science University.
• $175 million from Jay Faison to the ClearPath Foundation.^[33]
• $138 million from Mike Lazaridis to the Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics in Waterloo, Ontario.^[34]

Further reading

The following are suggested articles for further reading, in particular, reputable sources with an emphasis on material that might improve the content of the article. The format used is intended to make each citation reference-ready.

• Aknin, Lara B.; Barrington-Leigh, Christopher P.; Dunn, Elizabeth W.; Helliwell, John F.; Burns, Justine; Biswas-Diener, Robert; Kemeza, Imelda; Nyende, Paul; Ashton-James, Claire E. & Norton, Michael I. (2013). "Prosocial Spending and Well-Being: Cross-Cultural Evidence For a Psychological Universal." (print, online). Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 104 (4, April): 635–652. doi:10.1037/a0031578. Retrieved 29 January 2016. "This research provides the first support for a possible psychological universal: Human beings around the world derive emotional benefits from using their financial resources to help others (prosocial spending). …survey data from 136 countries were examined and showed that prosocial spending is associated with greater happiness around the world, in poor and rich countries alike. …recalling a past instance of prosocial spending has a causal impact on happiness across countries that differ greatly in terms of wealth (Canada, Uganda, and India). …participants in Canada and South Africa randomly assigned to buy items for charity reported higher levels of positive affect than participants assigned to buy the same items for themselves, even… [without] an opportunity to build or strengthen social ties. Our findings suggest that the reward experienced from helping others may be deeply ingrained in human nature, emerging in diverse cultural and economic contexts." 
• Zunz, Olivier (2011). Philanthropy in America, A History: Politics and Society in Twentieth-Century America. Princeton, NJ, USA: Princeton University Press. ISBN 1400839416. Archived from the original on October 17, 2011. Retrieved 28 January 2016. 
• Sulek, Marty (2010). "On the Classical Meaning of Philanthrôpía". Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly. 39 (3): 385–408.  [Citation originally appeared attached to the Scottish Enlightenment in the "Modern philanthropy" section, but is clearly, rather, associated with material of the "Classical… " section.]
• Dunn, E.W.; Aknin, L.B. & Norton, M.I. (2008). "Spending Money on Others Promotes Happiness." (print, online). Science. Vol. 319 no. 5870, March 21. pp. 1687f. PMID 18356530. doi:10.1126/science.1150952. Retrieved 29 January 2016. "Although much research has examined the effect of income on happiness, we suggest that how people spend their money may be at least as important as how much money they earn. Specifically, we hypothesized that spending money on other people may have a more positive impact on happiness than spending money on oneself. Providing converging evidence for this hypothesis, we found that spending more of one's income on others predicted greater happiness both cross-sectionally (in a nationally representative survey study) and longitudinally (in a field study of windfall spending). Finally, participants who were randomly assigned to spend money on others experienced greater happiness than those assigned to spend money on themselves. [Erratum in Science. 2009 May 29;324(5931):1143.]" 
• McCully, George (2008). "Promethean Fire: The Archetype (Chapter I)". Philanthropy Reconsidered: Private Initiatives, Public Good, Quality of Life (A Catalogue for Philanthropy Publication). Bloomington, IN, USA: AuthorHouse (self-published). pp. 1–21. ISBN 1438905637. Archived from the original on August 26, 2008. Retrieved 29 January 2016. Chapter I subtitle: From its first coinage in ancient Greece, in Prometheus Bound, philanthropic meant "the love of humanity," or of what it is to be human, an educational and cultural ideal.  [Citation originally appeared attached to the Scottish Enlightenment in the "Modern philanthropy" section, but is clearly, rather, associated with material of the "Classical… " section. (Appears likely to be the un-cited source for the "Definitions" section and led content and for the "Classical… " section.)]
• Beatty, Sally (2007). "Money: Families Wrestle With Closing Foundations" (online). The Wall Street Journal (April 17). Retrieved 29 January 2016. "Wealthy families are setting up new philanthropic foundations in increasing numbers, but they are also shutting them down at an accelerating pace. / Some of the biggest names in philanthropy are backing the idea of setting a time limit on their giving: The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced in December it will spend its entire endowment… within 50 years of the death of the last of its three current trustees, then close its doors." 
• Martin, Hubert (1961). "The Concept of Philanthropia in Plutarch's Lives". American Journal of Philology. 82: 164–175.  [Citation originally appeared attached to the Scottish Enlightenment in the "Modern philanthropy" section, but is clearly, rather, associated with material of the "Classical… " section.]
• Lester, Charles Edwards (1883). Lester's History of the United States: Illustrated in Its Five Great Periods: Colonization, Consolidation, Development, Achievement, Advancement. New York: P. F. Collier & Son. Retrieved 29 January 2016. 
• Berman, Edward H. (1983). The Influence of the Carnegie, Ford, and Rockefeller Foundations on American Foreign Policy: The Ideology of Philanthropy. Albany, NY: SUNY Press. ISBN 978-0-873-95725-0. 

See also

References

External links

Look up philanthropy in Wiktionary, the free dictionary.

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Philanthropy.

• Muslim Philanthropy Digital Library open-source library managed by the research program at the John D. Gerhart Center for Philanthropy and Civic Engagement at the American University in Cairo
• Voluntary Action History Society, Various research into the history of charity, philanthropy and voluntary organisations
• ULIB.IUPUI.edu, Joseph and Matthew Payton Philanthropic Studies Library
• ULIB.IUPUI.edu, Philanthropic Studies Index
• NPtrust.org, History of Philanthropy, 1601–present compiled and edited by National Philanthropic Trust
• MCCORD-museum.qc.ca, "A Bourgeois Duty: Philanthropy, 1896-1919" — Illustrated historical essay
• GPR.hudson.org, PDF file from the Hudson Institute at The Index of Global Philanthropy 2006 83 page.
• ULIB.IUPUI.edu, Philanthropy Resources Online
• IMPACT.UPENN.edu, Center for High Impact Philanthropy in the University of Pennsylvania School of Social Policy & Practice (SP2)
• Feeding the Hungry