logo
    • Magazine
    • Membership
    • Donate
  • Racial Justice
  • Economic Justice
  • Climate Justice
  • Health Justice
  • Leadership
  • CONTENT TYPES
  • Subscribe
  • Webinars
    • Free Webinars
    • Premium On-Demand Webinars
  • Membership
  • Submissions

Philanthropy’s Positive Impact on Community

Vikki N. Spruill and Kevin K. Murphy
October 15, 2012
Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print

The article in question:

Philanthropy’s War on Community, William SchambraWriting in 1952, Raymond Fosdick, long-time president of the Rockefeller Foundation, provided this description of its first board meeting in 1913:

The question which faced the trustees as they sat down to their first meeting was how the broad objective of their charter was to be implemented.  What constitutes the “well-being of mankind throughout the world?”  A large number of applications had already been received, and it is significant that they were all declined, including one from the YMCA for the rehabilitation of buildings located in Dayton, Hamilton, and Marietta, which had been damaged in the recent floods along the Ohio River Valley.

Mr. Gates phrased the objection:  “The Rockefeller Foundation should in general confine itself to projects of an important character, too large to be undertaken, or otherwise unlikely to be undertaken, by other agencies.”  This was in line with the emphasis which Mr. Rockefeller himself, six years earlier, had placed on what he called “finalities.”  “The best philanthropy,” he had said, “involves a search for cause, an attempt to cure evils at their source.”

Here, at the inaugural gathering of what was at the time the world’s largest foundation, was enunciated the doctrine that has governed mainstream American philanthropy for much of its existence….

Read the full article

The Council on Foundations’ response:

William Schambra’s speech, as published in Nonprofit Quarterly on September 18, grossly mischaracterizes the role of philanthropy and the impact it generates in countless communities around the globe. Schambra singles out a shameful piece of global scientific history—eugenics—to assert that philanthropy pays little if any attention to the voices and needs of communities. In doing so, he unnecessarily undermines the strategic insight, commitment, passion, and impact that exemplify the growth and evolution of organized philanthropy during the past 100 years.

Sign up for our free newsletter

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Schambra’s speech ignores the influence and change generated by the thousands of foundations, large and small, that have been positively engaged with communities for nearly a century. He uses an outdated and isolated example to assert that philanthropy continues to ignore the true needs of communities, believing instead that its resources, research, and reputation will always lead to the best solution. He disregards our country’s more than 700 community foundations, whose primary purpose is to improve the quality of life of their local citizens.

Take the Cleveland Foundation—the world’s first community foundation and one of the largest—which has been improving the lives of Greater Clevelanders since 1914. Its Evergreen Cooperative Initiative (ECI) is working to create living wage jobs in six low income neighborhoods. With substantial support from the federal government and major institutions in Cleveland, the ECI has successfully started two cooperative businesses and is about to launch a third. Virtually every local organization has benefited from the Cleveland Foundation’s largesse, including those serving the region’s most vulnerable populations. Among these grantees are the Cleveland Foodbank, the Free Clinic of Greater Cleveland, the YMCA of Greater Cleveland, the Boys and Girls Club of Cleveland, the Greater Cleveland chapter of the American Red Cross, the area’s community development corporations, and its many hospitals. More recently, the foundation catalyzed the State of Ohio’s transformative public school reform movement.

Cleveland is just one—out of thousands—of foundations supporting community. The examples are too numerous to list, but all consistently and genuinely work to strengthen community. Following are just a few:

  • The Peter Kiewit Foundation makes grants to neighborhood associations on a grassroots level in Omaha, Neb., in order to promote safety, urban rejuvenation, citizen organization, and beautification. Further, these grants are usually made only after in-depth conversations with residents to determine their needs. They also provide new playgrounds throughout the rural regions of the state: 253 playgrounds at a cost of $1.85 million since 2000.
  • Recognizing that families are the heart of communities, The Duke Endowment is heavily involved in Nurse Family Partnership to help first-time low income mothers deliver full-term babies at healthy birth weights. For the past 30 years, this evidence-based program has helped improve prenatal care, reduce the rate of multiple pregnancies, improve school readiness among children, improve maternal employment, and reduce the incidence of child abuse. This national program is making a difference in communities across the country and is being supported wholeheartedly by private philanthropy.
  • The Jacobs Family Foundation founded the Jacobs Center for Neighborhood Innovation (JCNI) out of belief that the creativity and innovation of residents can help them change their own neighborhoods. JCNI works in partnership with the Jacobs Family Foundation and residents of San Diego’s Diamond Neighborhoods to build a stronger community through entrepreneurial projects, hands-on learning relationships, and the creative investment of resources.
  • Kaiser Permanente invests its intellectual, technical, financial, and human assets to create health access and healthy environments, and to broadly share knowledge about health. Its philanthropic initiatives, ranging from community-based organizations to national campaigns like HBO’s The Weight of the Nation and EveryBody Walk!, model how Kaiser Permanente works through an expanding network of public and private partnerships. These unique investments contribute to Kaiser Permanente’s comprehensive approach to improving the health of communities across the country.

As one reads Schambra’s piece, it quickly becomes clear that he doesn’t understand philanthropy’s value as part of a global ecosystem for greater good or the role of communities that engage with philanthropy’s leaders to benefit citizens. And, unfortunately, he is not alone.

Ensuring that everyone understands philanthropy’s positive impact on society is critical to preserving and enhancing the sector’s ability to continue to effect positive change. We have an opportunity to increase the understanding of what philanthropy is and does. Our members are moving forward and making the world a better place—each and every day. Looking back, as Schambra has done in such a negative way, is hardly an accurate commentary on the productive and positive partnerships philanthropy has formed with American communities and its potential for our shared future.

 

 

Share
Tweet
Share
Email
Print
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
Vikki N. Spruill

Vikki N. Spruill is president and CEO of the Council on Foundations.

Kevin K. Murphy

Kevin K. Murphy is president of the Berks County (Pennsylvania) Community Foundation and chair of the Council on Foundations Board of Directors.

More about: FoundationsGivingPhilanthropy

Become a member

Support independent journalism and knowledge creation for civil society. Become a member of Nonprofit Quarterly.

Members receive unlimited access to our archived and upcoming digital content. NPQ is the leading journal in the nonprofit sector written by social change experts. Gain access to our exclusive library of online courses led by thought leaders and educators providing contextualized information to help nonprofit practitioners make sense of changing conditions and improve infra-structure in their organizations.

Join Today
logo logo logo logo logo
See comments

You might also like
The Emergence of Black Funds
Cyndi Suarez
What We Lose When We Win: Exhaustion and the Fight Against Racist Repression
Camille Bennett
This Juneteenth, a Campaign to Fund Black Migrant Power
Kitana Ananda
Freeing Ourselves from Colonial, White Savior Models of Philanthropy
Nicolette Naylor and Nina Blackwell
What Is the Nonprofit Sector of a Future, Equitable World?
Devon Kearney
New Data Tells Us Where Donor-Advised Fund Dollars Go—And Don’t Go
Chuck Collins and Helen Flannery

NPQ_Summer_2022

Upcoming Webinars

July 14th, 2 pm ET

Combating Disinformation and Misinformation in 21st-Century Social Movements

Register Now
You might also like
The Emergence of Black Funds
Cyndi Suarez
What We Lose When We Win: Exhaustion and the Fight Against...
Camille Bennett
This Juneteenth, a Campaign to Fund Black Migrant Power
Kitana Ananda

Like what you see?

Subscribe to the NPQ newsletter to have our top stories delivered directly to your inbox.

See our newsletters

By signing up, you agree to our privacy policy and terms of use, and to receive messages from NPQ and our partners.

Independent & in your mailbox.

Subscribe today and get a full year of NPQ for just $59.

subscribe
  • About
  • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Copyright
  • Careers

We are using cookies to give you the best experience on our website.

 

Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Powered by  GDPR Cookie Compliance
Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies so that we can provide you with the best user experience possible. Cookie information is stored in your browser and performs functions such as recognising you when you return to our website and helping our team to understand which sections of the website you find most interesting and useful.

Strictly Necessary Cookies

Strictly Necessary Cookie should be enabled at all times so that we can save your preferences for cookie settings.

If you disable this cookie, we will not be able to save your preferences. This means that every time you visit this website you will need to enable or disable cookies again.