June 17, 1999 | Read Time: 1 minute
Cultures of Caring: Philanthropy in Diverse American Communities explores the ways in which American Indians, Asian Americans, blacks, and Hispanics have historically viewed charitable giving. Each of four chapters comments on the cultural backgrounds and traditions of those ethnic groups, and how those factors have generally not found their way into “formal” giving mechanisms, such as endowments and community funds. The authors, all consultants who were commissioned by the Council on Foundations, generally take the view that the outlook for establishing new philanthropic ventures is optimistic. For example, Mindy L. Berry and Mary-Frances Winters, the respective authors of the chapters on American Indians and blacks, both say that those groups are benefiting from greater sources of wealth — citing revenue from gaming run by Indian tribes and an increase in the number of blacks joining the upper classes. Henry A. J. Ramos and Jessica Chao note in their respective chapters that Hispanics and Asian Americans view giving as a private, family-oriented tradition, but generations reared in the United States seem likely to establish charities to benefit more people. A final chapter notes the role that community foundations can play in attracting endowments from minority benefactors. The report was financed by the Council on Foundations, the Ford Foundation, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. Publisher: Council on Foundations, 1828 L Street, N.W., Suite 300, Washington 20036; (202) 467-0382; orted@cof.org; 303 pages. The report is available on line and can be downloaded from http://www.cof.org.
