September 16, 2004 | Read Time: 2 minutes
Just Money: A Critique of Contemporary American Philanthropy
edited by H. Peter Karoff
In this collection of essays, 11 prominent former grant makers reflect on their experiences during both the 1990s, when the surging stock market and an influx of new donors made grant-making opportunities seem endless, and the leaner years that followed. The authors offer insights into the art of giving and the challenges facing philanthropy today, as well as recommendations for the future. The book aims to provide a “collective knowledge transfer to anyone and everyone who cares about the promotion and practice of philanthropy,” writes Mr. Karoff, founder of The Philanthropic Initiative, a nonprofit group that helps donors figure out how best to give away money.
Several of the essays encourage donors to take a riskier or more global approach to grant making. In the book’s first essay, Mr. Karoff challenges grant makers to “look beyond their own bunkers and think more broadly about systemic impact,” a call echoed by Scott McVay, former executive director of the Geraldine R. Dodge Foundation, in Morristown, N.J.
Mr. McVay cautions that philanthropists too often take the road of less resistance in developing their grant-making agendas, while Peter Goldmark, former head of the Rockefeller Foundation, in New York, argues that U.S. foundations have a moral responsibility to tackle the global threats of nuclear proliferation and environmental degradation.
Other grant makers focus on problems and trends that have emerged as the pool of private capital has expanded. Joel L. Fleishman, former president of the Atlantic Philanthropic Service Company, in New York, considers the issues of accountability and transparency, while Bruce Sievers, former executive director of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, in San Francisco, discusses the limit of copying business approaches in a field in which “mission” is central.
Publisher: The Philanthropic Initiative Editions, c/o PSSC, 46 Development Road, Fitchburg, Mass. 01420; (978) 342-9676; fax (978) 348-1233; orders@pssc.com; http://www.tpi.org; 247 pages; $35 cloth, $20 paper; I.S.B.N. 0-9753311-0-8.
