About Philanthropy
The following links provide a selected guide to important books, articles and commentaries on Canadian and US philanthropy. Many of these resources are available in PDF format and can be printed directly from the web sites.
Canadian Resources
• Research Bulletin, Trends in Individual Donations 1984-2010 by Imagine Canada.
• The Art of Giving: Where the Soul Meets a Business Plan, 2010, by Charles Bronfman and Jeffrey Solomon. A unique guide to finding purpose, meaning and results in the complex world of charitable giving.
• Foundations Funding Research: What Defines Success?, November 2005, by Hilary Pearson for Policy Options. An article on Canadian foundations and the funding of academic research.
• Canadian Philanthropy in Education: From Bricks to Brain Cells, September 2003, by Hilary Pearson for Policy Options. An article on Canadian foundations’ funding of higher education.
• On Not Letting a Crisis Go to Waste: An Innovation Agenda for Canada’s Community Sector, 2010, by Tim Brodhead. Explores some of the implications of the economic downturn for Canada’s community sector and argues that new models and approaches are urgently required to ensure the community sector’s health and to maintain Canadians’ well-being.
• Philanthropy: A Path Forward in a Challenging Time, November 2008, by Belinda Stronach, Economic Club of Canada
• Spirited Commitment, The Samuel and Saidye Bronfman Family Foundation, 2010, by Roderick MacLeod and Eric John Abrahamson. The story and impact of this leading Canadian family and how they worked to provide the most benefit for the largest number of deserving people and causes.
• J.W. McConnell, Financier, Philanthropist, Patriot, 2008, by William Fong. A biography of a visionary Canadian philanthropist, who in 1937, established the first major foundation in Canada.
US Resources
• Philanthropic Leadership: Exploring Opportunities in Uncertain Times, A Tenth Anniversary Forum Summary, 2010, The Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy, University of Southern California, School of Planning, Public Policy and Development. This summary reflects the conversations from a forum held in early 2010 to discuss strategies for strengthening philanthropy and the nonprofit sector. The forum sessions focused on how philanthropy contributes to public problem solving; how to support and advance the field; and how to create a new generation of philanthropists.
• The Foundation Centre’s Symposium on the Future of Philanthropy, 2006. The U.S. Foundation Centre celebrated its 50th anniversary by holding a symposium on the future of philanthropy featuring words of wisdom from five long-time philanthropic leaders.
• Collective Impact, Winter 2011, by Mark Kramer, John Kania in Stanford Social Innovation Review. Looks at how substantially greater progress could be made in alleviating many of our most serious and complex social problems if nonprofits, governments, businesses, and the public were brought together around a common agenda to create collective impact.
• Promoting Philanthropy: Global Challenges and Approaches, 2004, International Network on Strategic Philanthropy. Discusses the evolution of philanthropy around the world.
• What’s Next for Philanthropy: Acting Bigger and Adapting Better in a Networked World, 2010, by Katherine Fulton, Gabriel Kasper and Barbara Kibbe, Monitor Institute. In this report, Katherine Fulton, Gabriel Kasper and Barbara Kibbe discuss the future of philanthropic innovation, noting that the most successful funders in the future will do more than operate as effective, independent institutions.
• Disrupting Philanthropy: Technology and the Future of the Social Sector, 2010, by Lucy Bernholz with Edward Skloot and Barry Varela. Examines the immediate and longer-term implications of networked digital technologies for philanthropy.
• Looking out for the Future, 2005, Katherine Fulton & Andrew Blau for the Monitor Group. A comprehensive and articulate look at how philanthropy is evolving now and in the next generation. It includes data about the “new ecology” of philanthropy, areas of philanthropic experimentation, and nine thought-provoking scenarios of the future.
• Cultivating Change in Philanthropy, 2005, Andrew Blau, Monitor Group. Discusses the promising new connections and networks that are forming in philanthropy (with a U.S. focus).
• Why Donors Are Not Investors, 2005, Andrew Blau, Monitor Group. Comments on donor motivators and the differences between philanthropic and commercial markets.
Links
- The Philanthropist/Le Philanthrope, a free online journal that publishes many useful articles on philanthropy and the voluntary sector in Canada.
- Philanthropy 2173: Provocations on the Future of Philanthropy, a blog by Lucy Bernholz, discusses the truth, merits and limitations of long-term philanthropy.
- The Aspen Philanthropy Letter, a bi-monthly newsletter highlighting emerging issues in U.S. and global philanthropy.
- Tactical Philanthropy, a site of Tactical Philanthropy Advisors, serving high net worth donors. The site features a blog as an open space for discussion of philanthropy and a chronicle of The Second Great Wave of Philanthropy.
- Philanthropy Central, a site maintained by the Center for Strategic Philanthropy and Civil Society at Duke University.
