Browsing by Subject "Philanthropy"
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Item Open Access Donors for democracy? Philanthropy and the challenges facing America in the twenty-first century(Interest Groups and Advocacy, 2018-10-01) Berry, JM; Goss, KAAfter the election of Donald Trump to the U.S. presidency, a self-defined “resistance” movement arose to block his agenda. This movement cut across the normal boundaries of political activism to create new forms of advocacy and new models of cooperation. Major components of the resistance were ideological interest groups, women’s organizations, environmentalists, heretofore disengaged Millennials, racial and ethnic groups, community nonprofits, and, ostensibly, foundations and leading philanthropists—those we term “patrons.” We systematically examine the behavior of patrons to determine what role they played at this unique time in American history. We place this research in the context of interest group behavior, asking how patrons may have facilitated representation, altered strategic plans, reoriented advocacy, and repositioned themselves within policy communities supporting similar goals. Our findings undermine the idea that patrons played a central role in the developing resistance to the new administration, despite the fact that the new president was working against their values and the programs they support. However, a non-trivial minority of patrons, both institutional and individual, did mobilize their voice, institutional resources, and coalitions to resist the Trump agenda. These examples allow us to explore how patrons in some conditions might fulfill the roles of interest groups conventionally understood.Item Open Access Emerging Corporate Social Responsibility: Strategic Giving in the Motor City(2018-01-25) Gaston, KeileyThe complex social problems facing cities in the United States today will require more accountability and collaboration from the public and private sectors. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) can be a key driver in community development and economic prosperity. Existing literature suggests that initiatives are most impactful when businesses and nonprofits align their missions, build relationships, generate shared value, and enforce mutual expectations. The case study of Detroit exemplifies how an American city struggling with economic and racial disparity responds to this cross sector collaboration. How have the CSR strategies of General Motors and Quicken Loans evolved in contributing to the economic growth of Detroit? Through interviews and nonprofit-business partnership case studies, this research assesses how the two companies transition from a more charitable giving model to an integrative system prioritizing the city’s needs. I argue that the CSR initiatives in Detroit are evolving towards a more strategic approach with significant effects on the current revitalization of the city. The rising demand for corporate accountability pressures companies to be thoughtful and targeted with their approaches to community development and urban revitalization.Item Open Access Foundations as interest groups(Interest Groups and Advocacy, 2018-10-01) Goss, KA; Berry, JMFoundations are traditionally viewed as civic-minded but politically neutral organizations. Yet foundations, if they choose, can become involved in a wide variety of activities aimed at influencing public policy. Here we lay out the rationale for thinking about foundations as interest groups in the American political system. There are differences between conventional interest groups and foundations to be sure, but there are similarities as well. The choices foundations make as to whether to consciously try to influence government appears to be guided by organizational norms, regulatory requirements, and the beliefs of boards, donors, and internal leadership.Item Open Access From Strength to Strength: Reclaiming the Planks and Pillars of St. Ambrose of Milan’s Outlooks on the Virtue of Liberality in Philanthropic Leadership(2021) Moore, Regina HendersonSt. Ambrose of Milan led the church to seek ministry with the poor as a mark of virtuous Christian life. With an emphasis on the sacrament of holy baptism, Ambrose demonstrated how to reciprocate God’s love by clarifying the poor as treasures in God’s economy.
While there is great reason to laud its innovative economic development and valiant leadership, this research shows how the Roman Empire failed humanity with exploitive treatment of the poor. Likewise, this research exemplifies how Ambrose’s pedagogical leadership exposes the church’s failure to lead, paving a road of justice for the poor with equality, charity, and sacrificial giving.
This thesis argues Ambrose sought to contextually reframe the church’s understanding of incarnational leadership as a form of liberality. Ambrose’s On Joseph sermon revealed the threat of prodigality and greed when Joseph is faced with his own leadership power in the pit, in the prison, and in the palace. The thesis provides substantial evidence how God’s justice and Joseph’s leadership grounded in liberality create space for grace and empathy in family relations, human social consciousness, and community economic empowerment. This work argues that Ambrose’s exemplary contextual reframing of church resources and ministry practices proves as a model for philanthropic leadership against the unintended practice of toxic charity. This work also illustrates strategic practices to identify toxic charity and to embrace a virtuous life of giving. Furthermore, this research exhibits how the virtue of liberality plays an impactful role in philanthropic traditions as strong pillars in Christian ministry today.
Item Open Access From Strength to Strength: Reclaiming the Planks and Pillars of St. Ambrose of Milan’s Outlooks on the Virtue of Liberality in Philanthropic Leadership(2021) Moore, Regina HendersonSt. Ambrose of Milan led the church to seek ministry with the poor as a mark of virtuous Christian life. With an emphasis on the sacrament of holy baptism, Ambrose demonstrated how to reciprocate God’s love by clarifying the poor as treasures in God’s economy.
While there is great reason to laud its innovative economic development and valiant leadership, this research shows how the Roman Empire failed humanity with exploitive treatment of the poor. Likewise, this research exemplifies how Ambrose’s pedagogical leadership exposes the church’s failure to lead, paving a road of justice for the poor with equality, charity, and sacrificial giving.
This thesis argues Ambrose sought to contextually reframe the church’s understanding of incarnational leadership as a form of liberality. Ambrose’s On Joseph sermon revealed the threat of prodigality and greed when Joseph is faced with his own leadership power in the pit, in the prison, and in the palace. The thesis provides substantial evidence how God’s justice and Joseph’s leadership grounded in liberality create space for grace and empathy in family relations, human social consciousness, and community economic empowerment. This work argues that Ambrose’s exemplary contextual reframing of church resources and ministry practices proves as a model for philanthropic leadership against the unintended practice of toxic charity. This work also illustrates strategic practices to identify toxic charity and to embrace a virtuous life of giving. Furthermore, this research exhibits how the virtue of liberality plays an impactful role in philanthropic traditions as strong pillars in Christian ministry today.
Item Open Access Opening the black box of conservation philanthropy: A co-produced research agenda on private foundations in marine conservation(Marine Policy, 2021-10-01) Gruby, RL; Enrici, A; Betsill, M; Le Cornu, E; Basurto, XIn the ‘new Gilded Age’ of mega-wealth and big philanthropy, academics are not paying enough attention to private foundations. Mirroring upward trends in philanthropy broadly, marine conservation philanthropy has more than doubled in recent years, reaching virtually every globally salient marine conservation issue in all corners of the planet. This paper argues that marine conservation philanthropy warrants a dedicated research agenda because private foundations are prominent, unique, and under-studied actors seeking to shape the future of a “frontier” space. We present a co-produced social science research agenda on marine conservation philanthropy that reflects the priorities of 106 marine conservation donors, practitioners, and stakeholders who participated in a research co-design process in 2018. These “research co-designers” raised 137 unique research questions, which we grouped into five thematic research priorities: outcomes, governance roles, exits, internal foundation governance, and funding landscape. We identify issues of legitimacy, justice, and applied best practice as cross-cutting research priorities that came up throughout the five themes. Participants from the NGO, foundation, and government sectors identified questions within all five themes and three cross-cutting issues, underscoring shared interest in this work from diverse groups. The research we call for herein can inform the practice of conservation philanthropy at a time when foundations are increasingly reckoning with their role as institutions of power in society. This paper is broadly relevant for social and natural scientists, practitioners, donors, and policy-makers interested in better understanding private philanthropy in any environmental context globally.Item Open Access Philanthropy as Redistribution: A Geographic Analysis of Domestic Foundation Giving(2018-01-17) Englar, BrianPrivate foundations, and philanthropy more broadly, have long been critical players in the American civic sector. By seeking out and funding projects otherwise left behind by the public and private sectors, these grantmakers hold significant power to influence societal outcomes and sometimes even policy. As a result of the most recent election – with both the Clinton Foundation and Donald J. Trump Foundation receiving heated criticism – American foundations have begun to receive a much more critical spotlight. This newfound criticism of private philanthropy represents a prime opportunity to reexamine the private foundation’s effects on American communities. In this study, I employ an original dataset for a sample of fifty US counties as I examine two crucial aspects of foundation operations: the private foundation’s often-assumed redistributive function and the private foundation’s role in providing funds to rural nonprofits. First, I find little in the way of redistributive trends in grants made to my sample counties. My sample dataset lacks evidence for a significant relationship between community need and private foundation grant receipts in the direction redistributive theory would predict. Second, I find no significant difference between the population-adjusted size of the nonprofit sectors in my rural and urban counties and a difference in per-capita grant receipts between the two county types that approaches significance at the five percent level. Combined, these findings suggest private foundations are failing to target their grants to the communities most in need and to proportionately fund projects in rural communities.Item Open Access The Support for People Community Programs Evaluation Project(2014-04-25) Childers, DarrylPOLICY QUESTION How should Triangle Community Foundation (TCF) evaluate effectiveness of the strategy implemented through the Support for People portion of its discretionary grantmaking, and how should that evaluation be implemented? EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The Triangle Community Foundation (TCF) is located in Durham, NC and serves a four county area. TCF assets of more than $175 million are spread among over 750 funds. The Foundation awards grants to nonprofit organizations that total about $14 million a year. The amount that is available for the Foundation’s discretionary grantmaking, however, is less than $1 million a year. TCF has created a Fund for the Triangle, meant to attract donors to give more to the Foundation’s discretionary grantmaking efforts, with the rationale that these dollars will be used in a more strategic way. In order to support the claim of the discretionary grantmaking being a way to have a more strategic impact on the community, the Foundation needs a way to evaluate and continually improve the effectiveness of this new approach. Additionally, given that discretionary grantmaking still has a limited pool of resources to draw from, it is even more important that TCF’s staff is able to maximize the impact of their grants. Based on interviews with experts in the field and TCF stakeholders, including Foundation staff, board members, and grantees, the researcher was able to identify an evaluation framework [pgs. 19] that will support the Foundation’s strategic plan. These interviews also provided insight into the challenges and benefits of evaluation that the researcher should consider in designing the framework [pg. 11]. These efforts resulted in an evaluation vision and framework for the Foundation’s discretionary grantmaking activities. This vision [pg.18] and framework are aligned with the values of the TCF strategic plan, and encourage positive funder-grantee relationships, and continuous learning on the part of all stakeholders. The framework begins with the recommendation that TCF staff create a theory of change for the discretionary grantmaking, and present that theory of change to grantees in one-on-one meetings or to the entire cohort in a group presentation. If the Foundation chooses to present the theory of change in one-on-one meetings, TCF staff could use the opportunity to complete the next step in the framework, getting feedback from current grantees individually. The framework continues by following the timeline of the current grant cycle, providing the vital information (the evaluation question, data collection method, main activities, person(s) responsible, date to be completed, and frequency) needed to complete each step. Each step of the framework is described in more detail in the pages that follow the framework tables [pgs. 21]. This vision and framework represent a first step of evaluation planning for the new grantmaking approach. The dates in the timeline, for example, will need to be adjusted as more information is available. Other parts of the vision and framework will also need to be adjusted and improved upon as the Foundation moves forward and learns from its grantmaking activities.