Billionaire Robert F. Smith made a big splash when he told Morehouse grads he would pay off their student debt. Yet his generosity adheres to a long African American tradition.
As the public and the media respond to the passing of T. Boone Pickens, it is interesting to reflect on his broad and generous giving, and how this conduces to a healthy civil society.
A study conducted at the Crockett Lab at Yale University suggests that in our search for spouses and friends, we rather distrust utilitarians.
In “Money Well Spent: A Strategic Plan for Smart Philanthropy” authors Paul Brest and Hal Harvey offer a vision of strategic philanthropy that is more concerned with social change than selfless love.
Billionaire donor James Simons is an interesting example of active and engaged philanthropy: a mathematician actively involved in advancing research through his Institute.
People are growing wary of billionaire donors and their outsized influence in civil society and the nonprofit sector. The author looks at objections to, and defenses of, billionaire philanthropy, showing the complexity of giving.
Donors and colleges can learn a few things from this philanthropic kerfuffle.
People are giving the gift of time through “time-based currencies” that strengthen voluntarism and civil society.
Bond trader-turned-writer and photojournalist of the “down-and-out,” Arnade has insightful lessons to share with philanthropists who are serious about helping the poor.
Funders interested in supporting intellectual diversity should pay attention to the ideas of social psychologist Jonathan Haidt, and academic organizations doing their part to encourage alternative points of view.