The urge to provide disaster aid is borne out of the best characteristics of humanity. But it’s important to consider when to donate to disaster survivors, along with what and to whom to give.
The US$2 billion that the Amazon founder and his wife are donating to help the homeless and educate young kids may appear selfless. But this money may also soften calls to raise taxes on the rich.
After scandals or sea changes make the association with certain names too awkward, universities, museums and other nonprofits usually distance themselves. But not always.
When conflicts over whether nonprofits have kept their word about how they said they’d use big gifts crop up, donors rarely get everything they demand as reimbursement.
When public universities and their foundations take large sums of money from political and strategic philanthropists, they can’t safeguard academic freedom unless there’s some transparency.
Investor Bill Miller’s $75 million gift to the Johns Hopkins philosophy department clashes with conventional wisdom regarding the value studying the humanities today.
Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies and Donald A. Campbell Chair in Fundraising Leadership, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University
Professor of Economics and Philanthropic Studies; Associate Dean for Research and International Programs, Lilly Family School of Philanthropy, Indiana University