Europe — 75 scientists endorse call for philanthropic foundation

Nature ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 582 (7813) ◽  
pp. 488-488
Author(s):  
Francis-André Wollman
Keyword(s):  
Philanthropic Foundation

scholarly journals Founders, Families, and Futures: Perspectives on the Accountability of Australian Private Ancillary Funds

2017 ◽  
Vol 46 (4) ◽  
pp. 747-771 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexandra Williamson ◽  
Belinda Luke ◽  
Diana Leat ◽  
Craig Furneaux
Keyword(s):  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
Public Reporting ◽  
Public Disclosure ◽  
Strong Growth ◽  
The Past ◽  
Public Purpose ◽  
Internal Reasons ◽  
Nonprofit Accountability ◽  
Depth Interviews ◽  
Philanthropic Foundation

This research explores perspectives on the accountability of Private Ancillary Funds (PAFs), a type of Australian endowed philanthropic foundation. PAFs are relatively new giving structures that have experienced strong growth over the past 15 years. With limited regulatory obligations and exemptions available from public reporting, PAFs have discretion in various forms of public accountability. Using Ebrahim’s conceptual framework of nonprofit accountability, this study explores PAF accountability in terms of to whom, for what, how, and why, examining tensions between PAFs’ private form and public purpose. Through in-depth interviews with managers and trustees of 10 PAFs, findings reveal that PAFs engage in accountability for internal reasons relating to their mission and purpose, and their desire to lead others in philanthropy. PAFs are influenced by philanthropic peers, in particular other PAFs; but their accountability does not necessarily include public disclosure or transparency. Four variations to Ebrahim’s accountability framework are proposed.

scholarly journals Philanthropic Foundation Strategies to Advance Systems Reform: Perceptions from Frontline Change Implementers

2018 ◽  
Vol 9 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara Kolar Bryan ◽  
Kimberley R. Isett
Keyword(s):  
Policy Change ◽  
State Policy ◽  
Technical Assistance ◽  
Systems Change ◽  
Skill Sets ◽  
Policy Actors ◽  
Operational Change ◽  
Building Activities ◽  
Traditional Approaches ◽  
Philanthropic Foundation

AbstractThis article examines the strategies and processes pursued by one foundation aimed at accelerating systems change reform efforts in four states. The findings suggest four strategies the Foundation employed in reform efforts: partnering with state policy actors to accelerate systems change efforts, providing technical assistance to support implementation, leveraging the reputation of the Foundation toward systems change goals, and facilitating the dissemination of innovation to states and localities. This study contributes to the literature by documenting the combination of strategies the Foundation applied in their effort to advance systems change, and by exploring the perspective of system professionals on what Foundation activities were viewed as more or less successful. Because systems change entails both policy and operational change, this study suggests foundation strategies need to harness both traditional approaches, such as targeting policy change, as well as approaches less traditionally used that may require new skill sets for foundations, including field building activities that enable system professionals to implement the change effectively.

scholarly journals Philanthropic Foundation Responses to COVID-19

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (6) ◽  
pp. 1129-1141
Author(s):  
Emily Finchum-Mason ◽  
Kelly Husted ◽  
David Suárez
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Sector ◽  
Nationwide Survey ◽  
Descriptive Study ◽  
The United States ◽  
Philanthropic Foundations ◽  
The Public ◽  
Sharp Focus ◽  
The Arts ◽  
Dramatic Growth ◽  
Philanthropic Foundation

Philanthropic foundations are critical actors in the nonprofit sector—funding the programs of social and human service charities, fostering innovation, and serving as patrons of the arts. However, the dramatic growth of foundations and their endowments in recent decades has intensified charges of plutocracy—the claim that foundations are more interested in protecting their power and privilege than in contributing to the public good. The COVID-19 crisis has brought this critique into sharp focus, leading to the question, “How are large foundations acting to stem COVID-19’s impact and help in the process of recovery?” Our descriptive study leverages data from a nationwide survey of the 500 largest philanthropic foundations (by total assets) in the United States to characterize foundations’ (a) changes to internal strategy or giving, (b) shifts in relationships with grantee organizations, (c) prioritization of communities most affected by the COVID-19 crisis, and (d) collaboration across organizations and sectors.

The American Private Philanthropic Foundation and the public sphere 1890?1930

Minerva ◽  
1983 ◽  
Vol 19 (2) ◽  
pp. 236-270 ◽  
Author(s):  
Barry D. Karl ◽  
Stanley N. Katz
Keyword(s):  
Public Sphere ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
Philanthropic Foundation

The influence of board directors' institutional and business relationships on philanthropic foundation performance

2020 ◽  
Vol 21 (6) ◽  
pp. 1209-1228
Author(s):  
Yuting Zhang ◽  
Jiebing Wu ◽  
Tachia Chin ◽  
Xiaofen Yu ◽  
Ning Cai
Keyword(s):  
Organizational Performance ◽  
Intellectual Capital ◽  
Resource Dependence ◽  
Resource Dependence Theory ◽  
Public Welfare ◽  
Business Relationships ◽  
Philanthropic Foundations ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Board Directors ◽  
Philanthropic Foundation

PurposeThe effect of board intellectual capital on non-profit organizational performance in non-western, less developed economies has been an important yet under-researched area. Given that the institutional and business relationships of a board account for the majority of board intellectual capital, the purpose of this paper is to fill the previously mentioned research gap by addressing how the interactions of the two relationships of board directors influence Chinese philanthropic foundation performance.Design/methodology/approachFollowing Creswell's (2014) explanatory sequential mixed-methodology, a qualitative study (Study 1) was first conducted to pre-test the assumptions, and then a quantitative study (Study 2) was carried out based on a secondary database of 1,405 Chinese philanthropic foundations to further examine the hypotheses. Several regression models were built for analyzing the results.FindingsStudy 1 confirmed that Chinese philanthropic foundations gained greater revenues and hosted more public welfare activities by leveraging the reinforcing or complementary effects of board directors' intellectual capital to improve organizational performance. Study 2 further examined the hypotheses that the interactions of intellectual capital increased the total revenue and public welfare expenditure of the foundations; however, significant positive relationships were only identified in foundations at the local level, and no significant associations were found in those at the national level.Practical implicationsThe research indicates that the intellectual capital of board directors may influence the performance of their philanthropic foundations. Thus, Chinese philanthropic foundations should be more aware of the importance of this influence when determining which candidates will join the board.Originality/valueThe study makes significant contributions to the existing knowledge of the development of non-governmental organizations; it incorporates the resource dependence theory and agency theory into understanding how the intricate interactions between the institutional and business relationships of board directors affect foundation performance and how the jurisdiction affiliations act as a boundary condition for such relationships in a non-western setting such as China.

Opportunity in an Age of Folly

2020 ◽  
pp. 119-148
Author(s):  
Henk Looijesteijn
Keyword(s):  
French Revolution ◽  
First Century ◽  
Dutch Republic ◽  
Insurance Company ◽  
The Third ◽  
Financial Infrastructure ◽  
History Of ◽  
Bona Fide ◽  
Financial Economy ◽  
Philanthropic Foundation

1720 is remembered in European history as the year of folly, when the financial markets ballooned and then collapsed in the capitals of England and France. The financial crisis was of great import to the subsequent history of both countries: England emerged from the crisis on the way to becoming an international financial powerhouse, whereas France failed to modernize its financial infrastructure, which collapsed during the French Revolution. Much less is known, however, outside the Netherlands about the third economy involved in the Bubble, namely, the proto-capitalist economy of the Dutch Republic. This chapter makes the case that the Dutch financial economy, which in 1720 was more advanced than that of its neighbours, bore the brunt of the crisis much better than they. The Bubble in the Dutch Republic channelled some of the country’s previously underused capital reserves back into the economy and allowed for the rise of a number of municipal Bubble companies, chiefly devoted to shipping and insurance. Several of these survived the Bubble and developed into bona fide businesses with surprising longevity. The foremost example of this is the Rotterdam insurance company which lasted until the twenty-first century and continues to exist as a philanthropic foundation.

scholarly journals Immigrant-Serving Nonprofits and Philanthropic Foundations

2013 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 85-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Heath Brown
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Immigration Policy ◽  
Illegal Immigration ◽  
External Funding ◽  
Philanthropic Foundations ◽  
Complex Relationships ◽  
Philanthropic Foundation ◽  
Voting Laws

AbstractImmigrant-serving nonprofit organizations registered and mobilized thousands of new voters in 2012. These efforts were abetted by philanthropic foundation which, since the early 2000s, have prioritized immigration policy and immigrant issues. Other foundations, hostile to illegal immigration, have funded another set of nonprofits that worked to change immigration policy and voting laws. The article explains these complex relationships between foundations and nonprofits in the context of immigration. The conclusions highlight the tension faced by immigrant-serving nonprofits to maintain their independence and benefit from external funding.

scholarly journals The community philanthropic foundation: A new form of independent public service provider for China?

2018 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
pp. 210-235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shihong Weng ◽  
Tom Christensen
Keyword(s):  
Nonprofit Organizations ◽  
Public Service ◽  
Service Provision ◽  
Service Providers ◽  
Public Governance ◽  
Public Issues ◽  
For Profit ◽  
Governance Systems ◽  
New Type ◽  
Philanthropic Foundation

There have been growing calls for new theories understand public governance with respect to service provision collaboration involving nonprofit and for-profit actors. In this article, we develop a framework for analyzing whether and how independent public service providers change cross-sector collaboration. We examine new forms of collaboration in nonprofit organizations in China. Based on a discussion of the effectiveness of public service delivery by community philanthropic foundations in three Chinese cities, our analysis reveals that the new type of collaboration entities are attempting to meet unfulfilled public needs. Outside the government’s hierarchical structure, nonprofit and for-profit actors jointly form independent organizations to address public issues. However, because public governance systems are more centralized in China than in many Western countries, the country faces major challenges in the production and delivery of public goods and in implementing service reforms. This article extends the existing research discourse on public governance and cross-sector collaboration.

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