Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace Blog

We are thrilled to share with you news about an ongoing open-ended study on the role of philanthropy in society initiated in 2016 by Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace. The aim of the study is to gain an understanding of the role that philanthropy is playing in society in various countries across the world. What’s happening now and what potential role could it play in the future?

What is particularly lacking is any clear picture of the scale and role of philanthropy in countries where philanthropy is culturally rooted but not well documented (at least in English) and often less institutionalised, mainly in emerging market countries. This is where our study can start to fill a gap.

As a result of this work we hope to be able to understand the current landscape of philanthropy (trends, strengths and weaknesses, what inhibits or supports it, what makes it more or less effective in terms of furthering progressive social change causes …) in a range of countries and draw out strategies that work if philanthropy is to be an effective agent of social transformation in today’s world.

The study is using a ‘create and adjust’, open-ended methodology to allow for surprises and the fact that we don’t know everything. There are a number of steps being followed to ensure that the study is building on existing research and knowledge in the field and that it is inclusive and representative of the diversity in the field. Click here to find out more.

Findings

We will be sharing the findings of the study as we go on through blogs and sessions at sector events to invite input from the field and ensure that the study evolves in a way that is relevant to the needs of the field. The development of more formal reports will, therefore, be an iterative process. The study will always remain open to further input. The followings links are a chronological list of the published findings so far:

• Giving in Russia: it’s not only about the big money by Caroline Hartnell, 18 February 2017
• Giving in Brazil: a philanthropy boom is not yet benefiting NGOs by Andrew Milner, 19 February 2017
• The rise of middle-class giving in India by Caroline Hartnell, 21 February 2017
• Giving in the Arab region: from ‘giving for God’ to ‘giving for good’ by Caroline Hartnell, 21 February 2017
• The Role of Philanthropy in Society: What’s There and What’s Next? by Chandrika Sahai, 27 March 2017 (This blog encapsulates a discussion on the preliminary findings of the study at the WINGS Forum in Mexico City in February 2017)
• Interview with GiveIndia founder Venkat Krishnan by Caroline Hartnell, 26 April 2017

Click here to learn more about this work and to find out how you can participate.

We would love to hear from you. Email us your thoughts and feedback at info@psjp.org