Tag: philanthropy
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Why study philanthropy?
I’ve just graduated with an MA in Philanthropic Studies at the University of Kent, the UK’s first and only master’s course in this subject. Studying a whole degree in philanthropy sounds a bit niche to most people. (What even is philanthropy, some people wonder. One of our lecturers says she’s been asked more than once,…
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Who decides who gets the money?
Guerrilla Foundation is the rebellious teenager of European philanthropy. Many foundations avoid uncomfortable questions around power; Guerrilla Foundation, which backs activists and grassroots movements around Europe, is out to “radically and deliberately redistribute wealth” – and to have some fun with it along the way. Until 2022, however, its grantmaking process wasn’t all that unusual. A…
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What does generosity actually look like?
Brits are becoming less generous – at least according to the World Giving Index, described as the “world’s leading study on global generosity”. The UK has typically ranked in the top 10, but in the latest index it’s in 22nd place, its (joint) lowest spot yet. This is not a new worry. In 2021, analysts…
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Gifts: delight, obligation, poison?
Gifts are heart-warming. It feels good to be able to give something of value to someone we care about, and it feels good to receive something unexpected that signals someone has thought of us. Or… maybe not. It can also feel stressful when you’re under pressure to find the right gift. It’s awkward when you’ve…
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Chess, 3D printers -or doing nothing: public libraries as “shared living rooms”
“Hanging out at Oodi without a reason is welcomed and even recommended.” So says the brochure for Helsinki’s Central Library, named Oodi (meaning ‘ode’) – a vast ship-like, spruce-clad building that opened five years ago. It describes itself as “an open space for culture and creation”, and “everyone’s shared living room”. I don’t think that’s…
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Donations for disruption
Want to do your bit for the climate? Donating to activists may offer more bang for your buck than buying carbon offsets. That’s the conclusion of research group Giving Green: even their conservative estimates suggest advocacy organisations are “much more cost-effective than even best offsets”, they say.
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Everyone’s a philanthropist… once we get around to it
A family friend told me recently that he and his wife, both writers, wanted to get into philanthropy. It’s not something I often hear, outside my professional bubble. Giving makes you feel good, so why don’t more people do it regularly? Partly, I think, because there’s an assumption that philanthropy is only for the very…
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