tag:theconversation.com,2011:/au/topics/philanthropy-1068/articlesPhilanthropy – The Conversation2024-03-18T17:38:17Ztag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2253442024-03-18T17:38:17Z2024-03-18T17:38:17ZDonor-advised funds: US regulators are scrambling to catch up with the boom in these charitable giving accounts<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582340/original/file-20240316-18-84zsoq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C817%2C4767%2C3172&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">DAFs more or less operate as a mini foundation.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/golden-piggy-bank-and-golden-coins-3d-render-royalty-free-image/1484749250?adppopup=true">Wong Yu Liang/Moment via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>A <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/a-short-history-of-the-fast-and-furious-rise-of-dafs">revolution in charitable giving</a> is underway due to the growth of donor-advised funds in the United States.</p>
<p>Known widely as DAFs, these <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/what-is-a-donor-advised-fund/">financial accounts are designated for charitable giving</a>. Donors can get an immediate tax deduction by putting money or other assets into the accounts, and advise the accounts’ managers to give away the money at a later date.</p>
<p>After years of concerns about how quickly the money reserved for charity gets distributed and whether donor-advised funds need to operate more transparently, <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/14/2023-24982/taxes-on-taxable-distributions-from-donor-advised-funds-under-section-4966">proposed new federal regulations</a> are now pending. Though the regulations would not create new requirements for how rapidly these funds distribute money, they do provide some new guidelines for what <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/what-is-a-donor-advised-fund/grantmaking-rules/">uses for DAFs are allowed</a> by law.</p>
<p>As <a href="https://fisher.osu.edu/people/mittendorf.3">an accounting researcher</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/donor-advised-funds-charities-with-benefits-74516">who studies DAFs</a>, I believe these new changes may mark the start of what could become a series of reforms.</p>
<h2>Nearly $230 billion</h2>
<p>DAFs have been <a href="https://cof.org/sites/default/files/documents/files/DAF-timeline.pdf">around since the 1930s</a> but got off to a slow start. After decades of being concentrated in community foundations, DAFs became more widely accessible with the introduction of <a href="https://www.investmentnews.com/industry-news/news/fidelity-charitable-reveals-record-year-in-philanthropic-giving-249461">Fidelity Charitable</a> – a DAF-sponsoring organization tied to Fidelity Investments – in 1991.</p>
<p>Many more DAF sponsors <a href="https://www.thinkadvisor.com/2023/07/20/5b-in-giving-shows-rapid-rise-of-donor-advised-funds-schwab-charitable/">connected to investment companies</a> have since emerged. </p>
<p>Because donors <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/articles/managing-wealth/080216/donoradvised-funds-benefits-and-drawbacks.asp">get tax breaks when they put money in them</a> and can then wait a long time before distributing it to nonprofits, DAFs essentially operate as <a href="https://www.taxpolicycenter.org/taxvox/should-congress-curb-donor-advised-funds">streamlined foundations</a>.</p>
<p>DAFs are not, however, subject to the same restrictions.</p>
<p>Foundations have to disclose their donors to the public and also have to distribute minimum amounts for charitable use each year. <a href="https://www.givedirectly.org/donor-advised-funds/">DAFs face</a> <a href="https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/behind-the-debate-examining-the-measures-of-daf-payout/">neither requirement</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/daf-grants-to-charities-totaled-52-billion-in-2022-report-finds">DAFs held nearly US$230 billion in assets by the end of 2022</a> and distributed some $52 billion to charities that year. Those are significant sums as giving of all kinds <a href="https://theconversation.com/us-charitable-donations-fell-to-499-billion-in-2022-as-stocks-slumped-and-inflation-surged-207688">totaled about $500 billion that year</a>.</p>
<p>As of 2023 there were about <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/reports/daf-report/">2 million donor-advised funds</a>, according to the National Philanthropic Trust.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Set of diverse hands and payment methods. Arms with cash, credit cards, banknotes, wallet, putting coins into piggy bank. Hand drawn vector illustration isolated on light background, flat cartoon style." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=375&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/582341/original/file-20240316-22-v60hk0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=471&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">There are few DAF regulations in place, but that could soon change.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/set-of-diverse-hands-and-payment-methods-royalty-free-illustration/1491990624?adppopup=true">Olena Zagoruyko/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>40% don’t distribute a dime</h2>
<p>Critics of DAFs say that the government should require them to <a href="https://www.vox.com/recode/2019/7/25/8891899/john-arnold-billionaire-criticism-donor-advised-funds-silicon-valley-philanthropic-loophole">regularly disburse at least some of their charitable funds</a>.</p>
<p>Foundations have faced that kind of obligation for more than five decades. They must pay out at least <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/donor-advised-funds/daf-vs-foundation/">5% of their assets</a> each year – although some of that money can be used to pay for their operations or even be set aside in a donor-advised fund.</p>
<p>Supporters of DAFs counter that the payout rate for those accounts is already much higher than the foundation floor of 5%. It <a href="https://www.givechariot.com/post/breaking-down-the-donor-advised-fund-market-in-2022">hovers around 20%</a>.</p>
<p>However, that statistic applies to all the money held in DAFs, not what happens with each one of them. <a href="https://johnsoncenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/DAFRC_Executive_Summary_Key_Findings.pdf">And almost 40% of them don’t distribute any money at all</a> in a given year. </p>
<h2>Calling for change</h2>
<p>Other changes have been proposed over the years, including:</p>
<ul>
<li><p><a href="https://inequality.org/great-divide/private-foundations-dafs-2021/">Not letting foundations count money they put in a DAF</a> toward their annual 5% payout requirement.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/an-unlikely-event-the-israel-hamas-war-could-finally-spark-daf-reform">Introducing new disclosure requirements</a> because currently the public, the charity that gets money from a DAF and even the IRS have <a href="https://apnews.com/article/silent-donor-tim-sanders-daf-privacy-9e499583181ed0c8b7d6685fbea31ecb">no way of knowing</a> for sure who originally provided those funds.</p></li>
<li><p><a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/donor-advised-funds-let-wall-street-steer-charitable-donations/">Reining in</a> the <a href="https://www.propublica.org/article/the-wall-street-takeover-of-charity">commercial investment companies</a> that have been at the center of much of the growth in DAFs, by limiting the fees they can earn or <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_problem_with_donor_advised_fundsand_a_solution">restricting the ties</a> between them and their affiliated charities.</p></li>
</ul>
<h2>IRS regulations</h2>
<p>The IRS released <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2023/11/14/2023-24982/taxes-on-taxable-distributions-from-donor-advised-funds-under-section-4966">proposed new DAF regulations</a> at the end of 2023, and gave the <a href="https://www.regulations.gov/document/IRS-2023-0053-0001/comment">public an opportunity comment</a> on them.</p>
<p>The <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/proposed-irs-regulations-of-donor-advised-funds-fall-short-critics-say">proposed regulations</a> <a href="https://nonprofitlawblog.com/proposed-donor-advised-fund-regulations-what-is-a-donor-advised-fund/">would clarify what constitutes a DAF</a>, who is considered a fund’s adviser, and restrictions on DAF disbursements.</p>
<p>Though largely focused on definitions, these proposed regulations are not without teeth. Nor <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/proposed-irs-regulations-of-donor-advised-funds-fall-short-critics-say">have they been immune to controversy</a>.</p>
<p>The proposed regulations would identify certain distributions as taxable and declare that donors are not the only parties considered DAF advisers – the <a href="https://www.mcguirewoods.com/client-resources/alerts/2024/2/donor-advised-funds-proposed-regulations/">donors’ personal financial advisers</a> are, too. This means the financial advisers, like donors, cannot receive any benefits from a DAF.</p>
<p>In identifying taxable distributions, the regulations include the possibility that funds used to support <a href="https://www.taxnotes.com/research/federal/other-documents/public-comments-regulations/nonprofits-group-targets-trouble-spots-donor-advised-fund-regs/7j6vy#7j6vy-0000011">lobbying or activities tied to political campaigns</a> could lead to penalties for both the donor and the fund’s manager. And <a href="https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=4744533">evidence suggests</a> DAFs are commonly used to support lobbying.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.mossadams.com/articles/2024/01/proposed-regulations-on-donor-advised-funds">tax would be levied on the DAF totaling 20% of the distribution and another 5%</a> charged to a participating fund manager.</p>
<p>By including <a href="https://www.investmentnews.com/regulation-and-legislation/news/industry-awaits-an-answer-on-proposed-donor-advised-fund-regulations-250293">a donor’s personal financial adviser</a> in the group considered advisers to the DAF, investment fees paid to such financial advisers for their services would become <a href="https://www.cadwalader.com/brass-tax/index.php?nid=79&eid=336">impermissible “excess benefit” transactions</a>. As such, the proposed new rules would require the <a href="https://www.mcguirewoods.com/client-resources/alerts/2024/2/donor-advised-funds-proposed-regulations/">repayment of their compensation plus a 25% penalty</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.philanthropyroundtable.org/roundtable-submits-comment-letter-on-proposed-rules-for-donor-advised-funds/">Some DAF proponents</a> have objected to the proposed regulations. A key concern they’ve expressed has to do with what the regulations could mean for <a href="https://www.sifma.org/resources/submissions/irs-proposed-rule-taxes-on-taxable-distributions-from-donor-advised-funds/">financial advisers</a>. </p>
<p>Since financial advisers often oversee investments of both the donor and the donor’s charitable funds, such dual advisory roles may be eliminated by the threat of penalties. </p>
<h2>Changes possible in Congress</h2>
<p>Additional, bigger, changes could occur in the near future through legislation.</p>
<p>Possibilities include requiring DAFs to disclose donors and connect them with distributions so <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/an-unlikely-event-the-israel-hamas-war-could-finally-spark-daf-reform">the public can follow the money</a> or <a href="https://acceleratecharitablegiving.org/reforms/">delaying tax benefits</a> when donations to DAFs are not immediately distributed to charities to encourage donors with DAFs to dispatch their gifts quickly.</p>
<p>Although legislation aimed at requiring faster payouts was <a href="https://nonprofitquarterly.org/do-donor-advised-funds-require-regulatory-attention/">first proposed in 2014</a>, few lawmakers have made it a priority.</p>
<p>The most recent bill, the <a href="https://www.reuters.com/legal/legalindustry/ace-act-legislation-would-significantly-affect-donor-advised-funds-2021-11-11/">Accelerating Charitable Efforts Act</a>, was first proposed by <a href="https://www.king.senate.gov/newsroom/press-releases/king-grassley-introduce-legislation-to-ensure-charitable-donations-reach-working-charities">Sens. Angus King and Chuck Grassley</a> in 2021. It did not <a href="https://www.investmentnews.com/industry-news/news/daf-payout-bill-stalls-in-congress-229779">amass enough support</a> to garner a vote. At this point, it is <a href="https://inequality.org/research/donor-advised-fund-blocking-reform/">unclear whether the lawmakers will reintroduce</a> that measure.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://blog.candid.org/post/donor-advised-funds-daf-growth-popularity-in-philanthropy/">as DAFs play an ever larger</a> role in charitable giving, I believe that Congress will eventually have to take action if it wants to meaningfully regulate this new charitable environment.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/225344/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Brian Mittendorf does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Big changes would require an act of Congress but lawmakers have not stepped up. And there’s been pushback against new rules the IRS has proposed for these accounts reserved for giving.Brian Mittendorf, Professor of Accounting, The Ohio State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2222472024-03-13T12:45:24Z2024-03-13T12:45:24ZBuyouts can bring relief from medical debt, but they’re far from a cure<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/577693/original/file-20240223-20-aiwmsy.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C15%2C5145%2C3462&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Medical debt can have devastating consequences.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/stethscope-on-pile-of-us-banknotes-royalty-free-image/153349316">PhotoAlto/Odilon Dimier via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.kff.org/health-costs/press-release/1-in-10-adults-owe-medical-debt-with-millions-owing-more-than-10000/#:%7E:text=Americans%20Likely%20Owe%20Hundreds%20of,who%20owe%20more%20than%20%2410%2C000.">One in 10 Americans</a> carry medical debt, while <a href="https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2022/sep/state-us-health-insurance-2022-biennial-survey">2 in 5</a> are underinsured and at risk of not being able to pay their medical bills.</p>
<p><a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.31898">This burden</a> <a href="https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/podcast/2023/oct/how-medical-debt-makes-people-sicker-what-we-can-do-about-it">crushes millions</a> <a href="https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2023.00604">of families</a> under mounting bills and contributes to the <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.31898">widening gap</a> between rich and poor. </p>
<p>Some relief has come with a wave of debt buyouts by <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/03/10/local-communities-are-buying-medical-debt-for-pennies-on-the-dollar-and-freeing-american-families-from-the-threat-of-bankruptcy/">county and city governments</a>, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-georgia-nonprofits-2a5c3afc4a646d489242bd99eb6652fc">charities</a> and even <a href="https://www.wmdt.com/2024/01/chick-fil-a-pays-medical-debt-on-delmarva/">fast-food restaurants</a> that pay pennies on the dollar to clear enormous balances. But as a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=cGZVMkoAAAAJ&hl=en">health policy and economics researcher</a> who studies out-of-pocket medical expenses, I think these buyouts are only a partial solution.</p>
<h2>A quick fix that works</h2>
<p>Over the past 10 years, the nonprofit <a href="https://ripmedicaldebt.org/">RIP Medical Debt</a> has emerged as the leader in making buyouts happen, using <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/03/01/us/medical-debt-campaigns-give-back-trnd/index.html">crowdfunding campaigns</a>, <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/jun/06/john-oliver-medical-debt-forgiveness-last-week-tonight">celebrity engagement</a>, and partnerships in the private and public sectors. It connects charitable buyers with hospitals and debt collection companies to arrange the sale and erasure of large bundles of debt. </p>
<p>The buyouts focus on low-income households and those with extreme debt burdens. You can’t sign up to have debt wiped away; you just get notified if you’re one of the lucky ones included in a bundle that’s bought off. In 2020, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services <a href="https://revcycleintelligence.com/news/hospitals-can-sell-patient-bad-debt-to-charitable-orgs-oig-says">reviewed this strategy</a> and determined it didn’t violate anti-kickback statutes, which reassured hospitals and collectors that they wouldn’t get in legal trouble partnering with RIP Medical Debt. </p>
<p>Buying a bundle of debt saddling low-income families can be a bargain. Hospitals and collection agencies are typically <a href="https://www.wbur.org/onpoint/2023/09/21/buy-and-sell-medical-debt-health-care">willing to sell</a> the debt for <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/08/medical-bill-debt-collection/596914/">steep discounts</a>, even <a href="https://fortune.com/2023/03/10/local-communities-are-buying-medical-debt-for-pennies-on-the-dollar-and-freeing-american-families-from-the-threat-of-bankruptcy/">pennies on the dollar</a>. That’s a great return on investment for philanthropists looking to make a big social impact.</p>
<p>And it’s not just charities pitching in. <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2024/01/23/1225014618/nyc-joins-a-growing-wave-of-local-governments-erasing-residents-medical-debt">Local governments</a> across the country, from <a href="https://arpa.cookcountyil.gov/medical-debt-relief-initiative">Cook County, Illinois</a>, to <a href="https://www.axios.com/local/new-orleans/2023/05/23/new-orleans-medical-debt-forgiveness">New Orleans</a>, have been directing <a href="https://apnews.com/article/health-care-costs-boston-toledo-e423c64c1322bc8e4254b7a70b1da50c">sizable public funds</a> toward this cause. <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/22/nyregion/medical-debt-forgiveness.html">New York City</a> recently announced plans to buy off the medical debt for half a million residents, at a cost of US$18 million. That would be the largest public buyout on record, although Los Angeles County may trump New York if it <a href="https://www.latimes.com/california/story/2023-10-04/la-county-buy-forgive-medical-debt-how-work">carries out its proposal</a> <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/losangeles/news/la-county-considering-plan-to-erase-medical-debt-for-residents/">to spend</a> $24 million to help 810,000 residents erase their debt.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/2wSarEVgjM0?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">HBO’s John Oliver has collaborated with RIP Medical Debt.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Nationally, RIP Medical Debt has helped clear more than <a href="https://ripmedicaldebt.org/about/">$10 billion</a> in debt over the past decade. That’s a huge number, but a small fraction of the estimated <a href="https://www.kff.org/health-costs/issue-brief/the-burden-of-medical-debt-in-the-united-states/">$220 billion</a> in medical debt out there. Ultimately, prevention would be better than cure.</p>
<h2>Preventing medical debt is trickier</h2>
<p>Medical debt has been a persistent <a href="https://files.consumerfinance.gov/f/documents/cfpb_medical-debt-burden-in-the-united-states_report_2022-03.pdf">problem over the past decade</a> even after the reforms of the 2010 Affordable Care Act <a href="http://doi.org/10.1056/NEJMsr1406753">increased</a> <a href="http://doi.org/doi:10.1001/jama.307.9.913">insurance</a> <a href="http://doi.org/doi:10.1001/jama.2015.8421">coverage</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1353/hpu.2020.0031">made a dent</a> in debt, especially in states that <a href="http://doi.org/10.3386/w22170">expanded</a> <a href="http://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.8694/">Medicaid</a>. A recent <a href="https://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/issue-briefs/2022/sep/state-us-health-insurance-2022-biennial-survey">national survey by the Commonwealth Fund</a> found that 43% of Americans lacked adequate insurance in 2022, which puts them at risk of taking on medical debt. </p>
<p>Unfortunately, it’s incredibly difficult to close coverage gaps in the patchwork American insurance system, which ties eligibility to employment, income, age, family size and location – all things that can change over time. But even in the absence of a total overhaul, there are several policy proposals that could keep the medical debt problem from getting worse.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/2022-06/Which%20County%20Characteristics%20Predict%20Medical%20Debt.pdf">Medicaid expansion</a> has been shown to reduce uninsurance, underinsurance and medical debt. Unfortunately, insurance gaps are likely to get worse in the coming year, as states <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/10-things-to-know-about-the-unwinding-of-the-medicaid-continuous-enrollment-provision/">unwind their pandemic-era Medicaid rules</a>, leaving millions without coverage. Bolstering Medicaid access in the <a href="https://www.kff.org/medicaid/issue-brief/status-of-state-medicaid-expansion-decisions-interactive-map/">10 states</a> that haven’t yet expanded the program could go a long way.</p>
<p>Once patients have a medical bill in hand that they can’t afford, it can be tricky to navigate financial aid and payment options. Some states, like <a href="https://medicaldebtpolicyscorecard.org/state/MD">Maryland</a> and <a href="https://medicaldebtpolicyscorecard.org/state/CA">California</a>, are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1001/jama.2021.23061">ahead of the curve</a> <a href="https://medicaldebtpolicyscorecard.org/">with policies</a> that make it easier for patients to access aid and that rein in the use of liens, lawsuits and other aggressive collections tactics. More states could follow suit.</p>
<p>Another major factor driving underinsurance is <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/06/16/1104679219/medical-bills-debt-investigation#:%7E:text=For%20many%20Americans%2C%20the%20combination,slightly%20lower%20than%20the%20uninsured.">rising out-of-pocket costs</a> – like high deductibles – for those with private insurance. This is especially a concern for <a href="https://www.chiamass.gov/assets/docs/r/pubs/2020/High-Deductable-Health-Plans-CHIA-Research-Brief.pdf">low-wage</a> <a href="https://www.ajmc.com/view/financial-burden-of-healthcare-utilization-in-consumer-directed-health-plans">workers</a> who live paycheck to paycheck. More than half of large employers believe their employees <a href="https://www.kff.org/report-section/ehbs-2023-summary-of-findings/#:%7E:text=As%20noted%20above%2C%2025%25%20of,a%20moderate%20level%20of%20concern">have concerns</a> about their ability to afford medical care.</p>
<p>Lowering deductibles and out-of-pocket maximums could protect patients from accumulating debt, since it would lower the total amount they could incur in a given time period. But if the current system otherwise stayed the same, then premiums would have to rise to offset the reduction in out-of-pocket payments. Higher premiums would transfer costs across everyone in the insurance pool and make enrolling in insurance unreachable for some – which doesn’t solve the underinsurance problem.</p>
<p>Reducing out-of-pocket liability without inflating premiums would only be possible if the overall cost of health care drops. Fortunately, there’s room to reduce waste. Americans <a href="https://www.pgpf.org/blog/2023/07/why-are-americans-paying-more-for-healthcare">spend more on health care</a> than people in other wealthy countries do, and arguably get less for their money. <a href="http://doi.org/doi:10.1001/jama.2019.13978">More than a quarter</a> of health spending is on <a href="https://www.brookings.edu/articles/reducing-administrative-costs-in-u-s-health-care/#:%7E:text=Cutler%20proposes%20several%20reforms%20to,in%20the%20health%2Dcare%20system.">administrative</a> <a href="http://doi.org/10.1111/1475-6773.13649">costs</a>, and the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1377/hlthaff.2018.05144">high prices</a> Americans pay don’t necessarily translate into <a href="https://www.doi.org/10.1001/jama.2019.13978">high-value care</a>. That’s why some states like <a href="https://www.milbank.org/publications/the-massachusetts-health-care-cost-growth-benchmark-and-accountability-mechanisms-stakeholder-perspectives/">Massachusetts</a> and <a href="https://hcai.ca.gov/get-the-facts-about-the-office-of-health-care-affordability/">California</a> are experimenting with <a href="https://www.chcf.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/HealthCareCostCommissionstatesAddressCostGrowth.pdf">cost growth limits</a>.</p>
<h2>Momentum toward policy change</h2>
<p>The growing number of city and county governments buying off medical debt signals that local leaders view medical debt as a problem worth solving. Congress has passed substantial <a href="https://www.cms.gov/priorities/key-initiatives/hospital-price-transparency">price transparency laws</a> and prohibited <a href="https://www.cms.gov/nosurprises">surprise medical billing</a> in recent years. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is <a href="https://www.consumerfinance.gov/about-us/newsroom/cfpb-kicks-off-rulemaking-to-remove-medical-bills-from-credit-reports/">exploring rule changes</a> for medical debt collections and reporting, and national credit bureaus have <a href="https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/medical-debt-was-erased-credit-records-most-consumers-potentially-improving-many">voluntarily removed</a> some medical debt from credit reports to limit its impact on people’s approval for loans, leases and jobs. </p>
<p>These recent actions show that leaders at all levels of government want to end medical debt. I think that’s a good sign. After all, recognizing a problem is the first step toward meaningful change.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222247/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Erin Duffy receives funding from Arnold Ventures. </span></em></p>Local governments are increasingly buying – and forgiving – their residents’ medical debt.Erin Duffy, Research Scientist, University of Southern CaliforniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2235372024-03-05T14:34:39Z2024-03-05T14:34:39ZDonations by top 50 US donors fell again in 2023, sliding to $12B − Mike Bloomberg, Phil and Penny Knight, and Michael and Susan Dell led the list of biggest givers<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578433/original/file-20240227-22-ys3u32.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3008%2C1868&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Penny Knight and Phil Knight were the second-largest givers of 2023.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.wishtv.com/news/education/indiana-lawmakers-join-gop-led-states-trying-to-target-college-tenure/">Michael Hickey/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The top 50 American individuals and couples who gave or pledged the most to charity in 2023 committed US$12 billion to foundations, universities, hospitals and more. That total was 28% below an inflation-adjusted $16.5 billion in 2022, according to the <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/page/philanthropy-50">Chronicle of Philanthropy</a>’s latest annual tally of these donations.</em></p>
<p><em>The Conversation U.S. asked <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VYsdAEIAAAAJ&hl=en">David Campbell</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=c__VVwsAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Angela R. Logan</a> and <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/people-directory/moody-michael.html">Michael Moody</a>, three scholars of philanthropy, to assess the significance of these gifts and to consider what they indicate about the state of charitable giving in the United States.</em></p>
<h2>What trends stand out overall?</h2>
<p><strong>David Campbell:</strong> <a href="https://theconversation.com/donations-by-top-50-us-donors-dropped-sharply-to-16-billion-in-2022-bill-gates-elon-musk-mike-bloomberg-and-warren-buffett-lead-the-list-of-biggest-givers-199732">As was the case in 2022</a>, more than one-third of these big gifts – $4.4 billion – went to donors’ personal foundations. Another $764.3 million flowed into donor-advised funds. Also known as DAFs, these charitable savings accounts make it possible for donors to reserve assets such as cash, stocks and bonds for future charitable gifts.</p>
<p>That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it does mean that a significant amount of the money these wealthy Americans technically gave away in 2023 didn’t get in the hands of charities right away. And while foundations must <a href="https://www.ncfp.org/2008/10/15/what-is-the-5-payout-rule/">give away or spend 5% of their assets every year</a>, there are no such requirements for DAFs.</p>
<p>Many of the same wealthy people make this list every time, and they stick with a few main priorities. Media mogul and former New York City Mayor <a href="https://www.bloomberg.org/public-health/">Mike Bloomberg</a>, for example, puts a lot of his charitable money into public health.</p>
<p><strong>Michael Moody:</strong> One thing that stands out for me is what’s missing. This list doesn’t include some billionaires known to give significant amounts of money to charity, and it doesn’t reflect all the ways that the wealthiest Americans seek to do good aside from giving to charitable organizations. </p>
<p>The list leaves out anonymous donors, such as the one who in 2023 <a href="https://www.mcpherson.edu/2023/07/mcpherson-college-establishes-1-billion-endowment/">catapulted the endowment of McPherson</a>, a small college in Kansas, past the $1.5 billion mark. It also omits a very prominent billionaire donor: author and philanthropist MacKenzie Scott.</p>
<p>Scott openly discusses her giving in periodic essays posted to the internet, including one in December 2023 when she described the <a href="https://yieldgiving.com/essays/giving-update/">more than $2.1 billion she had given</a> in the previous 12 months to <a href="https://yieldgiving.com/gifts?essay=20231206">360 nonprofits</a>.</p>
<p>However, this sort of self-disclosure doesn’t fit the <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/how-the-chronicle-compiled-its-list-of-the-top-50-donors-of-2022">Chronicle of Philanthropy’s methodology</a>. To avoid counting the same donation twice, it acknowledges only those gifts that go directly to charities or are made to foundations and other intermediaries such as DAFs. Without specific information from Scott or her representatives about which vehicles she uses and how much money she funnels through them each year, they leave her off the list. </p>
<p>Another <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/02/15/investing/elon-musk-charity-donation/index.html">probable omission is Elon Musk</a>, one of the richest people in the world, who leads several companies and <a href="https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/elon-musk-donated-1.95-billion-in-tesla-stock-in-2022">designated billions for charity in 2021 and 2022</a>. He has said little about his giving. Details about gifts he’s made to his foundation or other charities usually surface only through mandatory legal filings. Also, <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/musk-says-spacex-tesla-neuralink-boring-company-are-philanthropy-2022-4?r=US&IR=T">Musk has argued that his companies</a> are his best “philanthropy.”</p>
<p>Similarly, other billionaires who regularly make this list also say they use money to do good in ways beyond the charitable gifts summarized here.</p>
<p>John Arnold, who made a fortune by starting and running a hedge fund, and his wife, Laura Arnold, as well as Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, often point to ways they pursue their philanthropic goals through for-profit means, as well as through gifts to their foundations and DAFs. <a href="https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/laura-and-john-arnold-foundation-to-restructure-as-llc">They reserve large chunks of their fortunes</a> in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2015/12/03/technology/zuckerbergs-philanthropy-uses-llc-for-more-control.html">limited liability companies</a>, which are private corporations that they use to either make charitable donations or invest in what they believe are socially responsible companies.</p>
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<h2>What surprises you about the biggest donors?</h2>
<p><strong>Campbell:</strong> Last year, <a href="https://theconversation.com/donations-by-top-50-us-donors-dropped-sharply-to-16-billion-in-2022-bill-gates-elon-musk-mike-bloomberg-and-warren-buffett-lead-the-list-of-biggest-givers-199732">I predicted</a> that Melinda French Gates, the ex-wife of Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, would make the 2023 list and she did. French Gates was the ninth-largest donor of 2023, while her former husband was No. 16.</p>
<p>French Gates has charted her own course by creating <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/melinda-french-gates-effort-aims-to-accelerate-womens-power-and-influence?sra=true">Pivotal Ventures</a>, a limited liability company. But she has continued to give primarily by funding the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the biggest private source of <a href="https://pages.devex.com/rs/685-KBL-765/images/the-top-10-foundations-funding-development.pdf">funding for international development</a>.</p>
<p>French Gates indicated that she <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/melinda-french-gates-no-longer-pledges-bulk-of-her-wealth-to-gates-foundation-11643808602">plans to branch out</a> with her philanthropy. But she and Bill <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/leadership?division=Co-chairs%20and%20Board%20of%20Trustees">still co-chair the foundation</a> bearing their names.</p>
<p><strong>Angela Logan</strong> Most <a href="https://www.dafresearchcollaborative.org/national-study-dafs7">donor-advised funds aren’t massive</a>. Only 1% of those accounts held balances of $10 million as of late 2021, according to a recent report. Yet, some of the biggest donors of 2023 deposited far more than that.</p>
<p>Tech executive Michael Dell and his wife, Susan Dell, have infused theirs with $486 million, while Phil Knight, the founder of the athletic apparel and footwear company Nike, and his wife, Penny Knight, placed $104 million in their DAF. <a href="https://www.dell.org/what-we-do/">Both couples</a> also have <a href="https://www.causeiq.com/organizations/knight-foundation,911791788/">their own foundations</a>.</p>
<p>I believe it’s worth watching to see whether in the future more of the biggest donors will take this route, rather than creating their own family foundations.</p>
<p>One concern is that there is <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/an-unlikely-event-the-israel-hamas-war-could-finally-spark-daf-reform">no obligation for donors to disclose gifts</a> they make through DAFs, another <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/public-disclosure-and-availability-of-exempt-organizations-returns-and-applications-requirements-for-private-foundations">difference between them and foundations</a>.</p>
<p>If more of the biggest donors take the DAF route, rather than forming foundations or giving directly to charities, the public would lose access to information about where philanthropic dollars go. And that could potentially further erode trust in charitable giving and nonprofits.</p>
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<h2>What concerns do you have?</h2>
<p><strong>Campbell:</strong> While these gifts are formidable, I still think about those who are not showing up. Only 23 of the top givers are from the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/">Forbes 400 list</a> of the wealthiest Americans.</p>
<p>I find it surprising that many of those with the most to give away are outflanked by others’ generosity. Only 13 of the year’s top donors have signed <a href="https://givingpledge.org/">the Giving Pledge</a>, a “promise by the world’s wealthiest individuals and families to dedicate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes.” This fact leads me to wonder what the long-term plans are for many of the other top donors.</p>
<p>Will they sign to the Giving Pledge? What makes them willing to give so much today but not commit for tomorrow? </p>
<p><strong>Logan</strong> Similarly, I’m struck by the lack of diversity in terms of age among the top givers. More than half of them are over 80. Only one person listed among the youngest members of the Forbes 400 list, Zuckerberg, also made the cut.</p>
<p>Even more intriguing is that, in addition to Zuckerberg, five more of the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/sites/savannahborn/2023/10/03/the-youngest-billionaires-on-the-2023-forbes-400-list/">youngest members of the Forbes 400</a> have signed the Giving Pledge: Airbnb co-founders Joe Gebbia, Nathan Blecharczyk and Brian Chesky; Brian Armstrong, CEO of the cryptocurrency platform Coinbase; and Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz. </p>
<p>What makes them willing to commit so much tomorrow but less inclined to give as much today? </p>
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<h2>What do you expect to see in 2024 and beyond?</h2>
<p><strong>Logan:</strong> I feel as though this has been stated every four years since I turned 18, but the 2024 U.S. presidential election will be the most consequential in the nation’s history.</p>
<p>I suspect that in this election cycle, donors are putting more of their philanthropic dollars toward preserving democracy, voter education and the causes that matter to Americans on the left, right and center.</p>
<p>Additionally, even if the conflict between Israel and Hamas ends soon, I expect to see an increase in giving in 2024 to combat both antisemitism and Islamophobia and for that to continue going forward. <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/29/us/hate-crimes-antisemitism-anti-muslim-dg/index.html">Hate-related crimes</a>, including those targeting Muslims and Jews, have been rising in the U.S. since 2014. And they have surged since Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched its war on Gaza. That could drive further giving along the lines of the $100 million that New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft provided his <a href="https://www.wsj.com/us-news/robert-kraft-patriots-israel-anti-semitism-0cf70cb4">Foundation to Combat Antisemitism</a> in 2023.</p>
<p><strong>Moody:</strong> I expect that most of the biggest gifts will keep going to foundations and DAFs, as well as higher ed and medical causes. That pattern seems to hold steady, regardless of whatever new culture war, political fight or international conflict is in the headlines.</p>
<p>However, as Angela Logan notes, there are hints that we’ll see more major gifts focused on issues like ethnic conflict, bigotry or racial justice and uplift. One notable example of this in 2023 was the Knights’ <a href="https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/phil-knight-invests-400-million-in-portland-s-albina-neighborhood">$400 million pledge to revive a struggling Black neighborhood</a> in Portland, Oregon.</p>
<p>But the world of philanthropy can be surprising sometimes. Donors can make choices no one saw coming, and new donors can burst on the scene. With <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2023/11/30/business/ubs-billionaires-report/index.html">new billionaires emerging</a> at a swift pace, it’s hard to predict what’s going to happen next.</p>
<p>Consider, for instance, the news announced in late February 2024 that <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/26/nyregion/albert-einstein-college-medicine-bronx-donation.html">Ruth Gottesman donated $1 billion</a> to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx.</p>
<p>Gottesman is a former professor at that medical school. Her husband, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/09/29/business/dealbook/david-s-gottesman-dead.html?searchResultPosition=1">David “Sandy” Gottesman</a>, was a billionaire investor who died in 2022 without putting any strings on what she should do with their fortune. This gift broke with some common conventions.</p>
<p>While she did stipulate that the funds should be be used to make the school tuition-free forever, she didn’t tie the gift to <a href="https://charitylawyerblog.com/2021/06/28/charity-naming-rights-how-to-do-it-right/">naming rights</a>. She insisted, instead, that the college keep its name. Initially, she even <a href="https://www.inc.com/jason-aten/dr-ruth-gottesman-just-gave-1-billion-to-make-tuition-free-at-this-bronx-medical-school-it-comes-with-a-surprising-catch.html">wanted to give the money anonymously</a>. </p>
<p>Will other big donors now follow suit?</p>
<p><em>The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has provided funding for The Conversation U.S. and provides funding for The Conversation internationally. Arnold Ventures provides funding for The Conversation U.S.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/223537/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Campbell is the Chair of the Board of the Conrad and Virginia Klee Foundation. </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Angela R. Logan is the Board President of the Nonprofit Academic Centers Council.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Michael Moody does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Three philanthropy scholars discuss several trends in giving by the wealthiest Americans highlighted in this yearly report. Among them: Much of this money doesn’t go to charities right away.David Campbell, Professor of Public Administration, Binghamton University, State University of New YorkAngela R. Logan, Associate Teaching Professor of Management & Organization, St. Andre Bessette Academic Director of the Master of Nonprofit Administration, University of Notre DameMichael Moody, Professor of Philanthropic Studies, Indiana UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2245892024-03-04T13:38:08Z2024-03-04T13:38:08ZCommunity-based entrepreneurs are leading the way in solving the local news crisis<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/578706/original/file-20240228-20-l0td86.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=30%2C0%2C6679%2C4476&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Local newspapers have been shuttering at an alarming rate for more than a decade.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/african-american-businessman-in-suit-reading-royalty-free-image/1349968313">Prostock-Studio/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The local news crisis has led to no end of policy proposals, funding initiatives and angry denunciations of the harm done to journalism by the likes of Craigslist, Google and Facebook. </p>
<p>Ideas for responding to the crisis include paying recent journalism school graduates with state tax revenues to <a href="https://journalism.berkeley.edu/state-funds-berkeley-journalism-25-million-to-strengthen-californias-local-news-coverage/">cover underserved communities</a>, as in California; mandating that state agencies <a href="https://localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/posts/2024/02/19/illinois-local-news-legislation-stadelman/">direct half of their spending</a> on advertising to community media, as has been proposed in Illinois; and <a href="https://www.editorandpublisher.com/stories/the-community-news-and-small-business-support-act-hr-4756-offering-tax-credits-to,244841">creating tax credits</a> that would benefit subscribers, advertisers and publishers, the subject of several federal and state initiatives. </p>
<p>And those are just a few. </p>
<p>Though all of these have some merit, they share a fundamental flaw: They are top-down solutions to problems that differ from one community to another. </p>
<p>There is an old saying that goes back a dozen years to the earliest days of hyperlocal digital news: <a href="https://streetfightmag.com/2011/05/12/authentically-local-declares-local-doesn%E2%80%99t-scale/">Local doesn’t scale</a>. In fact, I’d argue, the real solution to the local news crisis needs to come from the bottom up – from folks at the community level who decide to take their news and information needs into their own hands. </p>
<p>Examples range from relatively large operations such as <a href="https://coloradosun.com/about-us/">The Colorado Sun</a>, a digital startup founded by 10 <a href="https://www.denverpost.com/">Denver Post</a> journalists who became frustrated with the depredations of the Post’s hedge fund owner, Alden Global Capital, to small outlets such as <a href="https://sahanjournal.com/about-sahan-journal">Sahan Journal</a>, a Minnesota-based project that covers the state’s growing African diaspora.</p>
<p>Reinventing community journalism at the grassroots is the theme of <a href="https://whatworks.news/book">“What Works in Community News: Media Startups, News Deserts, and the Future of the Fourth Estate,”</a> written by <a href="https://www.linkedin.com/in/ellenclegg/">Ellen Clegg</a> and me. Clegg is retired from top editing positions at <a href="https://www.bostonglobe.com/">The Boston Globe</a>, is a co-founder of the digital nonprofit <a href="https://brookline.news/">Brookline.News</a> and teaches journalism at Northeastern University and Brandeis University. <a href="https://camd.northeastern.edu/people/dan-kennedy/">I’m a journalism professor</a> at Northeastern and the author of two previous books on the future of news. </p>
<p>“What Works in Community News” examines about a dozen projects in nine parts of the country. What they have in common is dedicated leadership at the local level – entrepreneurial journalists who are developing new business models on the fly.</p>
<h2>A growing crisis</h2>
<p>There is no question that the local news crisis is real and growing. According to the most recent report by the Local News Initiative, based at Northwestern University’s Medill School, nearly 2,900 newspapers, mostly weeklies, <a href="https://theconversation.com/wealthier-urban-americans-have-access-to-more-local-news-while-roughly-half-of-us-counties-have-only-one-outlet-or-less-220382">have closed</a> since 2005. That’s about a third of the total. </p>
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<p>Weeklies have traditionally served as the beating heart of community journalism, covering local government, schools and neighborhood issues – not to mention more quotidian matters such as weddings, births, deaths and youth activities that can help draw neighbors together. </p>
<p>A <a href="https://medium.com/office-of-citizen/how-we-know-journalism-is-good-for-democracy-9125e5c995fb">plethora of research</a> suggests that communities that lose their local news source suffer from a variety of ills. Voter turnout declines. Fewer people run for political office. There is even what we might call <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-05-30/when-local-newspapers-close-city-financing-costs-rise">a corruption tax</a>, as local officials who borrow money to build, say, a new fire station or high school have to pay a higher interest rate in places without reliable community journalism. </p>
<p>Perhaps most disturbing is that news consumers now feed their habit with outraged commentary from divisive national outlets, especially cable news, which in turn helps worsen the problem of <a href="https://theconversation.com/republicans-and-democrats-consider-each-other-immoral-even-when-treated-fairly-and-kindly-by-the-opposition-220002">partisan polarization</a> that is ripping us apart. </p>
<p>Folks who attend school board meetings ought to be talking about test scores and teacher salaries. Instead, they are all too often yelling at their friends and neighbors about such Fox News-driven controversies as COVID-19 restrictions, critical race theory and books they want to ban.</p>
<p>So how might a community without an adequate news outlet go about meeting the needs of its residents? </p>
<h2>Entrepreneurs step up</h2>
<p>What happened in Bedford, Massachusetts, is instructive. A suburb of about 14,000 people located northwest of Boston, the town was at one time home to a weekly newspaper called the Bedford Minuteman. That once-robust weekly had by 2012 been downsized by its corporate owner, GateHouse Media, which later merged into Gannett, the U.S.’s largest newspaper chain.</p>
<p>Three members of the League of Women Voters who had been monitoring local government and reporting back to the membership asked themselves: Why not write this up for the benefit of the public?</p>
<p>Thus was born <a href="https://thebedfordcitizen.org/">The Bedford Citizen</a>, one of the projects that we feature in our book. Over the years, the nonprofit website has grown from an all-volunteer operation into a professional news organization, funded through initiatives ranging from voluntary membership fees to an annual glossy guide that’s filled with advertising and mailed to every household in town.</p>
<p>Today, the Citizen has a full-time editor, a part-time reporter and paid freelancers alongside a contingent of unpaid contributors. The Minuteman, meanwhile, faded away and was <a href="https://dankennedy.net/2022/03/17/gannett-goes-a-massive-spree-of-closing-and-merging-weekly-newspapers/">shut down</a> in 2022 under Gannett’s ownership.</p>
<p>In recent years, hundreds of such projects <a href="https://www.lionpublishers.com/about/">have sprung up</a>, both nonprofit and for-profit. Are there enough to offset the several thousand papers that have closed and continue to close? No. But Clegg and I are optimistic about the continued growth of independent local news.</p>
<h2>Helping underserved communities</h2>
<p>One problem that is not easily solved is what to do about <a href="https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/02/wealther-urban-americans-have-access-to-more-local-news/">underserved populations</a>, especially in rural parts of the country and in urban communities of color. </p>
<p>We visited several projects in such areas, and what we found was that the folks who are running them are struggling.</p>
<p>At the <a href="https://www.stormlake.com/">Storm Lake Times Pilot</a>, publisher-editor <a href="https://whatworks.news/2021/11/15/our-latest-contest-features-an-interview-with-art-cullen-editor-of-the-storm-lake-times/">Art Cullen, a Pulitzer Prize winner, told us</a> on our podcast that he and his brother, John, the paper’s president, do not pay themselves a salary and that they’re collecting Social Security. </p>
<p>Wendi C. Thomas, the founder of the award-winning <a href="https://mlk50.com/">MLK50: Justice Through Journalism</a>, in Memphis, Tennessee, began by running up credit card debt, although she was eventually able to attract grant money.</p>
<p>Ultimately, it is in these lower-income communities where some top-down attention is needed. </p>
<p>The most ambitious initiative to support local news through philanthropy is Press Forward, a consortium of more than 20 foundations that will provide independent community news outlets with $500 million over the next five years. That barely scratches the surface of what is needed, though, and the foundations are now attempting to <a href="https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2024/press-forward-announces-local-expansion/">leverage that money</a> by raising another $500 million at the local level.</p>
<p>In our view, such efforts should be seen as a supplement rather than as an all-encompassing solution.</p>
<p>Consider, for instance, the NewsMatch program administered by <a href="https://inn.org/">the Institute for Nonprofit News</a>. NewsMatch <a href="https://newsmatch.inn.org/">provides funds</a> to local outlets based on how much they are able to raise on their own. Nonprofit journalism leaders need to educate philanthropists in their own communities that news is worth supporting just as much as youth programs or arts and culture. For-profits need to demonstrate their value to would-be subscribers and advertisers.</p>
<p>What Clegg and I have observed in our reporting across the country is that there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Anything can work; anything can fail. </p>
<p>Above all, the local news crisis will not be solved by elected officials or national foundations, though they can surely help. Rather, it will be solved – and is being solved – by visionary entrepreneurs at the grassroots who listen to the needs of their communities.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/224589/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Dan Kennedy does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>As digital news pioneers observed, ‘local doesn’t scale.’ Any solution to the local news crisis is going to involve reporters and editors who are creative and smart about what works for their readers.Dan Kennedy, Professor of Journalism, Northeastern UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2226772024-02-13T13:23:41Z2024-02-13T13:23:41ZSaving the news media means moving beyond the benevolence of billionaires<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574711/original/file-20240209-18-vtb36b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=17%2C26%2C5973%2C3961&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Billionaire media owners can't change inhospitable market dynamics.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/the-los-angeles-times-building-and-newsroom-along-imperial-news-photo/1211874817?adppopup=true">Kent Nishimura/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>For the journalism industry, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/01/26/media-layoffs-strikes-journalism-dying">2024 is off to a brutal start</a>. </p>
<p>Most spectacularly, the Los Angeles Times recently slashed <a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2024-01-23/latimes-layoffs-115-newsroom-soon-shiong">more than 20% of its newsroom</a>.</p>
<p>Though trouble had long been brewing, the layoffs were particularly disheartening because many employees and readers hoped the Times’ billionaire owner, <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2021/11/01/how-patrick-soon-shiong-made-his-fortune-before-buying-the-la-times">Patrick Soon-Shiong</a>, would stay the course in good times and bad – that he would be a steward less interested in turning a profit and more concerned with ensuring the storied publication could serve the public. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/business/story/2024-01-23/latimes-layoffs-115-newsroom-soon-shiong#:%7E:text=%E2%80%9CToday's%20decision%20is%20painful%20for,%2C%E2%80%9D%20Soon%2DShiong%20said.">According to the LA Times</a>, Soon-Shiong explained that the cuts were necessary because the paper “could no longer lose $30 million to $40 million a year.” </p>
<p><a href="https://twitter.com/_cingraham/status/1749890710118301751">As one X user pointed out</a>, Soon-Shiong could weather US$40 million in annual losses for decades and still remain a billionaire. You could say the same of another billionaire owner, The Washington Post’s Jeff Bezos, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/12/19/washington-post-cut-jobs-voluntary-buyouts">who eliminated hundreds of jobs in 2023</a> after making a long stretch of steady investments. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1749890710118301751"}"></div></p>
<p>Of course, it helps if your owner has deep pockets and is satisfied with breaking even or earning modest profits – a far cry from the slash-and-burn, profit-harvesting of the two largest newspaper owners: the hedge fund <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2021/11/alden-global-capital-killing-americas-newspapers/620171/">Alden Global Capital</a> and <a href="https://www.niemanlab.org/2023/03/the-scale-of-local-news-destruction-in-gannetts-markets-is-astonishing/">the publicly traded Gannett</a>. </p>
<p>Yet, as we’ve previously argued, relying on the benevolence of billionaire owners isn’t a viable long-term solution to journalism’s crises. In what we call the “<a href="https://theconversation.com/the-slippery-slope-of-the-oligarchy-media-model-81931">oligarchy media model</a>,” it often creates distinct hazards for democracy. The recent layoffs simply reinforce these concerns. </p>
<h2>Systemic market failure</h2>
<p>This carnage is part of a longer story: <a href="https://localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/projects/state-of-local-news/2023/report/">Ongoing research on news deserts</a> shows that the U.S. has lost almost one-third of its newspapers and nearly two-thirds of its newspaper journalists since 2005.</p>
<p>It’s become clear that this downturn isn’t temporary. Rather, it’s a <a href="https://www.niemanlab.org/2018/12/we-will-finally-confront-systemic-market-failure/">systemic market failure</a> with no signs of reversal.</p>
<p>As print advertising continues to decline, Meta’s and Google’s <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/google-and-metas-advertising-dominance-fades-as-tiktok-netflix-emerge-11672711107">dominance over digital advertising</a> has deprived news publishers of a major online revenue source. <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2016/11/the-print-apocalypse-and-how-to-survive-it/506429/">The advertising-based news business model has collapsed</a> and, to the extent it ever did, won’t adequately support the public service journalism that democracy requires.</p>
<p>What about digital subscriptions as a revenue source? </p>
<p>For years, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21670811.2013.865967">paywalls have been hailed</a> as an alternative to advertising. While some news organizations have recently stopped requiring subscriptions <a href="https://www.axios.com/2024/02/06/great-subscription-news-reversal">or have created a tiered pricing system</a>, how has this approach fared overall?</p>
<p>Well, it’s been <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2024/02/07/business/media/new-york-times-q4-earnings.html">a fantastic financial success for The New York Times</a> and, actually, almost no one else – while denying millions of citizens access to essential news.</p>
<p>The paywall model has also worked reasonably well for The Wall Street Journal, with its assured audience of business professionals, though its management still felt compelled <a href="https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/wall-street-journal-shakes-up-d-c-bureau-with-big-layoffs/ar-BB1hDv9V?ocid=finance-verthp-feeds">to make deep cuts</a> in its Washington, D.C., bureau on Feb. 1, 2024. And at The Washington Post, even 2.5 million digital subscriptions haven’t been enough for the publication to break even.</p>
<p>To be fair, the billionaire owners of <a href="https://twitter.com/aidanfitzryan/status/1748098450963460180">The Boston Globe</a> and <a href="https://startribunecompany.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Click-here.pdf">the Minneapolis Star Tribune</a> have sown fertile ground; the papers seem to be turning modest profits, and there isn’t any news of looming layoffs.</p>
<p>But they’re outliers; in the end, billionaire owners can’t change these inhospitable market dynamics. Plus, because they made their money in other industries, the owners often create conflicts of interest that their news outlets’ journalists must continually navigate with care.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Three female protestors shout, while one holds a sign reading 'Don't cut our future.'" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574235/original/file-20240207-28-42qqde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C16%2C5525%2C3755&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574235/original/file-20240207-28-42qqde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574235/original/file-20240207-28-42qqde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574235/original/file-20240207-28-42qqde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=410&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574235/original/file-20240207-28-42qqde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574235/original/file-20240207-28-42qqde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574235/original/file-20240207-28-42qqde.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=515&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Los Angeles Times employees stage a walkout on Jan. 19, 2024, after learning about layoffs.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/los-angeles-times-guild-members-rally-outside-city-hall-news-photo/1945953066?adppopup=true">Mario Tama/Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The way forward</h2>
<p>While the market dynamics for news media are only getting worse, the civic need for quality, accessible public service journalism is greater than ever. </p>
<p>When quality journalism disappears, <a href="https://www.npr.org/transcripts/1170919800">it intensifies a host of problems</a> – from rising corruption to decreasing civic engagement to greater polarization – that threaten the vitality of U.S. democracy.</p>
<p>That’s why we believe it’s urgently important to grow the number of outlets capable of independently resisting destructive market forces.</p>
<p>Billionaire owners willing to release their media properties could help facilitate this process. Some of them already have. </p>
<p>In 2016, the billionaire Gerry Lenfest donated his sole ownership of The Philadelphia Inquirer along with a $20 million endowment to an eponymously named <a href="https://www.lenfestinstitute.org/about/">nonprofit institute</a>, with bylaws preventing profit pressures from taking precedence over its civic mission. Its nonprofit ownership model has enabled the Inquirer to <a href="https://localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/projects/state-of-local-news/2023/brightspots/philadelphia-inquirer-jim-friedlich-q-and-a/">invest in news</a> at a time when so many others have cut to the bone.</p>
<p>In 2019, wealthy businessman Paul Huntsman ceded his ownership of The Salt Lake Tribune to a <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/news/2019/11/04/historic-shift-salt-lake/">501(c)(3) nonprofit</a>, easing its tax burden and setting it up to receive philanthropic funding. After continuing as board chairman, in early February he announced that he was permanently <a href="https://www.sltrib.com/opinion/commentary/2024/02/02/paul-huntsman-its-time-step-away/">stepping down</a>. </p>
<p>And in September 2023, the French newspaper <a href="https://www.lemonde.fr/en/about-us/article/2023/09/24/two-major-milestones-for-le-monde-s-independence_6139073_115.html">Le Monde</a>’s billionaire shareholders, led by tech entrepreneur Xavier Niel, officially confirmed a plan to move their capital into an endowment fund that’s effectively controlled by journalists and other employees of the Le Monde Group. </p>
<p>On a smaller and far more precarious scale, U.S. journalists have founded hundreds of <a href="https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/02/many-small-news-nonprofits-feel-overlooked-by-funders-a-new-coalition-is-giving-them-a-voice/">small nonprofits</a> across the country over the past decade to provide crucial public affairs coverage. However, most struggle mightily to generate enough revenues to even pay themselves and a few reporters a living wage. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Workers sit at a table in a large, open workspace." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574245/original/file-20240207-18-arb5jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574245/original/file-20240207-18-arb5jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574245/original/file-20240207-18-arb5jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574245/original/file-20240207-18-arb5jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=360&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574245/original/file-20240207-18-arb5jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574245/original/file-20240207-18-arb5jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574245/original/file-20240207-18-arb5jw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=452&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Philadelphia Inquirer moved to a new headquarters in May 2023.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://meyerdesigninc.com/news/the-philadelphia-inquirers-hybrid-headquarters/">Jeffrey Totaro/Meyer Design, Inc.</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Donors can still play a role</h2>
<p>The crucial next step is to ensure these civic, mission-driven forms of ownership have the necessary funding to survive and thrive. </p>
<p>One part of this approach can be philanthropic funding.</p>
<p><a href="https://mediaimpactfunders.org/philanthropys-growing-role-in-american-journalism-a-new-study-reveals-increased-funding-and-ethical-considerations/">A 2023 Media Impact Funders report</a> pointed out that foundation funders once primarily focused on providing a bridge to an ever-elusive new business model. The thinking went that they could provide seed money until the operation was up and running and then redirect their investments elsewhere. </p>
<p>However, journalists are increasingly calling for <a href="https://www.niemanlab.org/2024/02/patterns-in-philanthropy-leave-small-newsrooms-behind-can-that-change/">long-term sustaining support</a> as the extent of market failure has become clear. In a promising development, the <a href="https://www.pressforward.news/press-forward-will-award-more-than-500-million-to-revitalize-local-news/">Press Forward initiative</a> recently pledged $500 million over five years for local journalism, including for-profit as well as nonprofit and public newsrooms. </p>
<p>Charitable giving can also make news more accessible. If donations pay the bills – as they do at The Guardian – <a href="https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/10/rich-americans-more-likely-to-pay-for-news/">paywalls</a>, which limit content to <a href="https://www.axios.com/2022/01/11/media-startups-subscriptions-elite">subscribers who are disproportionately wealthy and white</a>, may become unnecessary. </p>
<h2>The limits of private capital</h2>
<p>Still, philanthropic support for journalism falls far short of what’s needed.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/journalism/fact-sheet/newspapers/">Total revenues for newspapers have fallen</a> from a historic high of $49.4 billion in 2005 to $9.8 billion in 2022.</p>
<p>Philanthropy could help fill a portion of this deficit but, even with the recent increase in donations, nowhere near all of it. Nor, in our view, should it. Too often, donations come with conditions and potential conflicts of interest. </p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Man wearing blue hat sits on a bench reading a newspaper." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574248/original/file-20240207-27-cqnylz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/574248/original/file-20240207-27-cqnylz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574248/original/file-20240207-27-cqnylz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574248/original/file-20240207-27-cqnylz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574248/original/file-20240207-27-cqnylz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574248/original/file-20240207-27-cqnylz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/574248/original/file-20240207-27-cqnylz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=504&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Philanthropic giving hasn’t made up for the billions lost in advertising revenue over the past two decades.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/man-sitting-on-a-bench-reading-the-newspaper-news-photo/144075964?adppopup=true">Joe Sohm/Visions of America/Universal Images Group via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>The same <a href="https://mediaimpactfunders.org/philanthropys-growing-role-in-american-journalism-a-new-study-reveals-increased-funding-and-ethical-considerations/">2023 Media Impact Funders survey</a> found that 57% of U.S. foundation funders of news organizations offered grants for reporting on issues for which they had policy stances. </p>
<p>In the end, philanthropy <a href="https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/a-qa-with-phil-napoli.php">can’t completely escape oligarchic influence</a>.</p>
<h2>Public funds for local journalism</h2>
<p>A strong, accessible media system that serves the public interest will ultimately require significant public funding. </p>
<p>Along with libraries, schools and research universities, journalism is an essential part of a democracy’s critical information infrastructure. Democracies in western and northern Europe earmark taxes or dedicated fees not only for legacy TV and radio but also for newspapers and digital media – and they make sure there’s always <a href="https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/view/4779">an arm’s-length relationship</a> between the government and the news outlets so that their journalistic independence is assured. It’s worth noting that U.S. investment in public media is <a href="https://www.cjr.org/opinion/public-funding-media-democracy.php">a smaller percentage of GDP</a> than in virtually any other major democracy in the world.</p>
<p>State-level experiments in places such as <a href="https://njcivicinfo.org/about/">New Jersey</a>, <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/10/20/local-news-vouchers-bill-dc">Washington, D.C.</a>, <a href="https://www.niemanlab.org/2022/09/the-state-of-california-will-fund-25-million-in-local-reporting-fellowships/">California</a> <a href="https://www.freepress.net/news/press-releases/free-press-action-applauds-groundbreaking-wisconsin-bills-addressing-local-journalism-crisis">and Wisconsin</a> suggest that public funding for newspapers and online-only outlets can also work in the U.S. Under these plans, news outlets prioritizing local journalism receive various kinds of public subsidies and grants. </p>
<p>The time has come to dramatically scale up these projects, from millions of dollars to billions, whether through “<a href="https://www.poynter.org/business-work/2019/academics-craft-a-plan-to-infuse-billions-into-journalism-give-every-american-50-to-donate-to-news-orgs/">media vouchers</a>” that <a href="https://www.cjr.org/business_of_news/the-local-journalism-initiative.php">allow voters</a> to allocate funds or other ambitious <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/opinions/2022/10/17/local-news-crisis-plan-fix-perry-bacon/">proposals</a> for creating tens of thousands of new journalism jobs across the country.</p>
<p>Is it worth it?</p>
<p>In our view, a crisis that imperils American democracy demands no less than a bold and comprehensive civic response.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/222677/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>How can an industry experiencing systemic failure get back on its feet?Rodney Benson, Professor of Media, Culture and Communication, New York UniversityVictor Pickard, C. Edwin Baker Professor of Media Policy and Political Economy, University of PennsylvaniaLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2088902023-07-12T13:30:32Z2023-07-12T13:30:32ZWhen charities engage in ‘brand activism’, research shows they must demonstrate bravery to attract donations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535381/original/file-20230703-266873-82o4mi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=40%2C24%2C5378%2C3623&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Standing strong.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-people-activists-protesting-on-streets-1836342793">Ground Picture/Shutterstock</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Charities often rely on <a href="https://www.prweek.com/article/1577681/comic-relief-comms-drop-poverty-porn-focus-empowerment">“warm and fuzzy” images and “poverty porn” tactics</a> to attract donations. But in recent years, some UK not-for-profits have shifted towards <a href="https://theteam.co.uk/blog/battle-of-the-brands-charity-or-movement/">activism-driven campaigns</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.designweek.co.uk/issues/24-30-may-2021/shelter-reveals-activism-inspired-rebrand-from-superunion/">Shelter’s 2021 Fight for Home campaign</a> took a bold stand in support of the human right to safe housing with a protest-inspired logo redesign and a campaign spotlighting real people affected by the UK housing crisis. And more recently, during Pride month (June), charities including the Worldwide Fund for Nature <a href="https://www.wwf.org.uk/pride">changed their logos to a rainbow</a> to signal their LGBTQ+ allyship.</p>
<p>Charities are clearly well positioned to undertake ad campaigns with notions of social change at their core. But our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41262-023-00319-8">recent research</a> shows they could risk creating the perception of hypocrisy with such strategies. They need to tread carefully with this kind of “brand activism”, <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0743915620947359?journalCode=ppoa">defined as taking a stance on a controversial sociopolitical issue</a>.</p>
<p>In March 2023, for instance, <a href="https://www.thirdsector.co.uk/oxfam-boss-hits-back-onslaught-criticism-its-staff-language-guide/communications/article/1817225">Oxfam faced significant backlash</a> when it launched an <a href="https://policy-practice.oxfam.org/resources/inclusive-language-guide-621487/">inclusive language guide</a> stating: “Language has the power to reinforce or deconstruct systems of power that maintain poverty, inequality and suffering”. The conservative right accused Oxfam of being <a href="https://www.newsletter.co.uk/news/politics/oxfam-language-guide-is-woke-drivel-says-mp-after-charity-issues-92-page-document-to-all-staff-4072368">too “woke”</a>. </p>
<p>This kind of brand activism is starkly different to conventional fundraising campaigns. Plus, donors don’t always respond positively to activism from charity brands, according to our research. Charities that want to use brand activism need to be wary if they want to attract donations rather than backlash.</p>
<h2>Charities need to adapt to survive</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.routledge.com/Charity-Marketing-Contemporary-Issues-Research-and-Practice/Hyde-Mitchell/p/book/9780367680893">Research indicates</a> that donors are typically driven by guilt, empathy and the warm glow of doing good, rather than a desire to change the system. So, if a charity wants to activate the desire to incite change, tactics such as brand activism can be more effective – but also controversial. Engaging in activism by taking a public stance on issues such as Black Lives Matter, #Metoo or LGBTQ+ rights could certainly enhance a brand’s image and engage consumers.</p>
<p>Traditionally, charitable organisations have not needed to “virtue signal” to prospective donors. After all, they are what is known in academic research as “<a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41262-020-00224-4">higher purpose natives</a>” – organisations with civic engagement at their core.</p>
<p>But times have changed. A recent report shows signs of recovery to pre-pandemic giving levels but reveals a <a href="https://nfpresearch.com/research/products/charity-awareness-monitor">long-term decline</a> overall. Approximately 69% of people donated to charity in the three months from April to June in 2019, compared to 63% over the same period in 2023. Furthermore, the awareness and visibility of charities are diminishing – research shows fewer people are able to <a href="https://nfpresearch.com/research/products/charity-awareness-monitor">recall the name of a charity</a> when asked.</p>
<p>Charities are also constantly faced with the need to prove their legitimacy as the public raises questions about their <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10495142.2019.1707744?journalCode=wnon20">transparency and trustworthiness</a>. This is partly due to the increasing engagement of for-profit companies in purpose-driven marketing efforts. </p>
<p><a href="https://theconversation.com/patagonias-founder-has-given-his-company-away-to-fight-climate-change-and-advance-conservation-5-questions-answered-190827">Clothing brand Patagonia</a> focuses on <a href="https://eu.patagonia.com/gb/en/activism/">environmental issues</a>, for example, while ice cream makers Ben & Jerry advocate <a href="https://www.benjerry.com/values">for social and equality matters</a>. </p>
<p>To adapt, survive and make sure their messages are also heard, charities can reposition themselves as movements and start to speak out to honour their core missions. But they also need to think about how best to continue to attract donations – particularly in the wake of <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9781003134169-103/building-powerful-charity-brands-max-du-bois-robert-longley-cook?context=ubx&refId=5b731e9b-3847-441a-a3b4-7ecfaa8732b2">sector-wide funding cuts</a> – without falling into the trap of “<a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/pdf/10.1177/0743915620947359?casa_token=nqgVILsnQ_wAAAAA:3IXVb4eet7JlE_fI980GhOfwcYsyJCUMgBFs-NBEB6NYXkPOOVeaFIPKksr4ef4tHb23hvjXp-I">woke washing</a>” (when actions are perceived as insincere or performative).</p>
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<strong>
Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/woke-washing-what-happens-when-marketing-communications-dont-match-corporate-practice-108035">Woke washing: what happens when marketing communications don't match corporate practice</a>
</strong>
</em>
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<h2>‘Brand bravery’ is essential to support activism</h2>
<p>Our <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1057/s41262-023-00319-8">new research</a> shows that “brand bravery” is key to successful brand activism campaigns in the not-for-profit sector.</p>
<p>Brand bravery should be an important part of a brand’s identity. It involves seven dimensions: <a href="https://www.emerald.com/insight/content/doi/10.1108/JPBM-04-2020-2879/full/html">altruism, boldness, courage, determination, endurance, fearlessness and grit</a>, according to research. Bravery means brands must <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/society/2022/feb/20/attack-on-woke-charities-has-backfired-campaigners-say">stand up</a> for – and communicate – beliefs and values, even if it requires courage and risk-taking. It’s about disrupting the status quo and shaping the future. As it is inherently divisive, the risks may involve losing some existing supporters as a result of taking a stand on certain issues.</p>
<p>In our study, we surveyed 518 British individuals on what they thought about a specific charity’s brand activism strategy, how brave they perceived the charity to be, if they believed the charity was being hypocritical and their overall impression of whether the brand activism strategy added value (brand equity). </p>
<p>We found that, without brand bravery, brand activism negatively impacts donors’ actions and feelings towards the charity. In fact, when people perceive a lack of bravery, they judge a brand to be hypocritical and are less likely to donate.</p>
<p>Donors’ moral foundations also have a part to play. When individuals have a strong concern for justice, they are more likely to perceive activism as a brave rather than a hypocritical act by the brand, which in turn shapes how they respond to the charity.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Woman with megaphone surrounded by other people with arms raised." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535377/original/file-20230703-241360-m0lz6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/535377/original/file-20230703-241360-m0lz6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535377/original/file-20230703-241360-m0lz6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535377/original/file-20230703-241360-m0lz6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=405&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535377/original/file-20230703-241360-m0lz6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535377/original/file-20230703-241360-m0lz6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/535377/original/file-20230703-241360-m0lz6y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=508&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Activists.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/group-female-activists-protesting-1243858555">Rawpixel.com/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>From ‘warm’ to ‘warrior’</h2>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/oct/14/the-guardian-view-on-the-national-trust-battleground-for-a-culture-war">ongoing discussions</a> about the inequalities that persist in the not-for-profit sector due to problematic institutions, systems and historical structures. The humanitarian sector is perceived to have grown out of a colonialist and racist past, which has cultivated a “<a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2018/feb/20/oxfam-abuse-scandal-haiti-colonialism">white saviour mentality”</a>. </p>
<p>Campaign groups such as <a href="https://charitysowhite.org/">Charity So White</a> have made inroads recently to attempt to dismantle these inequalities. When charities make the move away from being “warm” to being “warriors”, they are raising funds for their own causes. But they are also helping to disrupt the inherent assumption that all not-for-profits and the work they do are inherently “good”. </p>
<p>In this way, brand activism could be a catalyst for change within the third sector, if charities are brave enough to engage in this way.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/208890/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>The authors do not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>People are more likely to donate to charity when the brand shows ‘bravery’ by speaking up about social causes.Zoe Lee, Senior Lecturer in Marketing, Cardiff UniversityAmanda Spry, Lecturer of Marketing, RMIT UniversityJessica Vredenburg, Senior Lecturer (Assistant Professor) of Marketing, Auckland University of TechnologyLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2018482023-04-26T12:27:50Z2023-04-26T12:27:50ZIn protecting land for wildlife, size matters – here’s what it takes to conserve very large areas<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522457/original/file-20230424-28-en5ie0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=52%2C14%2C4940%2C3308&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">A bison herd on the America Prairie reserve in Montana.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.ca/detail/news-photo/bison-herd-on-the-american-prairie-reserve-roams-at-sunset-news-photo/1404493432">Amy Toensing/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Driving north on state Highway 66 through the <a href="https://ftbelknap.org/">Fort Belknap Indian Reservation</a> in central Montana, it’s easy to miss a small herd of bison lounging just off the road behind an 8-foot fence. Each winter, heavy snows drive bison out of Wyoming’s <a href="https://www.nps.gov/yell/learn/nature/bisonfaq.htm">Yellowstone National Park</a> – the only place in the U.S. where they have lived continuously since prehistoric times – and into Montana, where they are either killed or shipped off to tribal lands to avoid conflict with cattle ranchers. </p>
<p>In the winter of 2022-2023 alone, over 1,500 bison have been “removed,” <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2023/04/04/science/bison-hunt-yellowstone-native-americans.html">about 25% of Yellowstone’s entire population</a>. The bison at Fort Belknap are refugees that have been trucked 300 miles to the reservation from past Yellowstone winter culls.</p>
<p>Although bison are the <a href="https://www.doi.gov/blog/15-facts-about-our-national-mammal-american-bison">U.S. national mammal</a>, they exist in small and fragmented populations across the West. The federal government is working to restore healthy wild bison populations, relying heavily on <a href="https://www.doi.gov/pressreleases/interior-department-announces-significant-action-restore-bison-populations-part-new">sovereign tribal lands</a> to house them. </p>
<p>Indeed, tribal lands are the great wildlife refuges of the prairie. Fort Belknap is the only place in Montana where bison, critically endangered <a href="https://www.fws.gov/species/black-footed-ferret-mustela-nigripes">black-footed ferrets</a> and swift foxes, which occupy <a href="https://apnews.com/article/canada-montana-climate-and-environment-96dbd037644d8c35066ca84721d0afdc">about 40% of their historic range</a>, all have been restored.</p>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522814/original/file-20230425-3183-b7r83c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A black-footed ferret looks out of a burrow." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522814/original/file-20230425-3183-b7r83c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/522814/original/file-20230425-3183-b7r83c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522814/original/file-20230425-3183-b7r83c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522814/original/file-20230425-3183-b7r83c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=401&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522814/original/file-20230425-3183-b7r83c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522814/original/file-20230425-3183-b7r83c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/522814/original/file-20230425-3183-b7r83c.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Black-footed ferrets, which once ranged across the Great Plains, are one of the most endangered species in the U.S.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/8Zsu7o">J. Michael Lockhart, USFWS/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span>
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<p>But Indigenous communities can’t and shouldn’t be solely responsible for restoring wildlife. As an <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=CjwvzoIAAAAJ&hl=en">ecologist who studies prairie ecosystems</a>, I believe that conserving grassland wildlife in the U.S. Great Plains and elsewhere will require public and private organizations to work together to create new, larger protected areas where these species can roam.</p>
<h2>Rethinking how protected areas are made</h2>
<p>At a global scale, conservationists have done a remarkable job of conserving land, creating <a href="https://www.protectedplanet.net/en/thematic-areas/wdpa?tab=WDPA">over 6,000 terrestrial protected areas per year</a> over the past decade. But small has become the norm. The average size of newly created protected areas over that time frame is 23 square miles (60 square kilometers), down from 119 square miles (308 square kilometers) during the 1970s.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521154/original/file-20230416-24-rbuo27.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Chart showing number and average size of new protected areas from 1900-2020" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521154/original/file-20230416-24-rbuo27.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521154/original/file-20230416-24-rbuo27.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521154/original/file-20230416-24-rbuo27.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521154/original/file-20230416-24-rbuo27.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=333&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521154/original/file-20230416-24-rbuo27.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521154/original/file-20230416-24-rbuo27.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521154/original/file-20230416-24-rbuo27.png?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=418&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">From the 1970s through 2020, the annual rate of protected area creation on land (solid purple bars) increased, but these areas’ average size (hollow bars) decreased.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.protectedplanet.net/en">David Jachowski/Data from Protected Planet</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Creating large new protected areas is hard. As the human population grows, fewer and fewer places are available to be set aside for conservation. But <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/fee.2485">conserving large areas is important</a> because it makes it possible to restore critical ecological processes like migration and to sustain populations of endangered wildlife like bison that need room to roam.</p>
<p>Creating an extensive protected area in the Great Plains is particularly difficult because this area was <a href="https://theconversation.com/animals-large-and-small-once-covered-north-americas-prairies-and-in-some-places-they-could-again-126989">largely passed over</a> when the U.S. national park system was created. But it’s becoming clear that it is possible to create large protected areas through nontraditional methods.</p>
<p>Consider <a href="https://americanprairie.org/">American Prairie</a>, a nonprofit that is working to stitch together public and tribal lands to create a Connecticut-sized protected area for grassland wildlife in Montana. Since 2004, American Prairie has made 37 land purchases and amassed a habitat base of 460,000 acres (about 720 square miles, or 1,865 square kilometers). </p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Kas2WEMyino?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">The American Prairie initiative is working to create a protected zone of prairie grassland the size of Connecticut by knitting together public and private lands where ranchers and others are still working.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Similarly, in Australia, nonprofits are making <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-new-major-players-in-conservation-ngos-thrive-while-national-parks-struggle-199880">staggering progress in conserving land</a> while government agencies struggle with funding cuts and bureaucratic hurdles. Today, Australia is second only to the U.S. in its amount of land managed privately for conservation.</p>
<h2>Big ideas make room for smaller actions</h2>
<p>Having worked to conserve wildlife in this region for over 20 years, I have seen firsthand that by setting a sweeping goal of connecting 3.2 million acres (5,000 square miles, or 13,000 square kilometers), American Prairie has reframed the scale at which conservation success is measured in the Great Plains. By raising the bar for land protection, they have made other conservation organizations seem more moderate and created new opportunities for those groups.</p>
<p>One leading beneficiary is <a href="https://www.nature.org/en-us/">The Nature Conservancy</a>, which <a href="https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/northern-great-plains/">owns the 60,000-acre Matador Ranch</a> within the American Prairie focal area. When the conservancy first purchased the property, local ranchers were skeptical. But that skepticism has turned to support because the conservancy isn’t trying to create a protected area. </p>
<p>Instead, it uses the ranch as a <a href="https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/matador-ranch/">grassbank</a> – a place where ranchers can graze cattle at a low cost, and in return, pledge to follow wildlife-friendly practices on their own land, such as altering fences to allow migratory pronghorn to slip underneath. Via the grassbank, ranchers are now using these wildlife conservation techniques on an <a href="https://www.nature.org/en-us/get-involved/how-to-help/places-we-protect/northern-great-plains/">additional 240,000 acres</a> of private property. </p>
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<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XyvfiNDtiAI?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">Using smooth wire instead of barbed wire for prairie fences enables pronghorn to cross under them with less chance of injury.</span></figcaption>
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<p>Other moderate conservation organizations are also working with ranchers. For example, this year the Bezos Earth Fund has contributed heavily to the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s annual grants program, helping to make a record <a href="https://www.nfwf.org/programs/northern-great-plains-program/northern-great-plains-2023-request-proposals">$US16 million</a> available to reward ranchers for taking wildlife-friendly actions. </p>
<p>A collective model for achieving a large-scale protected area in the region has taken shape. American Prairie provides the vision and acts to link large tracts of protected land for restoring wildlife. Other organizations work with surrounding landowners to increase tolerance toward wildlife so those animals can move about more freely. </p>
<p>Instead of aiming to create a single polygon of protected land on a map, this new approach seeks to assemble a large protected area with diverse owners who all benefit from participating. Rather than excluding people, it integrates local communities to achieve large-scale conservation.</p>
<h2>A global pathway to 30x30</h2>
<p>This Montana example is not unique. In a recent study, colleagues and I found that when conservationists propose creating very large protected areas, they <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.14080">transform conservation discussions</a> and draw in other organizations that together can achieve big results. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CrL2AL2Lgt6/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<p>Many recent successes started with a single actor leading the charge. Perhaps the most notable example is the recently created <a href="https://www.maraemoana.gov.ck/#henry-puna">Cook Islands Marine Park</a>, also known as Marae Moana, which covers 735,000 square miles (1.9 million square kilometers) in the South Pacific. The reserve’s origin can be traced back to <a href="https://psmag.com/news/cook-islands-the-tiny-island-nation-developing-a-huge-new-marine-park">Kevin Iro</a>, an outspoken former professional rugby player and member of the islands’ tourism board. </p>
<p>While some individual conservation organizations have found that this strategy works, global, national and local policymakers are not setting comparable large-scale targets as they discuss how to meet an ambitious worldwide goal of <a href="https://www.cfr.org/article/goal-conserve-30-percent-planet-2030-biodiversity-climate">protecting 30% of the planet for wildlife by 2030</a>. The 30x30 target was <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/climate/biodiversity-cop15-montreal-30x30.html">adopted by 190 countries</a> at an international conference in 2022 on saving biodiversity.</p>
<p>Critics argue that large protected areas are too complicated to create and too expensive to maintain, or that they exclude local communities. However, new models show that there is a sustainable and inclusive way to move forward. </p>
<p>In my view, 30x30 policymakers should act boldly and include large protected area targets in current policies. Past experience shows that failing to do so will mean that future protected areas <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-great-amazon-land-grab-how-brazils-government-is-clearing-the-way-for-deforestation-173416">become smaller and smaller</a> and ultimately fail to address Earth’s biodiversity crisis.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/201848/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Jachowski does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Governments and wildlife advocates are working to protect 30% of Earth’s lands and waters for nature by 2030. An ecologist explains why creating large protected areas should be a top priority.David Jachowski, Associate Professor of Wildlife Ecology, Clemson UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/2035012023-04-19T16:45:54Z2023-04-19T16:45:54ZWhy donation requests at the checkout are wearing our patience thin<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521695/original/file-20230418-22-vjh4gw.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=11%2C0%2C1905%2C1276&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Since 2019, charities have accrued [more than €50 million](https://www.larrondi.org/) through donations at checkout.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://pxhere.com/fr/photo/1610102">Pxhere </a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/">CC BY-NC</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>“Would you like to round up the value of your purchases to the nearest euro, to support a charity?” Recently many shoppers have had to respond yes or no to this question at the till, in aid of Ukrainians, victims of the earthquake in Eastern Turkey/Syria, or for the “Small Change” (<em>Pièces Jaunes</em>) campaign for children in hospital.</p>
<p>The sums – a few euro-cents when you’re at the till – may seem derisory. However the act of microdonation (or rounding up your bill, or gifts to ‘check-out charities’, as they’re called in the English-speaking world) is becoming increasingly common among retail brands who see it as a way to boost their reputation. This form of giving has enabled <a href="https://www.larrondi.org/">more than €50 million</a> to be collected in France since 2010.</p>
<p>Some customers find this an easy and painless way to support a charity. However, asking us to donate on each journey to the till can end up aggravating. Instead of an opportunity to show generosity, it can become a cause for embarrassment, guilt or indeed bad temper when the shopper has to say no out loud.</p>
<h2>I don’t have any money!</h2>
<p>If you experience these types of sentiments when you’re asked for a check-out donation, rest assured you’re not alone. In the US the phenomenon is so well known that a character in the cartoon South Park hits out at being solicited, and mentions of ‘Stop Asking Me to Donate’ spread over Twitter.</p>
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<p>Following up on <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/publication/356681104_Nos_clients_ont_le_don_d%27en_faire_un_quel_role_la_proximite_enseigne-client_joue-t-elle_dans_la_decision_de_faire_un_don_en_caisse">a study</a> suggesting there are optimum conditions for attracting check-out donations – making the ask via an electronic payment terminal rather than face-to-face, in a specialist chain store, particularly in the sports and leisure sector, with a big geographical catchment – I led a Twitter analysis to understand not why people give but rather, why they refuse to do so. In this way, one can find evidence of three different causes of annoyance associated with asking for money at the till.</p>
<p>The first is over-solicitation. Due to the multiple channels through which people are asked to give – over e-mail, by telephone, in person, by mail, at the check-out etc – and places where they are asked (in the street, through their letterbox, at work, while they’re shopping, etc.) potential donors suffer from a lack of tailoring, as they’re deluged by causes that rarely interest them. In this scenario, the appeal for donations at the till is like another droplet in a water torture regime designed to drive the victim mad. A Tweet illustrates this sense of exasperation:</p>
<p>Secondly, fed-up donors pan the lack of reciprocity in the arrangement: why should we give, when the store doesn’t? In our study, looking at 706 Tweets, businesses which ask for charity donations are accused of acting selfishly in 61% of cases, compared to just 11.8% when it’s the charity itself asking for money.</p>
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<img alt="" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521701/original/file-20230418-26-39ypq2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/521701/original/file-20230418-26-39ypq2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521701/original/file-20230418-26-39ypq2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521701/original/file-20230418-26-39ypq2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=232&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521701/original/file-20230418-26-39ypq2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521701/original/file-20230418-26-39ypq2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/521701/original/file-20230418-26-39ypq2.jpeg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=291&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
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<p>Finally, annoyed shoppers question the legitimacy of chains fundraising on charities’ behalf. Customers can sometimes find it hard to tell the difference between a brand’s sincere support for a cause, and reputation laundering. Often this leads them to want to know where the donated money is going.</p>
<p>Contrary to certain assumptions, however, businesses that donate the extra pennies from rounding up the value of purchases don’t get a cut from this. Thanks to a feature installed in payment terminals by fintech social enterprise <a href="https://www.microdon.org/">MicroDON</a> (or by banks that have invested in microdonation technology, such as France’s Banque Populaire), the money given by consumers is directed in a transparent manner toward chosen charities. In France, for amounts over 5 euros per store per year, customers can even exercise their right to tax exemptions.</p>
<p>By examining the downsides of asking for money donations, it allows us to better understand how to adapt charity gift campaigns to avoid wearing out donors’ generosity. In fact, chains and charities should take into consideration customers who don’t see rounding up the value of purchases for charity donations in a positive light.</p>
<p>On the one hand, “irritated customers” sense a kind of illegitimacy in a chain associating itself with their gift, which could damage the brand’s image in their eyes and their desire to go back there. On the other, “annoyed donors,” tired of being solicited to give money wherever they go, by multiple means, without a message tailored to them, might just give up on charity appeals.</p>
<p>This study, which set out to improve the experience of charity giving, could lead us to pose the following question: at the end of the day, why should we give at all? Why aren’t the extra pennies on your bill at the till just seen as a marketing tool like so many others, a weak or effective one depending on the store? One answer to this is that generosity is associated with so many virtues, for wider society but also for oneself. The act of giving evidently gives you a warm glow inside, reducing stress and the risk of heart attack, and enables you, as promoters of charity giving would be keen to claim, to better appreciate life. Nothing less than that!</p>
<hr>
<p><em>This article was translated from French by <a href="https://twitter.com/JoshNeicho">Joshua Neicho</a></em>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/203501/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elodie Manthé ne travaille pas, ne conseille pas, ne possède pas de parts, ne reçoit pas de fonds d'une organisation qui pourrait tirer profit de cet article, et n'a déclaré aucune autre affiliation que son organisme de recherche.</span></em></p>Excessive donation requests can end up triggering donor fatigue or inspiring accusations of ‘social washing’.Elodie Manthé, Maître de Conférences en Sciences de gestion, Université Savoie Mont BlancLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1994712023-04-14T12:19:20Z2023-04-14T12:19:20Z‘Effective altruism’ has caught on with billionaire donors – but is the world’s most headline-making one on board?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518049/original/file-20230328-22-bvafc9.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=4%2C0%2C1017%2C682&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">SpaceX founder Elon Musk speaks during a T-Mobile and SpaceX joint event on Aug. 25, 2022, in Texas. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/spacex-founder-elon-musk-speaks-during-a-t-mobile-and-news-photo/1242718935?adppopup=true">Michael Gonzalez/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>One of the ways tech billionaire Elon Musk attracts supporters is the vision he seems to have for the future: people driving fully autonomous electric vehicles, <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/04/23/elon-musk-aiming-for-mars-so-humanity-is-not-a-single-planet-species.html">colonizing other planets</a> and even <a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musk-launches-neuralink-to-connect-brains-with-computers-1490642652">merging their brains with artificial intelligence</a>.</p>
<p>Part of such notions’ appeal may be the argument that they’re not just exciting, or profitable, but would benefit humanity as a whole. At times, Musk’s high-tech mission seems to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/10/08/business/effective-altruism-elon-musk.html">overlap with “longtermism</a>” and “effective altruism,” ideas <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/05/opinion/the-case-for-longtermism.html">promoted by</a> Oxford philosopher <a href="https://www.philosophy.ox.ac.uk/people/william-macaskill">William MacAskill</a> and several <a href="https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2022/8/8/23150496/effective-altruism-sam-bankman-fried-dustin-moskovitz-billionaire-philanthropy-crytocurrency">billionaire donors</a>, such as Facebook co-founder Dustin Moskovitz and his wife, former reporter Cari Tuna. The effective altruism movement guides people toward <a href="https://theconversation.com/whats-effective-altruism-a-philosopher-explains-197856">doing the most good</a> they can with their resources, and Musk has claimed that <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1554335028313718784?lang=en">MacAskill’s philosophy echoes his own</a>.</p>
<p>But what do these phrases really mean – and how does Musk’s record stack up?</p>
<h2>The greatest good</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/15/the-reluctant-prophet-of-effective-altruism">Effective altruism is strongly related</a> to <a href="https://ethicsunwrapped.utexas.edu/glossary/utilitarianism">the ethical theory of utilitarianism</a>, particularly the work of the Australian philosopher <a href="https://uchv.princeton.edu/people/peter-singer">Peter Singer</a>.</p>
<p>In simple terms, utilitarianism holds that the right action is whichever maximizes net happiness. Like any moral philosophy, there is a dizzying array of varieties, but utilitarians generally share a couple of important principles.</p>
<p>First is a theory about <a href="https://longtermrisk.org/hedonistic-vs-preference-utilitarianism/">which values to promote</a>. “Hedonistic utilitarians” seek to promote pleasure and reduce pain. “Preference utilitarians” seek to satisfy as many individual preferences, such as to be healthy or lead meaningful lives, as possible.</p>
<p>Second is impartiality: One person’s pleasure, pain or preferences are as important as anyone else’s. This is often summed up by the expression “<a href="https://www.nybooks.com/articles/1973/04/05/animal-liberation/">each to count for one, and none for more than one</a>.” </p>
<p>Finally, utilitarianism ranks potential choices based on their outcomes, usually prioritizing whichever choice would lead to the greatest value – in other words, the greatest pleasure, the least amount of pain or the most preferences fulfilled.</p>
<p>In concrete terms, this means that utilitarians are likely to support policies like <a href="https://slate.com/technology/2021/05/vaccine-nationalism-covid-19-india.html">global vaccine distribution</a>, rather than hoarding doses for particular populations, in order to save more lives.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518044/original/file-20230328-27-11vxtc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A man in a dark-colored t-shirt speaks on a stage in front of a live audience, with two massive screens behind him." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518044/original/file-20230328-27-11vxtc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518044/original/file-20230328-27-11vxtc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518044/original/file-20230328-27-11vxtc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518044/original/file-20230328-27-11vxtc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518044/original/file-20230328-27-11vxtc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518044/original/file-20230328-27-11vxtc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518044/original/file-20230328-27-11vxtc.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Effective altruism philosopher William MacAskill gives a TED Talk in Vancouver in 2018.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/philosopher-will-macaskill-speaks-at-ted2018-the-age-of-news-photo/1301892651?adppopup=true">Lawrence Sumulong/Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Utilitarianism 2.0?</h2>
<p><a href="https://blog.apaonline.org/2021/03/29/is-effective-altruism-inherently-utilitarian/">Utilitarianism shares a number of features</a> with effective altruism. When it comes to making ethical decisions, both movements posit that no one person’s pleasure or pain counts more than anyone else’s. </p>
<p>In addition, both utilitarianism and effective altruism are agnostic about how to achieve their goals: what matters is achieving the greatest value, not necessarily how we get there.</p>
<p>Third, utilitarians and effective altruists often have a very wide “<a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/M2gBGYWEQDnrPt6nb/moral-circles-degrees-dimensions-visuals">moral circle</a>”: in other words, the kinds of living beings that they think ethical people should be concerned about. Effective altruists are frequently vegetarians; <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/iGpTbyXm3xtHQFhQ7/tyler-john-personhood-initiatives">many are also champions of animal rights</a>.</p>
<h2>Long-term view</h2>
<p>But what if people have ethical obligations not just toward sentient beings alive today – humans, animals, even aliens – but toward beings who will be born in a hundred, a thousand or even a billion years?</p>
<p>Longtermists, including many people involved in effective altruism, believe that those obligations matter just as much as our obligations to people living today. In this view, issues that pose an <a href="https://nickbostrom.com/existential/risks">existential risk</a> to humanity, such as a <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/15/the-reluctant-prophet-of-effective-altruism">giant asteroid</a> striking earth, are particularly important to solve, because they threaten <a href="https://globalprioritiesinstitute.org/wp-content/uploads/Toby-Newberry_How-many-lives-does-the-future-hold.pdf">everyone who could ever live</a>. Longtermists aim to guide humanity past these threats to ensure that future people can exist and live good lives, even in a billion years’ time.</p>
<p>Why do they care? Like utilitarians, effective altruists want to maximize happiness in the universe. If humanity goes extinct, then all those potentially good lives can’t happen. They can’t suffer – but they can’t have good lives, either.</p>
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<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518047/original/file-20230328-14-k8ogbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A futuristic drawing of a green atmosphere enclosed in a large dome in a barren landscape." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518047/original/file-20230328-14-k8ogbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/518047/original/file-20230328-14-k8ogbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518047/original/file-20230328-14-k8ogbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518047/original/file-20230328-14-k8ogbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=353&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518047/original/file-20230328-14-k8ogbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518047/original/file-20230328-14-k8ogbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/518047/original/file-20230328-14-k8ogbw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=443&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
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<span class="caption">Can Mars be part of the plan to save humanity?</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/illustration/futuristic-concept-of-gale-crater-enclosed-royalty-free-illustration/145091712?phrase=mars%20colony&adppopup=true">Steven Hobbs/Stocktrek Images via Getty Images</a></span>
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<h2>Measuring Musk</h2>
<p>Musk has claimed that MacAskill’s effective altruism “<a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1554335028313718784">is a close match for my philosophy</a>.” But how close is it really? It’s hard to grade someone on their particular moral commitments, but the record seems choppy.</p>
<p>To start, the original motivation for the effective altruism movement was <a href="https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/08/15/the-reluctant-prophet-of-effective-altruism">to help the global poor as much as possible</a>. </p>
<p>In 2021, the director of the United Nations World Food Program <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/10/26/economy/musk-world-hunger-wfp-intl/index.html">mentioned Musk’s wealth</a> in an interview, calling on him and fellow billionaire Jeff Bezos to donate US$6 billion. <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/">Musk’s net worth</a> is currently estimated to be $180 billion.</p>
<p>The CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and Twitter tweeted that <a href="https://theconversation.com/should-elon-musk-try-to-solve-the-problem-of-world-hunger-with-6-billion-5-questions-answered-171187">he would donate the money</a> if the U.N. could provide proof that that sum would <a href="https://www.abc10.com/article/news/verify/business-verify/elon-musk-indicated-2021-to-donate-6-billion-to-fighting-solving-world-hunger-if-un-met-conditions/536-cad0e59e-775d-4c3d-a309-b3ef93379a71">end world hunger</a>. The head of the World Food Program clarified that $6 billion would not solve the problem entirely, but save an estimated 42 million people from starvation, and provided the organization’s plan.</p>
<p>Musk did not, the public record suggests, donate to the World Food Program, but he did soon <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/12/12/elon-musk-gave-5-7-billion-to-charity-last-year-where-it-went-was-a-mystery-until-now/">give a similar amount</a> to his own foundation – a move some critics dismissed as a <a href="https://truthout.org/articles/musk-pledged-6b-to-solve-world-hunger-but-gave-it-to-his-own-foundation-instead/">tax dodge</a>, since a core principle of effective altruism is giving only to organizations whose <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/what_charity_navigator_gets_wrong_about_effective_altruism#">cost-effective impact</a> has been rigorously studied.</p>
<p>Making money is hardly a problem in effective altruists’ eyes. They famously have argued that instead of working for nonprofits on important social issues, it may be more impactful to <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-global-charities-altruism/young-smart-and-want-to-save-lives-become-a-banker-says-philosopher-idUSKCN0Q10M220150727">become investment bankers</a> and use that wealth to advance social issues – an idea called “<a href="https://80000hours.org/articles/earning-to-give/">earning to give</a>.” Nonetheless, Musk’s lack of transparency in that donation and his <a href="https://www.newsweek.com/could-elon-musk-have-solved-world-hunger-instead-buying-twitter-1700942">decision to then buy Twitter for seven times that amount</a> have generated controversy.</p>
<h2>Futuristic solutions</h2>
<p>Musk has claimed that some of the innovations he has invested in are <a href="https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2019-08-08/tesla-full-self-driving-fsd-technology">moral imperatives</a>, such as autonomous driving technology, which could save lives on the road. In fact, he has suggested that negative media coverage of autonomous driving <a href="https://www.theverge.com/2016/10/19/13341306/elon-musk-negative-media-autonomous-vehicles-killing-people">is tantamount to killing people</a> by dissuading them from using self-driving cars.</p>
<p>In this view, Tesla seems to be an innovative means to a utilitarian end. But there are dozens of other ways to save lives on the road that don’t require <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/05/gms-cruise-values-autonomous-vehicle-industry-at-8-trillion.html">expensive robot cars</a> that just happen to enrich Musk himself: <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2022-11-03/why-us-traffic-safety-fell-so-far-behind-other-countries">improved public transit</a>, auto safety laws and more walkable cities, to name a few. His Boring Company’s attempts to build tunnels under Los Angeles, meanwhile, have been criticized as <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/tech-news/urban-tunnels-musk-s-boring-co-draw-industry-skepticism-n1269677">expensive and ineffecient</a>.</p>
<p>The most obvious argument for <a href="https://www.thedailybeast.com/elon-musks-secret-obsession-with-human-extinction-explains-everything-hes-doing">Musk’s supposed longtermism</a> is his rocket and spacecraft company SpaceX, which he has tied to securing the human race’s <a href="https://news.yahoo.com/elon-musk-space-sun-death-163900796.html">future against extinction</a>. </p>
<p>Yet some longtermists are concerned about the consequences of a corporate space race, too. Political scientist <a href="https://politicalscience.jhu.edu/directory/daniel-deudney/">Daniel Deudney</a>, for example, has <a href="https://futurism.com/the-byte/johns-hopkins-professor-warns-totalitarian-military-space-empire">argued</a> that the roughshod race to colonize space could have dire political consequences, including a form of interplanetary totalitarianism as militaries and corporations carve up the cosmos. Some effective altruists <a href="https://80000hours.org/problem-profiles/space-governance/">are worried about these types of issues</a> as humans move toward the stars.</p>
<p>Is anyone, not just Musk, living up to effective altruism’s ideals today?</p>
<p>Answering this question requires thinking about three core questions: Are their initiatives trying to do the most good for everyone? Are they adopting the most effective means to help or simply the most exciting? And just as importantly: What kind of future do they envision? Anyone who cares about doing the most good they can should have an interest in creating the right kinds of future, rather than just getting us to any old future.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/199471/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Nicholas G. Evans receives funding from the Greenwall Foundation, National Science Foundation, Davis Educational Foundation, and the US Air Force Office of Scientific Research.</span></em></p>Effective altruism, often called ‘EA,’ is closely linked to utilitarian philosophy and calls for donors to carefully scrutinize whether their giving makes an impact.Nicholas G. Evans, Assistant Professor of Philosophy, UMass LowellLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1989772023-02-07T13:35:41Z2023-02-07T13:35:41ZOn the first-ever India Giving Day, the highest-earning ethnic group in the US gets a chance to step up and help their homeland<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/507970/original/file-20230202-14351-1p6zzq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=107%2C71%2C5883%2C3502&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Microsoft CEO and Chairman Satya Nadella is one of the most prominent Indian Americans. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/satya-nadela-speaks-on-stage-at-the-a-conversation-with-news-photo/1186121279?adppopup=true">Brad Barket/Getty Images for Fast Company</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Members of the Indian diaspora living in the U.S. are being urged to step up and channel money back to the homeland during a 24-hour charitable drive.</p>
<p>On March 2, 2023, the first <a href="https://www.indiagivingday.org/">India Giving Day</a> will take place. The plan is to encourage U.S.-based donors, especially the nation’s <a href="https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/indian-immigrants-united-states">2.7 million Indian immigrants</a> and the roughly <a href="https://carnegieendowment.org/2021/06/09/social-realities-of-indian-americans-results-from-2020-indian-american-attitudes-survey-pub-84667">1.3 million U.S.-born Americans of Indian origin</a>, to give to Indian causes in unison. </p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=a8EwKzoAAAAJ&hl=en">scholar interested in the role that charitable donations</a> play in international development, I expect this fundraising drive to raise millions of dollars for India-supporting nonprofits. </p>
<p>The campaign’s organizers will raise money to fund projects that will improve education, health care and gender equality and meet other important needs in a country with <a href="https://hdr.undp.org/system/files/documents/hdp-document/2022mpireportenpdf.pdf">228.9 million</a> people living in poverty, according to the 2022 <a href="https://ophi.org.uk/multidimensional-poverty-index/">Global Multidimensional Poverty Index</a> – more than anywhere else in the world.</p>
<h2>A nonprofit alliance</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://www.indiaphilanthropyalliance.org/">India Philanthropy Alliance</a>, a coalition of 14 U.S. nonprofits that fund development and humanitarian projects in India, is coordinating the event. Its members already raise a total of almost <a href="https://www.indiaphilanthropyalliance.org/">US$60 million annually</a> in the U.S. Their goal is to amass more funding collectively by holding an annual single-day push.</p>
<p>Although the alliance will welcome donations from anywhere and anyone, its main focus is to encourage Indian Americans and Indian immigrants who live in the U.S. to support its members, such as <a href="https://www.cryamerica.org/">CRY America</a>, a children’s rights nonprofit, and <a href="https://www.smsfoundation.org/about-us/">Sehgal Foundation</a>, an organization promoting rural development in India. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/india-philanthropy-alliance-begins-countdown-for-the-first-ever-india-giving-day-celebrating-contributions-by-americans-to-india-301721192.html">Giving days</a>, 24-hour campaigns to raise awareness and donations for specific organizations and causes, have become more common in the U.S. over the past 15 years. There are many for <a href="https://info.givegab.com/giving-days/">schools, hospitals and many other kinds of organizations</a> but <a href="https://www.givingtuesday.org/">Giving Tuesday</a> is the most popular. Held on the first Tuesday after Thanksgiving, it <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/givingtuesday-record-donations-holidays-2022/">raised over $3 billion</a> for a wide array of causes in 2022. </p>
<p>All told, Indian Americans give an <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/indian-americans-donate-1-bn-a-year-one-third-of-their-giving-potential-survey/articleshow/65033075.cms">estimated $1 billion annually</a> to charity. </p>
<p>There is the <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/nri/indian-americans-donate-1-bn-a-year-one-third-of-their-giving-potential-survey/articleshow/65033075.cms">potential for even higher sums</a> being raised from the many very rich Indian Americans – a long list that includes actress Mindy Kaling, Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai, economist Amartya Sen, Microsoft CEO and Chairman Satya Nadella – and the entire Indian American community.</p>
<p>That’s because <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2021/04/29/key-facts-about-asian-americans/">Indian Americans</a> are the nation’s <a href="https://www.livemint.com/news/india/indians-are-highest-earning-ethnic-group-in-usa-harsh-goenka-explains-why-11673748104413.html">highest-earning ethnic group</a>, and yet <a href="https://indiaspora.org/indian-american-community-engagement-survey/">they give away a smaller share of their income</a> than the U.S. average.</p>
<p>The alliance aims to see Indian American giving <a href="https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/blogs/voices/future-of-indian-american-philanthropy-trends/">triple to $3 billion</a>, with some of that total funding development and humanitarian projects in India. <a href="https://www.alliancemagazine.org/feature/whither-indian-diaspora-philanthropy/">India’s government</a> has also been vocal about wanting Indian Americans to contribute more toward India’s development. </p>
<h2>Giving to the homeland</h2>
<p>India Giving Day is an example of <a href="https://www.alliancemagazine.org/feature/complexities-diaspora-giving/">diaspora philanthropy</a> – giving back to one’s homeland, often by pooling resources with others who share the same heritage. This giving can be in the form of money, or time spent volunteering for a cause. It has also been called <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/21632324.2015.1053305">homeland philanthropy, migrant philanthropy</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0095399719890311">refugee philanthropy</a>. </p>
<p>A common way that immigrants and people whose parents or grandparents immigrated to the U.S. <a href="https://www.imf.org/external/pubs/ft/fandd/basics/76-remittances.htm">send money back to their homelands is through remittances</a> – dispatching money across international lines to family and friends to help them get by. Total remittances globally <a href="https://www.worldbank.org/en/news/press-release/2022/11/30/remittances-grow-5-percent-2022">grew 5% in 2022 to $626 billion</a>. The flows to India increased much more sharply, <a href="http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/96025878.cms?utm_source=contentofinterest&utm_medium=text&utm_campaign=cppst.">shooting up 12% to $100 billion</a>.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.alliancemagazine.org/feature/whats-difference-philanthropy-remittances/">Diaspora philanthropy</a> can be characterized as <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/23322103">collective remittances</a> for development and humanitarian projects. Diaspora communities are motivated to collectively give because of their <a href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-016-9755-7">shared identity and sense of responsibility</a> to their countries of origin. </p>
<p>There is currently no way to <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1805/24144">estimate diaspora philanthropy’s scale</a>. One reason for that is that funding is channeled through countless intermediaries, from <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/oa-edit/10.4324/9781003241003-10/beyond-north%E2%80%93south-dyad-susan-appe?context=ubx&refId=e5ee5cb1-ba61-4855-9a44-99a024d32864">diaspora-led organizations</a> and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0012-155X.2004.00380.x">hometown associations</a> to <a href="https://hdl.handle.net/1805/23421">universities</a>. </p>
<p>While India is of <a href="https://www.economist.com/briefing/2022/05/14/india-is-likely-to-be-the-worlds-fastest-growing-big-economy-this-year">one of the world’s fastest-growing economies</a>, it also has daunting needs when it comes to addressing poverty in its lowest-income regions.</p>
<p>For that reason, I believe any drive to encourage the flow of charitable dollars to India is to be welcomed. The cash raised through the India Giving Day campaign will help fund an array of projects, such as nutritional programs for children and expectant mothers, educational centers for child laborers and efforts to supply sewing machines for women’s cooperatives.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/198977/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Susan Appe does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Indian American donors will have an opportunity to collectively fund improvements in education, health care and gender equality in India on March 2, 2023.Susan Appe, Associate Professor of Public Administration and Policy, University at Albany, State University of New YorkLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1935382022-12-19T05:47:37Z2022-12-19T05:47:37ZLongtermism – why the million-year philosophy can’t be ignored<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501724/original/file-20221218-11-y41zmq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C23%2C5220%2C3456&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">
</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/xU5Mqq0Chck">Drew Beamer / Unsplash</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>In 2017, the Scottish philosopher William MacAskill <a href="https://forum.effectivealtruism.org/posts/qZyshHCNkjs3TvSem/longtermism">coined</a> the name “longtermism” to describe the idea “that positively affecting the long-run future is a key moral priority of our time”. The label took off among like-minded philosophers and members of the “effective altruism” movement, which sets out to use evidence and reason to determine how individuals can best help the world.</p>
<p>This year, the notion has leapt from philosophical discussions to headlines. In August, MacAskill published a <a href="https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/What_We_Owe_The_Future/luNmEAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0">book</a> on his ideas, accompanied by a barrage of media coverage and endorsements from the likes of <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1554335028313718784">Elon Musk</a>. November saw more media attention as a company set up by <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/09/books/review/effective-altruism-sam-bankman-fried-crypto.html">Sam Bankman-Fried</a>, a prominent financial backer of the movement, collapsed in spectacular fashion. </p>
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<p>Critics say longtermism relies on <a href="https://schwitzsplinters.blogspot.com/2022/01/against-longtermism.html">making impossible predictions</a> about the future, gets caught up in speculation about <a href="https://nymag.com/intelligencer/2022/08/why-effective-altruists-fear-the-ai-apocalypse.html">robot apocalypses and asteroid strikes</a>, depends on wrongheaded moral views, and ultimately fails to give present needs the attention they deserve.</p>
<p>But it would be a mistake to simply dismiss longtermism. It raises thorny philosophical problems – and even if we disagree with some of the answers, we can’t ignore the questions.</p>
<h2>Why all the fuss?</h2>
<p>It’s hardly novel to note that modern society has a huge impact on the prospects of future generations. Environmentalists and peace activists have been making this point for a long time – and emphasising the importance of wielding our power responsibly.</p>
<p>In particular, “<a href="https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/justice-intergenerational/">intergenerational justice</a>” has become a familiar phrase, most often with reference to climate change.</p>
<p>Seen in this light, longtermism may look like simple common sense. So why the buzz and rapid uptake of this term? Does the novelty lie simply in bold speculation about the future of technology — such as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2022/nov/20/sam-bankman-fried-longtermism-effective-altruism-future-fund">biotechnology and artificial intelligence</a> – and its implications for humanity’s future?</p>
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Read more:
<a href="https://theconversation.com/what-do-we-owe-future-generations-and-what-can-we-do-to-make-their-world-a-better-place-189591">What do we owe future generations? And what can we do to make their world a better place?</a>
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<p>For example, MacAskill acknowledges we are not doing enough about the threat of climate change, but points out other potential future sources of human misery or extinction that could be even worse. What about a tyrannical regime enabled by AI from which there is no escape? Or an engineered biological pathogen that wipes out the human species?</p>
<p>These are conceivable scenarios, but there is a real danger in getting carried away with sci-fi thrills. To the extent that longtermism chases headlines through rash predictions about unfamiliar future threats, the movement is wide open for criticism.</p>
<p>Moreover, the predictions that really matter are about whether and how we can <em>change</em> the probability of any given future threat. What sort of actions would best protect humankind? </p>
<p>Longtermism, like effective altruism more broadly, has been <a href="https://www.lrb.co.uk/the-paper/v37/n18/amia-srinivasan/stop-the-robot-apocalypse">criticised</a> for a bias towards philanthropic direct action – targeted, outcome-oriented projects – to save humanity from specific ills. It is quite plausible that less direct strategies, such as building solidarity and strengthening shared institutions, would be better ways to equip the world to respond to future challenges, however surprising they turn out to be. </p>
<h2>Optimising the future</h2>
<p>There are in any case interesting and probing insights to be found in longtermism. Its novelty arguably lies not in the way it might guide our particular choices, but in how it provokes us to reckon with the reasoning <em>behind</em> our choices.</p>
<p>A core principle of effective altruism is that, regardless of how large an effort we make towards promoting the “general good” — or benefiting others from an impartial point of view — we should try to optimise: we should try to do as much good as possible with our effort. By this test, most of us may be less altruistic than we thought.</p>
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<span class="caption">Always optimise: the idea you should do the maximum good possible with your efforts is a key tenet of effective altruism.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://unsplash.com/photos/P8LFkBnTGVY">Sanjay Koranga / Unsplash</a></span>
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<p>For example, say you volunteer for a local charity supporting homeless people, and you think you are doing this for the “general good”. If you would better achieve that end, however, by joining a different campaign, you are either making a strategic mistake or else your motivations are more nuanced. <em>For better or worse</em>, perhaps you are less impartial, and more committed to special relationships with particular local people, than you thought.</p>
<p>In this context, impartiality means regarding all people’s wellbeing as equally worthy of promotion. Effective altruism was initially preoccupied with what this demands in the spatial sense: equal concern for people’s wellbeing wherever they are in the world. </p>
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<p>Longtermism extends this thinking to what impartiality demands in the temporal sense: equal concern for people’s wellbeing wherever they are <em>in time</em>. If we care about the wellbeing of unborn people in the distant future, we can’t outright dismiss potential far-off threats to humanity – especially since there may be truly staggering numbers of future people. </p>
<h2>How should we think about future generations and risky ethical choices?</h2>
<p>An explicit focus on the wellbeing of future people unearths difficult questions that tend to get glossed over in traditional discussions of altruism and intergenerational justice.</p>
<p>For instance: is a world history containing more lives of positive wellbeing, all else being equal, better? If the answer is yes, it clearly raises the stakes of preventing human extinction. </p>
<p>A number of philosophers <a href="https://www.bostonreview.net/articles/the-new-moral-mathematics/">insist the answer is no</a> – more positive lives is not better. Some suggest that, once we realise this, we see that longtermism is overblown or else uninteresting.</p>
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<p>But the implications of this moral stance are less simple and intuitive than its proponents might wish. And premature human extinction is not the only concern of longtermism.</p>
<p>Speculation about the future also provokes reflection on how an altruist should respond to uncertainty.</p>
<p>For instance, is doing something with a 1% chance of helping a trillion people in the future better than doing something that is certain to help a billion people today? (The “expectation value” of the number of people helped by the speculative action is 1% of a trillion, or 10 billion – so it might outweigh the billion people to be helped today.) </p>
<p>For many people, this may seem like gambling with people’s lives – and not a great idea. But what about gambles with more favourable odds, and which involve only contemporaneous people? </p>
<p>There are important philosophical questions here about apt risk aversion when lives are at stake. And, going back a step, there are philosophical questions about the authority of any prediction: how certain can we be about whether a possible catastrophe will eventuate, given various actions we might take?</p>
<h2>Making philosophy everybody’s business</h2>
<p>As we have seen, longtermist reasoning can lead to counter-intuitive places. Some critics respond by eschewing rational choice and “optimisation” altogether. But where would that leave us? </p>
<p>The wiser response is to reflect on the combination of moral and empirical assumptions underpinning how we see a given choice. And to consider how changes to these assumptions would change the optimal choice.</p>
<p>Philosophers are used to dealing in extreme hypothetical scenarios. Our reactions to these can illuminate commitments that are ordinarily obscured. </p>
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/speaking-with-peter-singer-on-effective-altruism-40964">Speaking with: Peter Singer on effective altruism</a>
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<p>The longtermism movement makes this kind of philosophical reflection everybody’s business, by tabling extreme future threats as real possibilities. </p>
<p>But there remains a big jump between what is <em>possible</em> (and provokes clearer thinking) and what is in the end <em>pertinent</em> to our actual choices. Even whether we should further investigate any such jump is a complex, partly empirical question. </p>
<p>Humanity already faces many threats that we understand quite well, like climate change and massive loss of biodiversity. And, in responding to those threats, time is not on our side.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/193538/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Katie Steele will be a visiting scholar at the Global Priorities Institute, University of Oxford, in 2023.</span></em></p>Longtermism may be derided for focusing on implausible sci-fi scenarios of space colonisation and robot apocalypse, but it raises philosophical questions that are hard to dismiss.Katie Steele, Associate Professor in Philosophy, Australian National UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1966132022-12-16T13:15:30Z2022-12-16T13:15:30ZWealthy individuals are giving billions to solve the climate crisis – is it working?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501082/original/file-20221214-7173-ocymeu.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How should millions being pledged by individuals help solve the climate crisis?</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Werner</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>One of the best parts about being The Conversation is when we actually have a conversation in real life. And finally, we did just that recently with a fascinating event, co-sponsored by The Chronicle of Philanthropy, The Associated Press and GBH. Here is a recap from the <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/how-philanthropy-can-help-fight-the-climate-crisis-a-live-debate">Chronicle of Philanthropy</a>.</em></p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Watch the full event, “How Philanthropy Can Help Fight the Climate Crisis: a Live Debate.”</span></figcaption>
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<p><strong>By Sara Herschander, Chronicle of Philanthropy</strong></p>
<p>Major philanthropists have poured billions into fighting the climate crisis in recent years amid a growing sense of urgency. Their investments have sparked broader questions over philanthropy’s approach to confronting the crisis, which activists say will require trillions of dollars yearly to solve.</p>
<p>“There’s a difference between charity and change,” says Nick Tilsen, CEO of the NDN Collective, which aims to build Indigenous power through grant making and organizing. Tilsen would like to see more philanthropists invest in structural change and Indigenous environmental activism and stewardship. </p>
<p>Tilsen spoke alongside <a href="https://www.bezosearthfund.org/news-and-insights/meet-andrew-steer">Andrew Steer, CEO of the Bezos Earth Fund</a>; <a href="https://naturebeyond2020.com/team_member/brian-odonnell-us-strategy/">Brian O’Donnell, director of the Campaign for Nature</a>; and <a href="https://philanthropy.iupui.edu/people-directory/enrici-ashley.html">Ash Enrici</a>, assistant professor of philanthropic studies at Indiana University in a panel moderated by Caitlin Saks, a producer for PBS’ “Nova.” The event was sponsored by the <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/">Chronicle of Philanthropy</a>, The Associated Press and the Conversation as part of a partnership financed by the Lilly Endowment.</p>
<p>Read on for key highlights.</p>
<h2>Take the lead from grassroots groups</h2>
<p>It’s important that philanthropists take their cues from grassroots organizers and Indigenous people, who are on the front lines of the climate movement, says O’Donnell, whose Campaign for Nature aims to secure protections for 30% of the planet by 2030.</p>
<p>“We’ve done a lot of studying. We’ve done a lot of analysis. We have a lot of white papers,” O’Donnell said. “The time right now is for people who are making change — grassroots leaders who are holding governments, corporations and others accountable.”</p>
<p>Philanthropists have only recently begun to recognize the vital role that Native people play in protecting the planet, O’Donnell said. While Indigenous people make up only around 6% of the world’s population, they protect roughly 80% of its biodiversity. Yet only a small fraction of philanthropic dollars goes toward Indigenous groups, he said.</p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="a picture of 5 people listening intently to 4 panelists" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501086/original/file-20221214-9832-w4ynw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/501086/original/file-20221214-9832-w4ynw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501086/original/file-20221214-9832-w4ynw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501086/original/file-20221214-9832-w4ynw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501086/original/file-20221214-9832-w4ynw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501086/original/file-20221214-9832-w4ynw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/501086/original/file-20221214-9832-w4ynw3.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Audience members listen to ‘How Philanthropy Can Help Fight the Climate Crisis: a Live Debate.’</span>
<span class="attribution"><span class="source">John Werner</span>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nd/4.0/">CC BY-ND</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>“If you invest in the self-determination of Indigenous people, who are defending, developing and decolonizing, it’s contributing to addressing climate change and addressing racial inequality,” Tilsen said.</p>
<p>While an increasing number of government programs, like the Biden administration’s Justice40 Initiative, aim to support investments in people who have long been marginalized, nonprofits with leaders of color and those headed by Indigenous people often lack the capacity they need to attract funding, says Tilsen. That’s where philanthropy comes in, he added.</p>
<p>“Philanthropy can change their positionality,” says Tilsen, who noted that groups need investments to build capacity and attract broader funding for creating climate solutions.</p>
<h2>Role of philanthropy</h2>
<p>Philanthropy has the potential to catalyze innovation and spur broader reinvestment, says Steer, whose fund has pledged to disburse US$10 billion to climate causes in the next decade. The Bezos Earth Fund has been focusing on a set of 50 large-scale climate-solution grant-making decisions.</p>
<p>While the fund doesn’t purport to fully fund such far-reaching transitions into technologies like solar power, it aims to provide the start-up needed for broader government or corporate investments, Steer said.</p>
<p>“Each of those is on a path that will eventually cross into a positive tipping point. The problem is whether that tipping point will come soon enough,” says Steer, who called the climate crisis a “battle for our lives.”</p>
<p>Philanthropy is also able to be more nimble in its grant making than government funding, which is typically very specific in its aims and requirements, Ernici said. That’s a big advantage when it comes to combating climate change, whose effects can be unpredictable and often force organizers to shift priorities unexpectedly.</p>
<p>“The environment doesn’t work in a linear fashion,” says Enrici, who is currently working on a multiyear study on environmental philanthropy. “A very inflexible grant or an inflexible way of funding is not necessarily the way we’re going to be able to effect environmental change.”</p>
<h2>Long-term change</h2>
<p>To that end, philanthropy aimed at addressing climate change ought to recognize the role it plays in a much longer and broader effort, Enrici said.</p>
<p>“Things happen with the environment on a very long-term scale,” she said. “You can’t make change happen in a one-year grant cycle or even a three-year grant cycle.”</p>
<p>It’s a philosophy that Steer emphasizes at the Bezos Earth Fund. Even the fund’s vast financial resources cannot alone fund the deep changes needed to combat climate change, he said. Instead, he wants the fund to support organizing around longer-term change.</p>
<p>“We shouldn’t think of it as cost,” Steer said. “It’s an investment in the future.”</p>
<p><em>The Chronicle of Philanthropy gave its permission for The Conversation to run its story.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/196613/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
A recent fascinating debate was held on the role of philanthropy in fighting climate change.Beth Daley, Executive Editor and General ManagerLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1959332022-12-10T05:52:03Z2022-12-10T05:52:03ZClimate crisis in Africa exposes real cause of hunger – colonial food systems that leave people more vulnerable<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/499297/original/file-20221206-8597-1i0jaw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Zawadi Msafiri is seen in a withered maize crop field in Kilifi County, Kenya. The drought situation started in 2021.</span> <span class="attribution"><span class="source">Photo by Dong Jianghui/Xinhua via Getty Images</span></span></figcaption></figure><p>In the waning hours of the year’s biggest climate change conference – COP27 – we learned of a deal to create a <a href="https://www.reuters.com/business/cop/countries-agree-loss-damage-fund-final-cop27-deal-elusive-2022-11-20/">loss and damage fund</a>. This is essentially a source of finance to compensate poor countries for the pain they are incurring because of climate change. An often-cited example of such suffering is the ongoing drought in the Horn of Africa region, which has put some <a href="https://www.un.org/africarenewal/magazine/november-2022/horn-africa-extreme-drought-deepens-hunger-region-facing-conflict">22 million people</a> at risk of severe hunger. </p>
<p>While <a href="https://www.undp.org/press-releases/statement-un-development-programme-administrator-achim-steiner-outcome-cop27-climate-negotiations">some</a> have heralded this agreement as long overdue <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/at-cop-27-joy-over-loss-and-damage-fund-is-tempered-by-reality-104497">climate reparations</a>, <a href="https://www.wri.org/news/statement-breakthrough-cop27-establishes-fund-aid-vulnerable-countries-facing-severe-climate?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=worldresources&utm_term=91a1d58e-bf89-4ceb-b8d4-863c6a3e917d&utm_content=&utm_campaign=cop27">others</a> point out that the loss and damage fund does nothing to address the root causes of climate change - fossil fuel emissions. </p>
<p>Here I seek to raise a different concern: this approach glosses over the fact that the types of food production systems that the global community has fostered in Africa leave the poorest more exposed and vulnerable to climatic variability and economic shocks. These food production systems refer to the ways people produce, store, process and distribute food, as well as the inputs into the system along the way.</p>
<p>Historically smallholder and women farmers have produced the lion’s share of food crops on the African continent. Over the past 60 years, global decision makers, big philanthropy, business interests and large swaths of the scientific community have focused on increased food production, trade, and energy intensive farming methods as the best way to address global and African hunger. </p>
<p>This approach to addressing hunger has failed to address food insecurity on the continent. Moderate to severe food insecurity affects nearly <a href="https://www.fao.org/documents/card/en/c/cc0640en">60% of Africans today</a>. It’s also resulted in food systems that are now more vulnerable to climate change. </p>
<p>The idea that the solution is to produce more dates back to the colonial period. It’s bad for the global environment, highly vulnerable to climate and energy shocks, and does not feed the poorest of the poor.</p>
<p>I approach this topic as a nature-society geographer who has spent his career studying agricultural development approaches and food systems in west and southern Africa. Through this work, I have come to see agroecology as more accessible to the poorest.</p>
<h2>Vulnerable food systems</h2>
<p>Each time there has been a global food crisis, variations on the formula of increased agricultural production, trade and energy intensive farming methods have been the <a href="https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03066150.2020.1823838">favoured solution</a>. These include the first Green Revolution of the 1960s-1970s, commodity production and trade in the 1980s-1990s, the New Green Revolution for Africa and public-private partnerships in the 2000s-2010s.</p>
<p>Many scholars now understand that food security has <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306919221001445">six dimensions</a>, of which only one is addressed by food production. </p>
<p>Looking at all six dimensions reveals the complex drivers of hunger. These include:</p>
<ul>
<li><p>food availability - local production and net imports </p></li>
<li><p>access - the ability of households to acquire food that is available</p></li>
<li><p>utilisation - the cooking, water and sanitation facilities needed to prepare healthy food</p></li>
<li><p>stability of food prices and supplies over time</p></li>
<li><p>sustainability - the ability to produce food without undermining the resource base</p></li>
<li><p>agency – people’s ability to control their food systems, from production to consumption. </p></li>
</ul>
<h2>Decolonising African agriculture</h2>
<p>So, how did we get here?</p>
<p>Certain countries and businesses profit from productionist approaches to addressing hunger. These include, for example, Monsanto, which developed the herbicide <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Jennifer-Clapp/publication/365767722_The_rise_of_big_food_and_agriculture_corporate_influence_in_the_food_system/links/63822891c2cb154d292d030b/The-rise-of-big-food-and-agriculture-corporate-influence-in-the-food-system.pdf">Round-Up</a>. Or the four companies (Archer-Daniels-Midland, Bunge, Cargill and Louis Dreyfus) that control <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/aug/23/record-profits-grain-firms-food-crisis-calls-windfall-tax">70%-90% of the global grain trade</a>. </p>
<p>The productionist focus is also engrained in the agricultural sciences. Tropical agronomy, now known as “development agronomy”, was central to the colonial enterprise in Africa. The <a href="https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9780429351105-3/political-agronomy-101-william-moseley">main objective for colonial powers</a> was to transform local food systems. This pushed many African households away from subsistence farming and the production of food for local markets. Instead, they moved towards the cultivation of commodity crops needed to fuel European economic expansion, such as cotton in Mali, coffee in Kenya, and cacao in Côte d'Ivoire.</p>
<p>While forced labour was employed in some instances, <a href="https://www.cambridge.org/us/academic/subjects/geography/geography-general-interest/peasant-cotton-revolution-west-africa-cote-divoire-18801995?format=PB&isbn=9780521788830">head taxes</a> became the preferred strategy in many cases for facilitating commodity crop production. Forced to pay such taxes in cash or face jail time, African farmers begrudgingly started to produce cash crops, or went to work on nearby plantations.</p>
<h2>Loss of risk management practices</h2>
<p>Accompanying the transition to commodity crop production was a gradual loss of risk management practices like storage of surplus grain. Many farmers and herders in Africa have had to deal with highly variable rainfall patterns for centuries. This makes them some of the foremost experts on climate change adaptation. Farmers would also plant a diverse range of crops with different rainfall requirements. Herders moved across large areas in search of the best pastures. </p>
<p>In the name of progress, colonial regimes often <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/41145912.pdf">encouraged herders to be less mobile throughout East Africa</a>. They also pushed farmers via taxation policies to store less grain in order to maximise commodity crop production. This opened up farmers to the full, deadly force of extended droughts, a <a href="https://ugapress.org/book/9780820344454/silent-violence/">situation that is well documented in northern Nigeria</a>.</p>
<p>Many problematic approaches have continued in the post-colonial period. </p>
<p>Various <a href="https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.0905717107">international and national policies</a> and programmes have encouraged African farmers to produce more crops, <a href="https://heinonline.org/HOL/Page?handle=hein.journals/brownjwa23&id=479&collection=journals&index=">using</a> imported seeds, pesticides and fertilisers in the name of development or hunger alleviation. </p>
<p>Even though African farmers may be producing more, they are left exposed to the ravages of variable climatic conditions. </p>
<h2>Agroecology and the way forward</h2>
<p><a href="https://www.fao.org/3/ca5602en/ca5602en.pdf">Agroecologists</a> can offer a different way forward. They seek to understand the ecological interactions between different crops, crops and the soil and atmosphere, and crops and insect communities. They seek to maintain soil fertility, minimise predation from pests and grow more crops without using chemical inputs. </p>
<p>Agroecologists often collaborate with and learn from farmers who have developed such practices over time and are in tune with local ecologies. This combination of experiential knowledge and formal science training makes agroecology a more decolonial science. It is also more accessible to the poor because there’s no need to buy expensive inputs or risk becoming indebted when crops fail.</p>
<p>The fact that agroecological farming is <a href="https://www.pambazuka.org/food-health/corporate-take-over-african-food-security">less expensive</a> has not been lost on the business community. They would lose out substantially if conventional farming approaches were no longer associated with hunger alleviation. </p>
<p>Furthermore, those in the agricultural sciences who have supported productionist approaches to hunger alleviation also see agroecology as a threat as it could lead to a decline of prestige and research funding.</p>
<p>There are signs that the global community may be on the <a href="https://www.fao.org/cfs/cfs-hlpe/insights/news-insights/news-detail/Is-the-global-food-system-on-the-cusp-of-a-major-shift-/en">cusp of a major shift in thinking</a> with regard to food systems, climate change and hunger. </p>
<p>A global food crisis has led some to question why previous solutions have not worked. We also now have an emerging, more decolonial science of agroecology that is increasingly accepted within the <a href="https://ijsaf.org/index.php/ijsaf/article/view/27">United Nations system</a>. It’s backed by a powerful social movement that refused to back down when corporate agricultural interests tried to hijack the 2021 <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10806-022-09882-7">UN Food Systems Summit</a>. </p>
<p>In some cases, there are also large institutional <a href="https://knowledge4policy.ec.europa.eu/global-food-nutrition-security/topic/agroecology_en">donors</a> experimenting with agroecological approaches, something almost unheard of a decade ago. </p>
<p>Lastly, there is a new set of <a href="https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10460-021-10247-5">leaders</a> within some African governments who understand what agroecology offers.</p>
<p>The ravages of climate change and hunger do not occur in isolation, but are part of the system we have built. That means we can build something different. The current crisis lays bare this problem and the right combination of new ideas, resources and political will can solve it.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/195933/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>William G. Moseley receives funding from the US National Science Foundation.</span></em></p>The ravages of climate change and hunger do not occur in isolation, but are part of the system we have built.William G. Moseley, DeWitt Wallace Professor of Geography, Director of Food, Agriculture & Society Program, Macalester CollegeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1898552022-09-30T12:28:10Z2022-09-30T12:28:10ZDo multimillion-dollar dinosaur auctions erode trust in science?<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/485915/original/file-20220921-8022-4e742t.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=74%2C0%2C7011%2C4716&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Sotheby's sold a 77 million-year-old Gorgosaurus skeleton for over $6 million in July 2022.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.co.uk/detail/news-photo/gorgosaurus-skeleton-is-on-display-during-a-press-preview-news-photo/1406957644?adppopup=true">Alexi Rosenfeld/Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Dinosaurs are in the news these days, but it’s not just for groundbreaking discoveries.</p>
<p>More and more paleontologists are ringing alarm bells about high-profile auctions in which dinosaur fossils sell for outrageous sums. The most recent example involves <a href="https://news.artnet.com/market/sothebys-gorgosaurus-skeleton-8-million-2142470">a 77 million-year-old <em>Gorgosaurus</em> skeleton</a> that Sotheby’s sold for over US$6 million in August 2022.</p>
<p>But that’s not even close to the most anyone ever paid for a dinosaur. In May 2022, Christie’s sold a <em>Deinonychus</em> skeleton for <a href="https://news.artnet.com/art-world/dinosaur-skeleton-christies-2114482">$12.4 million</a>. And a couple of months before that, Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism paid an <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/article/stan-the-t-rex-found-worlds-most-expensive-fossil-finds-home-in-a-new-museum">eye-popping $31.8 million for Stan</a>, a remarkably complete <em>T. rex</em> from South Dakota’s Hell Creek Formation that’s going to be the centerpiece of the Persian Gulf city’s new natural history museum.</p>
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<p>Some scientists are so dismayed they are speaking out. University of Edinburgh paleontologist Steve Brusatte <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11117517/Furious-paleontologists-blast-auction-houses-letting-super-rich-buy-dinosaur-specimens.html">told the Daily Mail</a> that auction houses turn valuable specimens into “little more than toys for the rich.” Thomas Carr from Carthage College in Wisconsin was <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-11117517/Furious-paleontologists-blast-auction-houses-letting-super-rich-buy-dinosaur-specimens.html">even more forthright</a>, saying, “Greed for money is what drives these auctions.” He also complained that wealthy elites – <a href="https://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2013/10/nicolas-cage-leonardo-dicaprio-dinosaur-skull">including actors Nicholas Cage and Leonardo DiCaprio</a> – are competing to acquire the best specimens in a game of juvenile one-upmanship, describing them as “thieves of time.”</p>
<p>Most commenters trace the booming market for dinosaurs <a href="https://www.fieldmuseum.org/blog/sue-t-rex">back to Sue, the largest and most complete <em>T. rex</em> ever found</a>. After the FBI confiscated it from <a href="https://www.bhigr.com/">the same group of fossil hunters</a> who found Stan, the Field Museum of Natural History in Chicago acquired it – with financial backing from Disney and McDonald’s – for over $8 million in 1997. </p>
<p>But as I document in my recent book, “<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Assembling-Dinosaur-Hunters-Tycoons-Spectacle/dp/067473758X/ref=sr_1_1?keywords=rieppel+assembling+the+dinosaur&qid=1662586515&sprefix=rieppel+ass%2Caps%2C61&sr=8-1">Assembling the Dinosaur</a>,” the commercial specimen trade is as old as the science of paleontology itself. And its history shows the debate over whether dinosaurs ought to be bought and sold involves much deeper questions about the long-standing but hotly contested relationship between science and capitalism.</p>
<h2>Two sides of the debate</h2>
<p>Paleontologists have good reason to oppose the commercial sale of valuable fossils. Science is fundamentally a community enterprise, and if specimens aren’t available for public examination, paleontologists have no way to assess whether new findings are true. What if a particularly outlandish theory is based on a fraudulent specimen?</p>
<p>This happens more often than you’d think. <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/35001723">In the late 1990s</a> a private collector purchased what appeared to be a feathered dinosaur at the Tucson Gem and Mineral Show. National Geographic subsequently reported on it to great fanfare, claiming it was a “missing link” between dinosaurs and modern birds. When scientists grew suspicious, <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/420285a">they found</a> that the so-called “<em>Archaeoraptor</em>” fossil combined pieces of several distinct specimens to make a chimerical creature that never existed.</p>
<p>But <a href="https://books.google.com/books/about/Rex_Appeal.html?id=o5TuAAAAMAAJ">commercial fossil hunters</a> make a compelling point, too. Most fossils first come to light through the natural process of erosion. Eventually, however, erosion also destroys the specimen itself – and there simply aren’t enough scientists to find every fossil before it is lost. Hence, the argument goes, commercial collectors should be celebrated for saving specimens by digging them up.</p>
<h2>Wealthy philanthropists distance themselves</h2>
<p>Both sides of the argument make a compelling point. But as the fiasco around “<em>Archaeoraptor</em>” reveals, it’s worth asking whether financial incentives erode trust.</p>
<p>Dinosaurs first came to the attention of geologists during the 19th century. In fact, these gigantic lizards did not acquire their name until the comparative anatomist Richard Owen invented <a href="https://books.google.com/books?id=mSTs2oyhdS0C&vq=dinosauria&pg=PA190#v=onepage&q&f=false">the biological category “Dinosauria”</a> in 1842. </p>
<figure class="align-right ">
<img alt="Portrait of man with white beard wearing a suit seated in a chair." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=797&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486846/original/file-20220927-14-pwsm69.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1001&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Industrialist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie had a dinosaur species, <em>Diplodocus carnegii</em>, named after him.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andrew_Carnegie#/media/File:Andrew_Carnegie,_by_Theodore_Marceau.jpg">Library of Congress</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>At that time, scientists <a href="https://doi.org/10.1177/0306312715570650">did not treat dinosaurs any differently</a> from other valuables that could be dug out of the ground, such as gold, silver and coal. Museums purchased most of their fossils from commercial collectors, often using funds donated by wealthy industrialists like Andrew Carnegie, who even had a dinosaur named after him: <em><a href="https://upittpress.org/books/9780822966524/">Diplodocus carnegii</a></em>.</p>
<p>That started to change at the very end of the 19th century, when there was a concerted effort to decommodify dinosaur bones, and museums began to distance themselves from the commercial specimen trade. </p>
<p>One impetus came from museums’ wealthy benefactors, <a href="https://link.springer.com/book/10.1057/9780230115569">who sought to demarcate</a> their charitable activities from the unsavory world of commerce. Philanthropists like Carnegie and J.P. Morgan gave money to cultural institutions because they wanted to signal their refined taste, their appreciation for learning and their republican virtues – not to enter into a business transaction.</p>
<p>Moreover, <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674979857">the first Gilded Age resembled the present</a> in that it, too, saw a sharp increase in economic inequality. This led to widespread class conflict, which could be <a href="https://www.haymarketbooks.org/books/1339-when-workers-shot-back">remarkably violent and bloody</a>. Afraid that incendiary labor leaders would bring the industrial economy to its knees, wealthy elites began <a href="https://www.google.com/books/edition/The_Gospel_of_Wealth_and_Other_Timely_Es/q5ALvRp61wgC?hl=en&gbpv=1&pg=PR3&printsec=frontcover">using public displays of conspicuous generosity</a> to demonstrate that American capitalism could yield public goods in addition to profits. </p>
<p>For all these reasons, it was essential for their philanthropic activities to be seen as selfless acts of genuine altruism, utterly divorced from the cutthroat competition of the marketplace.</p>
<h2>Scientists take control</h2>
<p>At the same time, paleontologists <a href="https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/3181/scientists-and-swindlers">embraced the language of “pure science”</a> to claim they produced knowledge for its own sake – not financial gain.</p>
<p>By arguing that their work was free from the corrupting influence of money, scientists made themselves <a href="https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/S/bo3626633.html">more trustworthy</a>.</p>
<p>Ironically, scientists found they could attract more funds by claiming to be completely uninterested in money, fashioning themselves into ideal recipients for the philanthropic largesse of wealthy elites. But that further necessitated a clear demarcation between the the culture of capitalism and the practice of science, which entailed a reluctance to acquire specimens via purchase.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Old photograph of three men working on an excavation site." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=413&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/486848/original/file-20220927-14-5t5l3y.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=518&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">At the turn of the 20th century, museums started funding excavations to unearth dinosaur bones.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://museum.wales/media/48597/thumb_1024/bone-cabin-quarry-1898-PublicDomain.jpg">Museum Wales</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>As scientists began shunning the commercial specimen trade, museums set about using the generous donations of wealthy philanthropists to mount increasingly ambitious expeditions that allowed scientists to collect fossils themselves.</p>
<h2>Dinosaurs in the New Gilded Age</h2>
<p>But their ability to control the private market for dinosaur bones did not last forever. With the United States in the middle of what some call a <a href="https://www.vox.com/first-person/2019/4/1/18286084/gilded-age-income-inequality-robber-baron">New Gilded Age</a>, it has come roaring back. </p>
<p>Today, the most spectacular dinosaur fossils often hail from the Jehol formation of <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/nature01420">northeastern China</a>. And more often than not, they are purchased from local farmers who supplement their incomes by hunting for fossils on the side. </p>
<p>As a result, the question of whether commercial incentives erode trust is back with a vengeance. Li Chun, a professor at Beijing’s prestigious Institute for Vertebrate Paleontology and Paleoanthropology, <a href="http://doi.org/10.1126/science.330.6012.1740">estimates that</a> more than 80% of all marine reptiles on display in Chinese museums have been deceptively altered to some degree, often to increase their value.</p>
<p>The age-old worry about whether the profit motive threatens to undermine the values of science is real. But it is hardly unique to paleontology. </p>
<p>The spectacular <a href="https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/549478/bad-blood-by-john-carreyrou/">implosion of Theranos</a>, a tech startup that secured more than $700 million in venture capital based on false promises of having developed a better way to conduct blood tests, is just just a particularly high-profile example of commercial deceit paired with scientific misconduct. So much scientific research is now being paid for by people who have a commercial stake in the knowledge produced – and you can see the ramifications in everything from <a href="https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/exxon-knew-about-climate-change-almost-40-years-ago/">Exxon’s decision to hide its early research on climate change</a> to Moderna’s recent move to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/08/26/business/moderna-covid-vaccine-lawsuit.html">begin enforcing its patent</a> on the mRNA technology behind the most effective COVID-19 vaccines. </p>
<p>Is it any wonder that <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/science/2022/02/15/americans-trust-in-scientists-other-groups-declines/">so many people have lost trust in science</a>?</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/189855/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lukas Rieppel has received funding from the National Science Foundation and the Mellon Foundation, among others.</span></em></p>Derided as ‘toys for the rich,’ the specimens being bought and sold raise broader questions about the relationship between science and capitalism.Lukas Rieppel, Associate Professor of History, Brown UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1866032022-09-23T15:49:40Z2022-09-23T15:49:40ZHow money and technology are militarising the fight against the illegal wildlife trade<p>Thousands of animals and plants are bought and sold each year <a href="https://ipbes.net/media_release/Sustainable_Use_Assessment_Published">globally</a> as food, medicine, clothing and furniture – even in the form of <a href="https://wildlifejustice.org/identifying-ebony-species-music-instruments-distinguish-illegally-traded-legally-traded-wood/">musical instruments</a>. Wildlife, it seems, is big business.</p>
<p>The illegal wildlife trade, which has an estimated value of at least <a href="https://www.unep.org/resources/report/rise-environmental-crime-growing-threat-natural-resources-peace-development-and">US$7 billion</a> (£5.9 billion) and potentially as much as US$23 billion, is driving some of the most well known species on Earth – especially rhinos, elephants, tigers, lions and, more recently, pangolins – towards extinction.</p>
<p>Since 2008, law enforcement has played a considerably bigger role in tackling the illegal wildlife trade, thanks to the <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X2030084X">support</a> of governments, private donors, conservation charities and businesses. The result is that counter-insurgency techniques, such as developing informant networks and contracting private security firms to train rangers in anti-poaching operations with military-grade weapons, have proliferated.</p>
<p>Meanwhile, many conservationists are turning to drones and other technologies to monitor species and enforce protective measures. This in turn creates new business for tech companies keen to build a green reputation. </p>
<p>Countries must find a way to tackle the illegal wildlife trade. But, as a researcher of the international politics of conservation, I believe that techniques and technologies more regularly deployed by law enforcement and security firms are not the answer.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="Two wildlife rangers in military-style uniforms holding rifles." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480597/original/file-20220823-17-bzckmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480597/original/file-20220823-17-bzckmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480597/original/file-20220823-17-bzckmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480597/original/file-20220823-17-bzckmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480597/original/file-20220823-17-bzckmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480597/original/file-20220823-17-bzckmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480597/original/file-20220823-17-bzckmi.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Rangers in Kruger Park, South Africa.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/kruger-park-south-africa-10-may-1988516507">WildSnap/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>The funding problem</h2>
<p>Between 2002 and 2018, the US Fish and Wildlife Service gave US$301 million to 4,142 conservation projects <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X2030084X">across 106 countries</a>. Over the course of those 16 years, an increasing portion was allocated to tackling the illegal wildlife trade, as part of a shift from strict species protection and projects to improve livelihoods.</p>
<p>In 2014, the US Congress allocated US$45 million in its foreign assistance biodiversity budget to tackle wildlife trafficking, increasing to US$55 million in 2015, US$80 million in 2016 and almost US$91 million in <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0305750X2030084X">2017, 2018 and 2019</a>. Similarly, the UK government’s illegal wildlife trade challenge fund allocated over <a href="https://direct.mit.edu/glep/article-abstract/22/2/23/108648/Crime-Security-and-Illegal-Wildlife-Trade?redirectedFrom=fulltext">£23 million to 75 projects</a> between 2013 and 2019. </p>
<p>The fund had three themes: developing sustainable livelihoods that could replace poaching (six funded projects), strengthening law enforcement and the role of the criminal justice system (62 funded projects) and reducing demand for wildlife products (seven funded projects).</p>
<p>The role of philanthropists in conservation funding is <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2011.01749.x">growing</a>. Examples include Howard Graham Buffet’s <a href="https://news.mongabay.com/2014/03/howard-g-buffett-puts-24m-toward-saving-rhinos/">US$23 million donation</a> in 2014 to help Kruger National park in South Africa tackle rhino poaching. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos established his <a href="https://www.bezosearthfund.org/">US$10 billion Earth fund</a> in 2021 to disburse grants to conservation initiatives, among other environmental causes. </p>
<p>This money can help conservationists respond quickly to emergency situations. Philanthropists tend to come from a business culture in which it’s normal to set goals and expect rapid, clear and trackable results in return for donations, which can be beneficial for planning effective action. </p>
<p>But some conservationists I interviewed while researching my book, <a href="https://yalebooks.yale.edu/book/9780300230185/security-and-conservation/">Security and Conservation</a>, said that it can result in unwelcome pressure on the people doing conservation work, such as rangers. They talked of expectations to increase the number of seizures of trafficked goods, obtain more arrests and generally pursue more aggressive anti-poaching efforts to secure quick results. </p>
<h2>Technology and security</h2>
<p>Conservation groups and tech companies have presented a range of technologies as cost-effective ways of cracking down on wildlife trafficking. These often involve forms of surveillance borrowed from the security sector, from drones and satellite monitoring of wildlife to artificial intelligence increasing the capacity of camera traps to identify potential poachers. Apps for the general public to report suspected illegal activity have even been developed.</p>
<figure class="align-center ">
<img alt="A herd of zebra running together on a dusty landscape." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480594/original/file-20220823-22-f5kybf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3144%2C2358&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/480594/original/file-20220823-22-f5kybf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480594/original/file-20220823-22-f5kybf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480594/original/file-20220823-22-f5kybf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=450&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480594/original/file-20220823-22-f5kybf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480594/original/file-20220823-22-f5kybf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/480594/original/file-20220823-22-f5kybf.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=566&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px">
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Surveillance technology has increasingly used in conservation.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.shutterstock.com/image-photo/zebras-arusha-tanzania-22072017-1037443297">Jost Jelovcan/Shutterstock</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Google’s global impact awards had a fund of US$23 million to help “non-profit tech innovators” (as Google called them) develop technological solutions for a range of global challenges, including conservation. In 2012, it granted more than US$5 million to the <a href="https://www.worldwildlife.org/videos/google-global-impact-awards">wildlife crime technology project</a>, which has pioneered <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/07/wwf-wildlife-drones-illegal-trade">aerial detection of poaching in Kenya</a> and DNA sequencing to determine the origin of illegal wildlife products. </p>
<p>These techniques are not necessarily problematic. But the lure of technology can overshadow the <a href="https://oxford.universitypressscholarship.com/view/10.1093/oso/9780198850243.001.0001/oso-9780198850243-chapter-12">vital work</a> of addressing the underlying drivers of poaching and trafficking, such as poverty and inequality.</p>
<p>Though the trade is by definition illegal, addressing it as a purely criminal matter ignores the fact that people are drawn into poaching for a range of reasons. The <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/0011392116673210">colonial-era dispossession</a> of people from places now designated as national parks has left an enduring legacy. A lack of economic alternatives in such places make poaching one of the <a href="https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0011392116673210">few viable sources of income</a>. </p>
<p>Global inequality is also a significant factor. Wildlife is often (but not exclusively) taken from poorer areas to serve demand in wealthier communities, with <a href="https://www.hup.harvard.edu/catalog.php?isbn=9780674260276">rosewood trafficked from Madagascar to China</a> and <a href="https://www.traffic.org/publications/reports/understanding-the-global-caviar-market/">illegal caviar</a> sourced from the Caspian sea serving luxury markets in London and Paris, among others. </p>
<p>Financial support from governments and <a href="https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/j.1467-7660.2011.01749.x">philanthropic foundations</a> has been an important factor in conservation, especially in the last 20 years. But faith in finding technological solutions to a problem that’s treated as a security issue makes it harder to develop and support the alternatives that could be more effective, including <a href="https://www.peoplenotpoaching.org/">sustainable livelihoods</a> for would-be poachers and reducing demand in wealthier countries.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186603/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Rosaleen Duffy receives funding from the European Research Council and the UK Economic and Social Research Council.</span></em></p>Money pouring into conservation has funded drones and military-style training for rangers.Rosaleen Duffy, Professor of International Politics, University of SheffieldLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1860312022-09-12T12:13:41Z2022-09-12T12:13:41ZHow you can help protect sharks – and what doesn’t work<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/483766/original/file-20220909-1182-fq1lk.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C181%2C2160%2C1435&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Whitetip sharks amid a school of anthias near Jarvis island in the South Pacific.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://flic.kr/p/JXZz61">Kelvin Gorospe, NOAA/NMFS/Pacific Islands Fisheries Science Center Blog/Flickr</a>, <a class="license" href="http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/">CC BY</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Sharks are some of the most ecologically important and most threatened animals on Earth. Recent reports show that <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2021.08.062">up to one-third of all known species of sharks and their relatives, rays</a>, are threatened with extinction. Unsustainable overfishing is the biggest threat by far. </p>
<p>Losing sharks can disrupt coastal food webs that billions of people depend on for food. When food chains lose their top predators, the rest can unravel as <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=121020">smaller prey species multiply</a>. </p>
<p>In my years of talking with the public about sharks and ocean conservation, I’ve found that many people care about sharks and want to help but don’t know how. The solutions can be quite technical, and it’s challenging to understand and appreciate the scale and scope of some of the threats. </p>
<p>At the same time, there is an enormous amount of oversimplification and even misinformation about these important topics, which can lead well-intentioned people to support policies that experts know won’t work. </p>
<p>I am a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=xb7noGAAAAAJ&hl=en">marine conservation biologist</a> and have sought to improve this situation by <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12668">surveying shark researchers</a> and helping scientists identify <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/csp2.12629">research topics that can advance conservation</a>. I’ve also written a book, “<a href="https://www.press.jhu.edu/books/title/12267/why-sharks-matter">Why Sharks Matter: A Deep Dive With the World’s Most Misunderstood Predator</a>.” Here are three ways that anyone can make a difference for sharks and avoid taking steps that are ineffective or even harmful.</p>
<figure>
<iframe width="440" height="260" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/tKXd8Ud1sOo?wmode=transparent&start=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen=""></iframe>
<figcaption><span class="caption">A 2020 study that surveyed 371 reefs found that sharks had virtually disappeared from about 20% of them.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Don’t eat unsustainable seafood</h2>
<p>The No. 1 threat to sharks and rays – and arguably, to marine biodiversity in general – is unsustainable overfishing. Some fishing methods <a href="https://celebrating200years.noaa.gov/visions/coral/side3.html">are incredibly destructive</a> to marine life and habitats. </p>
<p>They can also produce high rates of <a href="https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/insight/understanding-bycatch">bycatch</a> – the unintended catch of nontarget species. For example, fishermen pursuing tuna may accidentally catch sea turtles or sharks swimming near the tuna. </p>
<p>The single most effective thing that individual consumers can do is to avoid seafood produced using these harmful methods. This does not mean completely avoiding seafood, as <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2019/may/09/seas-stop-eating-fish-fishing-industry-government">some advocates urge</a>. Seafood is healthy, delicious and culturally important, and there are environmentally friendly ways of catching it sustainably. There are even <a href="https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cub.2016.12.017">sustainable fisheries for sharks</a>. </p>
<p>Reputable organizations such as California’s <a href="https://www.montereybayaquarium.org/">Monterey Bay Aquarium</a> publish <a href="https://www.seafoodwatch.org/">sustainable seafood guides</a> that rate different types of seafood based on how they are caught or raised. While experts may quibble over details of some of these rankings, consumers can follow these guidelines and know that they are helping to protect sharks and ocean life in general.</p>
<p><div data-react-class="InstagramEmbed" data-react-props="{"url":"https://www.instagram.com/p/CUvmPhQMu-5/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link","accessToken":"127105130696839|b4b75090c9688d81dfd245afe6052f20"}"></div></p>
<h2>Support reputable environmental nonprofits, not harmful extremists</h2>
<p>Lots of great environmental nonprofit organizations work on shark issues and offer opportunities to get involved, such as donating money and communicating with elected officials and other decision-makers. In my book, I describe the work of many of these groups, including my favorite, <a href="https://sharkadvocates.org/">Shark Advocates International</a>.</p>
<p>Unfortunately, some organizations promote pseudoscience that doesn’t help anyone or anything. In a 2021 study, colleagues and I surveyed employees of 78 nonprofits that work on shark conservation issues to understand whether and how these organizations engaged with the science of shark conservation. </p>
<p>We found that a small but vocal minority had never read scientific reports or spoken with scientists, and held <a href="https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-96020-4">blatantly incorrect and harmful views that cannot help sharks</a>. For example, some organizations are trying to get certain airlines to stop carrying shark products like dried fins, without acknowledging that well over 95% of fins are shipped by sea or that sustainable sources of these fins exist. </p>
<p>One of my particular pet peeves is amateur online petitions that may not reflect actual conditions. For example, in the spring of 2022, some 60,000 people signed a petition calling for Florida to ban the practice of shark finning – without recognizing that Florida had <a href="https://twitter.com/WhySharksMatter/status/1516046259748020225">banned shark finning in the early 1990s</a>. As I explain in my book, it is essential to identify organizations that use science in support of worthwhile conservation goals and avoid promoting others that do not.</p>
<h2>Look to experts</h2>
<p>Many ocean science, management and conservation experts are <a href="https://doi.org/10.1002/fsh.10031">active on social media</a>. Following them is a great way to learn about fascinating new scientific discoveries and conservation issues. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"1567886741985533953"}"></div></p>
<p>Unfortunately, sharks also get a lot of sensational coverage in the media, and well-intentioned but uninformed people often spread misinformation on social media. For example, you may have seen posts celebrating Hawaii for <a href="https://twitter.com/teamsharkwater/status/1486795216682110982?s=20&t=ulMIBdE-3wn7JS_Mfrzf0w">banning shark fishing in its waters</a> – but these posts don’t note that about 99% of fishing in Hawaii occurs in federal waters. </p>
<p>Don’t take the bait. By getting your information from reliable sources, you can help other people learn more about these fascinating, ecologically important animals, why they need humans’ help and the most effective steps to take.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/186031/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Shiffman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Sharks are much more severely threatened by humans than vice versa. A marine biologist explains how people can help protect sharks and why some strategies are more effective than others.David Shiffman, Post-Doctoral and Research Scholar in Marine Biology, Arizona State UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1826362022-05-13T12:13:48Z2022-05-13T12:13:48ZAbortion funds are in the spotlight with the end of Roe v. Wade – 3 findings about what they do<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/462316/original/file-20220510-2672-897xqz.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C3985%2C1857&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Most women helped by these charities are in their 20s.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/single-mom-working-at-home-online-with-her-child-on-royalty-free-image/1332810126">Damir Khabirov/iStock via Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>As soon as the <a href="https://theconversation.com/roe-overturned-what-you-need-to-know-about-the-supreme-court-abortion-decision-184692">Supreme Court handed down its ruling</a> that signaled the end of legal abortion in much of the country, <a href="https://jezebel.com/where-to-donate-abortion-access-roe-v-wade-1849053167">calls for donations to abortion funds</a> <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/skbaer/how-help-abortion-rights-after-roe">immediately rang</a> out.</p>
<p>There are <a href="https://www.marketplace.org/2022/05/05/funds-that-help-low-income-people-pay-for-abortions-are-seeing-a-sharp-uptick-in-donations/">at least 90</a> <a href="https://abortionfunds.org/about/abortion-funds-101/">of these funds</a> – donor-funded nonprofits that are often staffed by volunteers that <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/abortion-funds-donations-supreme-court-draft-majority-opinion-leak-roe-v-wade/">help people obtain abortions</a> they can’t afford by reducing the cost and assisting with travel, lodging and other services.</p>
<p>Before the ruling on June 24, 2022, abortion was already inaccessible in many cases because of <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2022/05/10/1097734167/in-texas-abortion-laws-inhibit-care-for-miscarriages">restrictive laws in such states as Texas</a> and <a href="https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-set-dive-mississippi-abortion-case-challenging-roe-v-n1285114">Mississippi</a> that have left many <a href="https://www.verywellhealth.com/abortion-access-ranking-states-5202659">counties with no abortion clinics</a> at all. Abortion funds generally partner with providers to help cover some out-of-pocket procedural costs on behalf of the patient, and some funds cover associated expenses such as <a href="https://abortionfunds.org/about/abortion-funds-101/">travel, child care and lodging for overnight stays</a>.</p>
<p>As a social work professor who studies <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AsV2eNIAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">reproductive health care</a>, I have led research that reviewed thousands of case records of patients who requested assistance from abortion funds to help pay for a procedure that they could not afford.</p>
<p>Here are three main findings from the studies I’ve conducted so far:</p>
<h2>1. Those assisted are likely to be parents</h2>
<p>About <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00981389.2016.1263270">20% of the people aided by these funds</a> were 11-19 years old, according to studies I led based on national data collected from 2010-2015. In contrast, only <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/reproductivehealth/data_stats/abortion.htm">14% of all people getting abortions</a> are in that age group.</p>
<p>As is the case for all patients who have abortions, more than half of the people getting help from the abortion funds we studied were in their 20s. Only 18% of them were in their 30s, versus 25% of all patients.</p>
<p>My team also found that only 60% of abortion fund patients were single, compared with 86% of all patients. And we determined that 50% of them were Black, versus 36% overall. </p>
<p>Nearly 60% of patients aided by abortion funds have children. Around 41% have one or two children, as opposed to 46% of all people who got abortions, and 18% of abortion fund patients had three or or more children, versus 14% overall.</p>
<p>These findings suggest that younger parents of color were disproportionately affected by abortion barriers during this period. </p>
<h2>2. Not all costs covered</h2>
<p>My research team found that abortion funds <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/00981389.2016.1263270">didn’t cover the full cost</a> for patients, or even the entire gap between the cost and what they could afford.</p>
<p>Patients typically requested help to pay for a procedure they expected to cost over US$2,200, when patients could only pay an average of $535. Abortion funds, in turn, were able to pledge an average of $256 on behalf of each patient. </p>
<p>We also determined that abortion costs were highest for patients age 11-13, at just over an average of $4,000. Those patients had only an average of $616 to pay those bills, and they received an average pledge of $414.</p>
<p>I also participated in <a href="https://doi.org/10.1093/hsw/hlaa012">another project</a> that analyzed more detailed data collected from 2001 to 2015 from an abortion fund operating in Florida. These patients faced an average procedural cost of almost $1,000 and received $140 in aid from the fund, on average. </p>
<p>When patients have trouble paying for an abortion, it can delay the procedure. That, in turn, tends to <a href="https://www.compasscare.info/health-information/abortion/abortion-costs/">make it even more expensive</a>.</p>
<h2>3. Other obstacles include travel and child care</h2>
<p>Patients seeking help from abortion funds <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07399332.2017.1367795">face many obstacles</a> besides paying medical bills that make it hard for them to get the care they were seeking. Another study I led found that the typical abortion fund patient faced <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07399332.2017.1367795">two of these barriers</a>.</p>
<p>Common challenges included juggling their parental responsibilities with finding the time and the means to <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2017.1316809">travel long distances</a> to a provider – including when <a href="https://www.guttmacher.org/evidence-you-can-use/waiting-periods-abortion">mandatory waiting periods</a> require multiple visits. Patients also dealt with unemployment or underemployment and <a href="https://doi.org/10.1080/07399332.2017.1367795">unstable housing</a>.</p>
<p>For full-time students, it could be hard to schedule appointments that would not interfere with their studies. </p>
<h2>More demand for help expected</h2>
<p>The <a href="https://abortionfunds.org/about/abortion-funds-101/">National Network of Abortion Funds</a>, an umbrella group, estimates that abortion funds helped about 56,000 patients in 2019, the most recent data available. </p>
<p>By overturning Roe v. Wade, the justices have left it up to the states to decide whether abortion will be allowed within their borders. <a href="https://apnews.com/article/abortion-us-supreme-court-health-religion-louisiana-bdba737fbefe5c5ecf08714abf2c9057">Abortion access will likely decline</a>, <a href="https://fortune.com/2022/05/03/abortions-costs-rise-more-expensive-roe-v-wade-overturned/">increasing costs</a> in many places for <a href="https://www.vox.com/policy-and-politics/23065585/democrats-roe-abortion-protection-law-legislature">patients who will have to travel to another state</a>.</p>
<p>Abortion funds, in turn, are likely to get more requests for support. These groups say they plan to respond by <a href="https://www.npr.org/local/305/2022/05/06/1097116030/how-local-abortion-funds-have-been-getting-ready-for-the-end-of-roe">helping as many people as they can</a>.</p>
<p><em>This article was updated on June 24, 2022, following the Supreme Court’s abortion ruling.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182636/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Gretchen E. Ely previously received research funding from The Society of Family Planning, the National Network of Abortion Funds, and Inroads: The International Network for the Reduction of Abortion Discrimination and Stigma. She is currently serving on the community board for the Planned Parenthood affiliate in Knoxville, Tennessee. </span></em></p>These nonprofits help with abortion access, but on average they don’t cover all costs, researchers have found.Gretchen E. Ely, Professor of Social Work and Ph.D. Program Director, University of TennesseeLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1820152022-05-06T12:33:02Z2022-05-06T12:33:02ZWhat’s the Giving Pledge? A philanthropy scholar explains<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460821/original/file-20220502-12-9imgcj.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4741%2C2776&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Mitchell Rales and Emily Wei Rales signed the Giving Pledge in 2018.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/mitchell-rales-and-emily-wei-rales-founders-of-the-news-photo/1043207718">Saul Loeb/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>The <a href="https://givingpledge.org">Giving Pledge</a> is a commitment by billionaires to voluntarily give most of their wealth to charitable causes <a href="https://rdcu.be/cMpll">either during their lifetimes or in their wills</a> as bequests to be made after death.</p>
<p>More than 230 individuals and couples have made this commitment since investor Warren Buffett, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates – who divorced the Microsoft co-founder in 2021 – <a href="https://givingpledge.org/pressrelease?date=08.04.2010">created the pledge in 2010</a>. In 2013, the Giving Pledge was opened to members outside of the United States. By my own calculations, pledgers come from 28 countries, and slightly more than 25% were born outside of the United States. </p>
<p>Everyone who signs on is encouraged to submit a letter elaborating their philanthropic philosophy, <a href="https://rdcu.be/cMppC">motives and giving preferences</a>.</p>
<p>I have been <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-window-into-the-hearts-and-minds-of-billionaire-donors-139161">analyzing these letters</a> as part of my <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=HbBzLFAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">research regarding the philanthropic activities</a> of the superrich, including their <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-window-into-the-hearts-and-minds-of-billionaire-donors-139161">motives and priorities</a>.</p>
<h2>Why the Giving Pledge matters</h2>
<p>Some critics argue that the Giving Pledge is <a href="https://philanthropynewsdigest.org/news/billionaire-philanthropy-is-a-pr-scam-wealth-tax-proponent-argues">nothing more than a publicity stunt</a>, because there is no enforcement. It also does not require its members to disburse funds to nonprofits and other charitable causes.</p>
<p>Even when donors do uphold their commitment, they can simply transfer ample assets to a <a href="https://www.fidelitycharitable.org/guidance/philanthropy/private-family-foundation.html">family foundation</a> or a <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/what-is-a-donor-advised-fund">donor-advised fund</a> – financial accounts in which donors reserve money they plan to give away later.</p>
<p>Despite those limitations, I see two main reasons the pledge matters.</p>
<p>First, it could potentially increase charitable giving, which <a href="https://theconversation.com/americans-gave-a-record-471-billion-to-charity-in-2020-amid-concerns-about-the-coronavirus-pandemic-job-losses-and-racial-justice-161489">totals nearly US$500 billion a year</a> in the United States, if everyone who has signed on follows through. For example, Mitchell Rales, the co-owner of industrial conglomerate Danaher Corp., and his wife, Emily Wei Rales, <a href="https://givingpledge.org/pledger?pledgerId=388">joined the Giving Pledge in 2018</a>. They recently <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-29/billionaire-duo-keeps-danaher-grip-while-doling-out-3-3-billion">shifted $3.3 billion in shares</a> to their charitable foundations.</p>
<p>Second, it may have helped some very wealthy people articulate their ambitious philanthropic agendas. One example is <a href="https://histphil.org/2021/07/22/mackenzie-scott-the-giving-pledge-and-rival-discourses-of-billionaire-philanthropy/">MacKenzie Scott</a> – a novelist who has given away more than <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-mackenzie-scotts-12-billion-in-gifts-to-charity-reflect-an-uncommon-trust-in-the-groups-she-supports-173496">$12 billion since her 2019 divorce</a> from Amazon founder Jeff Bezos. Another is the former hedge fund manager <a href="https://givingpledge.org/pledger?pledgerId=163">John D. Arnold and his wife, Laura Arnold</a>. They have committed to giving away <a href="https://www.globalcitizen.org/en/connect/give-while-you-live/">at least 5% of their wealth annually</a>.</p>
<p>[<em>More than 150,000 readers get one of The Conversation’s informative newsletters.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?source=inline-140K">Join the list today</a>.]</p>
<h2>How many people could sign the pledge?</h2>
<p>While estimates about the wealth of the richest people in the world vary, it’s clear that the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/04/07/magazine/billionaires.html">number of billionaires is rising</a>, along with the value of their assets. Forbes, which has tracked them for years, estimates that there are about 735 U.S. billionaires and a total of <a href="https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/">2,668 worldwide</a>.</p>
<p><em>Read other short accessible explanations of newsworthy subjects written by academics in their areas of expertise for The Conversation U.S. <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/significant-terms-105996">here</a>.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/182015/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Hans Peter Schmitz does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>More than 350 billionaires have signed on so far.Hans Peter Schmitz, Professor, University of San DiegoLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1770302022-05-04T12:34:19Z2022-05-04T12:34:19ZSome funders are embracing ‘trust-based philanthropy’ by giving money without lots of obligations<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/460837/original/file-20220502-13-s51gi6.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C0%2C4184%2C2573&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Taking grantees' word that they will spend money responsibly frees up time and can strengthen relationships.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/businesspeople-making-handshakes-across-line-on-royalty-free-image/912015932">Klaus Vedfelt/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>With <a href="https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/explainers/how-do-foundations-make-grantmaking-decisions">most foundations</a>, the <a href="https://www.councilofnonprofits.org/tools-resources/board-roles-and-responsibilities">board of directors</a> and top executives set all funding priorities. Nonprofits seeking money from those funders, in turn, must demonstrate an intention to do work that conforms to those priorities. The same system prevails with many individual wealthy donors. </p>
<p>Any nonprofit awarded a grant must follow the funder’s priorities and comply with all of its <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/private-foundations/grants-by-private-foundations-expenditure-responsibility">reporting requirements</a> – which, with some foundations, can be <a href="https://nonprofitaf.com/2016/07/we-need-to-stop-treating-nonprofits-the-way-society-treats-poor-people/">very time-consuming</a>.</p>
<p>Funders, rather than the communities they aim to support, <a href="https://www.socialinnovationforum.org/blog/reflections-promise-trust-based-philanthropy">hold most of the power in this arrangement</a>. That can steer priorities in the wrong direction because the organizations that deal primarily or exclusively with those issues are probably more aware of what’s going on and what works best.</p>
<p><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=fsg7wOcAAAAJ">I’m studying</a> the growing number of foundations bucking this traditional model. Instead of calling all the shots, these funders are embracing what’s known as <a href="https://www.trustbasedphilanthropy.org/overview">trust-based philanthropy</a>. This approach emphasizes building collaborative relationships in which funders are accountable to their grantees, not just the other way around. </p>
<h2>How this works</h2>
<p>You might think that a great deal of paperwork is necessary due to tax regulations. But the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/private-foundations/pre-grant-inquiry">Internal Revenue Service</a> actually gives foundations and other big donors considerable discretion in terms of how to manage their application process and reporting requirements, <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-elon-musk-saved-big-on-taxes-by-giving-away-a-ton-of-his-tesla-stock-172036">without jeopardizing tax breaks</a> that can amount to hundreds of millions of dollars or more.</p>
<p>While cumbersome grant reporting requirements arose for the sake of accountability, some experts argue that they can <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_nonprofit_starvation_cycle">unnecessarily burden nonprofits</a> and <a href="https://doi-org.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/10.1177/0899764002250005">privilege organizations</a> whose programs and priorities align with donors’ priorities. This approach <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/overcoming_the_racial_bias_in_philanthropic_funding">can result in organizations led by people of color</a> getting less money. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.genevaglobal.com/blog/your-reading-list-trust-based-philanthropy">Trust-based philanthropy</a> can be executed in a variety of ways. It draws on ideas <a href="https://www.alliancemagazine.org/blog/historical-case-trust-based-philanthropy/">that are as old as philanthropy itself, like alms</a> – <a href="https://missionimpact.svdmissions.org/what-is-almsgiving">giving money or goods to the poor</a>.</p>
<p>Trust-based practices acknowledge the deeply rooted <a href="https://www.trustbasedphilanthropy.org/stories/bridge-to-equity">history of racial inequity in philanthropy</a>, a history in which <a href="https://resource.rockarch.org/story/timeline-a-century-of-american-philanthropys-engagement-with-race-and-racism/">people of color had been actively marginalized</a> and in which <a href="https://hbr.org/2020/06/the-problem-with-color-blind-philanthropy">social interventions had often been designed with white people in mind</a>. Through relationship building, collaboration and learning, trust-based practices seek to <a href="https://hirschphilanthropy.com/news/three-learnings-about-trust-based-philanthropy-in-an-age-of-mistrust/">dismantle the inequitable social systems that organized philanthropy helped sow</a>.</p>
<p>The idea gained steam in 2018, when a group of foundations joined together under the banner of the <a href="https://www.trustbasedphilanthropy.org/our-story">Trust-Based Philanthropy Project</a> to make the sector more inclusive. Since then, experts have sought to spell out best practices and emphasize racial equity as a fundamental principle. </p>
<h2>A different mindset</h2>
<p>The philosophy behind trust-based philanthropy is about changing funders’ core organizational culture and values. In practice, trust-based philanthropy can take many different forms.</p>
<p>It may include <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-unrestricted-funding-two-philanthropy-experts-explain-164589">unrestricted funding</a>, meaning that money is provided to charities that choose how to spend it. </p>
<p>Funders may also limit application and reporting requirements or <a href="https://www.ncfp.org/2021/11/23/trust-based-philanthropy-shifting-power-to-communities/">make the reporting process a two-way conversation</a> between the funder and the cause they’re supporting. </p>
<p>Another option is to let <a href="https://participatorygrantmaking.issuelab.org/?publisher=&wikitopic_categories=&keywords=&pubdate_start_year=1&pubdate_end_year=1&sort=&categories=&offset=0&pageSize=12">grantees and communities that are supposed to benefit from funding</a> weigh in on decision-making processes around the grant-making.</p>
<p>But, to be sure, trust-based philanthropy is <a href="https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/shaady-salehi-tackling-common-misconceptions-about/id1576770635?i=1000533875047">not about ending grantee accountability or flouting IRS requirements</a>.</p>
<h2>An unexpected boost</h2>
<p>Trust-based practices accelerated at the outset of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, as <a href="https://doi-org.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/10.1177%2F0899764020966047">foundations scrambled</a> to quickly meet the needs of the groups they already supported, as well as some new organizations. Funders also had to immediately revise their requirements, some of which were no longer practical or feasible, and they needed to have a better sense of the challenges facing specific communities. </p>
<p>For example, in lieu of the kind of annual reporting process most foundations require, the <a href="https://sylfoundation.org/about/">Sheng-Yen Lu Foundation</a>, which funds groups that help low-income immigrant and refugee communities in Washington state, asked grantees to provide a single paragraph describing the work they were doing and how it could best assist them going forward. It focused on building supportive relationships with the groups it funds to better help those in need. </p>
<p>Since then, the Sheng-Yen Lu Foundation has also provided grantees with several options for reporting. They can choose to follow up on funding over the telephone, submit a grant report that they wrote for another foundation, or write a brief paragraph discussing their progress and ongoing needs. </p>
<p>But that foundation has tapped trust-based approaches since 2018.</p>
<p>Rachel Allen, its vice president, indicates that one of the ways that this shows up is a focus on reflection and learning. In determining what information they need from grantees, the foundation’s leaders ask themselves, “What do we need to learn? How can we do better?” </p>
<p>Other funders that have embraced this approach include the <a href="https://durfee.org/who-we-are/our-approach">Durfee</a>, <a href="https://satterberg.org/trust-based-philanthropy/">Satterberg</a> and <a href="https://static1.squarespace.com/static/607452f8ad01dc4dd54fc41f/t/614e0606aa3954731ff29daf/1632503303827/Hub+ONE+SJF+TBPP+Case+Study.pdf">Stryker Johnston</a> foundations. Together, they have about <a href="https://fconline-foundationcenter-org.offcampus.lib.washington.edu/fdo-search/member-index/">$600 million in total assets</a>. They made over $73 million in grants in 2019.</p>
<p>Some high-profile megadonors, like <a href="https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/384-ways-to-help-45d0b9ac6ad8">the philanthropist</a> <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-mackenzie-scotts-12-billion-in-gifts-to-charity-reflect-an-uncommon-trust-in-the-groups-she-supports-173496">MacKenzie Scott</a>, are also taking trust-based approaches.</p>
<p>It’s unclear how much money foundations and donors give away via trust-based approaches, largely because the scope and scale of this approach to giving has not been systematically studied until now. Further, the variety of trust-based philanthropic tools, including <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-unrestricted-funding-two-philanthropy-experts-explain-164589">unrestricted funding</a>, <a href="https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/handle/1773/47140">participatory governance and grant-making</a>, makes it hard to identify them all as the same broader trend. </p>
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<p>Nevertheless, trust-based philanthropic practices are clearly <a href="https://www.ncfp.org/2021/11/23/trust-based-philanthropy-shifting-power-to-communities/">growing more popular</a>, a change that <a href="https://nonprofitaf.com/2020/01/trust-based-philanthropy-imagining-better-more-effective-partnerships-between-funders-and-nonprofits/">many nonprofit advocates welcome</a>.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/177030/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Emily Finchum-Mason does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>This growing trend aims to shift some of the power funders typically wield to the groups getting their money.Emily Finchum-Mason, Doctoral candidate in Public Policy and Management, University of WashingtonLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1734962022-03-28T12:36:54Z2022-03-28T12:36:54ZHow MacKenzie Scott’s $12 billion in gifts to charity reflect an uncommon trust in the groups she supports<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/454181/original/file-20220324-21-7b17cq.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=156%2C18%2C1795%2C1223&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">The top donor is challenging conventional wisdom about giving.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/amazon-ceo-jeff-bezos-and-his-wife-mackenzie-bezos-poses-as-news-photo/950795948">Jorg Carstensen/dpa/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em><a href="https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/helping-any-of-us-can-help-us-all-f4c7487818d9">MacKenzie Scott</a> disclosed on March 23, 2022, that she had given <a href="https://apnews.com/article/business-philanthropy-aa2fb209ae9915740f563de6611a0509">US$3.9 billion to 465 nonprofits</a> in the previous nine months. These <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-mackenzie-scotts-8-5-billion-commitment-to-social-and-economic-justice-is-a-model-for-other-donors-162829">no-strings-attached donations</a> bring the total she has given away in the <a href="https://theconversation.com/5-ways-mackenzie-scotts-8-5-billion-commitment-to-social-and-economic-justice-is-a-model-for-other-donors-162829">past two years</a> to at least $12 billion. We asked <a href="https://blog.philanthropy.iupui.edu/2022/03/01/freeman-named-winner-of-2022-dan-david-prize/">philanthropy historian Tyrone Freeman</a> to weigh in on Scott’s approach to donating large sums of money and her emphasis on other forms of generosity.</em></p>
<h2>Is Scott’s philanthropic philosophy unique?</h2>
<p>After <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/20/business/mackenzie-scott-philanthropy.html">her 2019 divorce from Jeff Bezos</a>, Scott signed the Giving Pledge, a commitment that extremely affluent people make to <a href="https://givingpledge.org/pledger?pledgerId=393">give away at least half their wealth</a>. </p>
<p>The pledge’s signatories may <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-window-into-the-hearts-and-minds-of-billionaire-donors-139161">write a letter</a> summing up why they are giving so much to charity and what their priorities are, which gets posted to the internet. Scott did that and amended the letter when she remarried. What makes her stand out from others who have signed the Giving Pledge is that she continues to write about her <a href="https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/">donations and what she’s learning about giving in general</a>. As a historian of philanthropy, I study the philosophies and motivations of donors, which I call their “<a href="https://www.press.uillinois.edu/books/?id=p085352">gospels of giving</a>.” </p>
<p>Her approach is clearly unique among her peers – other <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-window-into-the-hearts-and-minds-of-billionaire-donors-139161">billionaire donors</a> – because of how she relates to the organizations she supports and the diversity of those causes. She says her overarching goal is “to support the needs of underrepresented people from groups of all kinds.”</p>
<p>Scott values the expertise of the groups she supports and their leadership. She says she doesn’t <a href="https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/no-dollar-signs-this-time-ec7ab2a87261">adhere to the conventional concept</a> of philanthropy, and she questions the way many of us think about generosity. To her it is not just a numbers game. It’s more about the spirit of giving, the sacrifice in the gift. </p>
<p>One major difference is that very wealthy donors tend to drill down in a single focused area, such as higher education, or a few causes – perhaps the arts or medical research. There are advisers who often <a href="https://www.sup.org/books/title/?id=28860">recommend this approach</a> to have the most impact. </p>
<p>But the nonprofits she has funded cover pretty much everything charitable donors support, from education to health, from social justice to the arts. Her latest donations even include <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/as-mackenzie-scott-donates-3-9b-one-grantee-expresses-ambivalence-102921">global organizations like CARE</a> and <a href="https://www.hias.org/news/press-releases/mackenzie-scott-and-dan-jewett-donate-10m-hias-ukraine-response">HIAS</a> that are serving the needs of Ukrainians whose lives have been turned upside down.</p>
<h2>Which other gifts stand out?</h2>
<p>Some of the largest gifts among the most recently announced are for <a href="https://www.bgca.org/news-stories/2022/March/boys-and-girls-clubs-of-america-announces-281-million-dollar-gift-from-mackenzie-scott">Girls & Boys Clubs of America</a>, <a href="https://www.communitiesinschools.org/articles/article/communities-schools-announces-transformative-investment-help-students-overcome-obstacles-learning/">Communities in Schools</a>, <a href="https://www.habitat.org/newsroom/2022/habitat-humanity-international-and-84-us-habitat-affiliates-receive-transformational">Habitat for Humanity</a>
and <a href="https://thehill.com/business-a-lobbying/business-a-lobbying/599410-mackenzie-scott-donates-275m-to-planned-parenthood">Planned Parenthood Federation of America</a>. </p>
<p>I think it’s important that she didn’t give to only their affiliates in major cities. Foundations have been <a href="https://dailyyonder.com/rural-gets-less-foundation-money/2015/06/29/">underinvesting in rural America</a> for years. Scott’s supporting dozens of local and regional affiliates in suburban and rural counties.</p>
<p>As I have explained before, her support for <a href="https://theconversation.com/mackenzie-scotts-hbcu-giving-starkly-contrasts-with-the-approach-of-early-white-funders-of-historically-black-colleges-and-universities-159039">historically Black colleges and universities</a> is important. Two recent gifts that she made, to <a href="https://www.wkrn.com/news/local-news/nashville/billionaire-mackenzie-scott-gifts-20m-to-meharry-medical-college/">Meharry Medical College</a> and <a href="https://www.cdrewu.edu/newsroom/charles-r-drew-university-medicine-and-science-receives-20-million-donation-philanthropist">Charles R. Drew University of Medicine and Science</a>, $20 million apiece, were very significant in light of how elite white donors undercut Black higher ed institutions in the early 20th century.</p>
<h2>Does it matter when she publicly discloses information?</h2>
<p>Scott posted an update in December 2021 <a href="https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/no-dollar-signs-this-time-ec7ab2a87261">without any details about her latest donations</a>. </p>
<p>Instead, she praised other forms of giving by people without billions to their name. One thing she has drawn attention to is how there’s a lot of informal giving, and that it’s not valued. This puts Scott where the average person is, especially in <a href="https://theconversation.com/black-hispanic-and-asian-american-donors-give-more-to-social-and-racial-justice-causes-as-well-as-strangers-in-need-new-survey-166720">communities of color</a>, where people look after neighbors and family members regularly in their giving.</p>
<p>Since these are charitable activities you can’t deduct from your taxes, you might not think of these helping behaviors and many forms of civic engagement as philanthropy.</p>
<p><a href="http://webarchive.urban.org/publications/311281.html">Unlike nearly all</a> donors <a href="https://www.designbuild-network.com/projects/the-bill-melinda-gates-foundation-campus/">operating on a big scale</a>, she has no offices and, so far, <a href="https://bloomerang.co/blog/5-tips-to-help-your-nonprofit-receive-mackenzie-scott-funds/">no website</a>. She’s been criticized for <a href="https://www.geekwire.com/2021/mackenzie-scott-says-no-dollar-signs-this-time-as-she-finds-new-value-in-philanthropys-meaning/">a lack of</a> <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/mackenzie-scott-is-criticized-for-not-providing-details-in-latest-round-of-gifts">transparency, especially after she didn’t divulge</a> details in December. This sentiment has to do with the widespread belief that the public has a right to know when private interests spread their resources around <a href="https://ktar.com/story/4799980/mackenzie-scott-wont-say-how-much-shes-giving-this-time/">for public benefit</a>. </p>
<p>Her blog posts draw attention to trends people might miss regarding the groups she supports. She states the percentage of these organizations that are led by women, people of color or <a href="https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/helping-any-of-us-can-help-us-all-f4c7487818d9">people she says have</a> “lived experience in the regions they support and the issues they seek to address.”</p>
<p>When somebody shows you how they’re thinking about their giving and what they support, that could have an impact on others. It may change whether they <a href="https://theconversation.com/alumni-gratitude-and-support-for-causes-are-behind-donations-of-50-million-or-more-to-colleges-and-universities-156086">donate only to their alma mater</a>, for example. Colleges and museums are used to getting these big gifts, but many of the organizations Scott is giving tens of millions of dollars to say these are the largest donations they’ve ever received. She’s shattering the notion of who is a worthy recipient – the unspoken idea that only the elite institutions and the most well-known are worthy of big gifts.</p>
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<h2>How does Scott talk about giving that isn’t purely monetary?</h2>
<p>For her it’s about generosity, not just dollars. She’s definitely thinking <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-elon-musk-saved-big-on-taxes-by-giving-away-a-ton-of-his-tesla-stock-172036">beyond the tax breaks she’ll get</a> for charitable gifts.</p>
<p>Her December 2021 post alludes to volunteering and other activities she calls the “work of practical beneficence” practiced by millions of people, estimating that it’s worth about $1 trillion. <a href="https://nccs.urban.org/publication/nonprofit-sector-brief-2019">Researchers have reached similar conclusions</a>. </p>
<p>She also highlighted the estimated <a href="https://globalindices.iupui.edu/tracker/index.html">$68 billion in annual global remittances</a> in that post. When people come to this country, begin working and send money to their homelands, that is a form of philanthropy. They may not use the word, but it’s the same idea, because it’s giving back to your family and your country of origin, and it responds to the same motivation as a donation to an established charity.</p>
<p>I agree that there’s much more to American philanthropy than the roughly <a href="https://theconversation.com/americans-gave-a-record-471-billion-to-charity-in-2020-amid-concerns-about-the-coronavirus-pandemic-job-losses-and-racial-justice-161489">half a trillion dollars</a> donated annually. There are other kinds of giving that fly below the radar screen that are important for survival, community-building, meeting basic needs and even for democracy.</p>
<p>She also addresses the role and value of <a href="https://youtu.be/KS2n7VUBOa0">using your voice</a> as an important part of social change. The history of the abolition, women’s suffrage, civil rights movements and various movements today bear this out. That is something I focus on <a href="https://theconversation.com/400-years-of-black-giving-from-the-days-of-slavery-to-the-2019-morehouse-graduation-121402">in my research</a>.</p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Historian Tyrone McKinley Freeman joined Bridgid Coulter Cheadle and Kimberly Jeffries Leonard to discuss how Black leaders are following in the footsteps of history’s trailblazers by devoting their time, talent and voice to many causes.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What do you hope the public takes away from Scott’s approach to giving?</h2>
<p>Scott has emerged as the most notable practitioner of what’s called <a href="https://www.genevaglobal.com/blog/your-reading-list-trust-based-philanthropy">trust-based philanthropy</a>. That refers to the notion that there should be <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-is-unrestricted-funding-two-philanthropy-experts-explain-164589">fewer strings attached to donations</a> and that reporting requirements and other expectations that often come with grants from foundations can be excessive.</p>
<p>In December 2020, Scott <a href="https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/384-ways-to-help-45d0b9ac6ad8">mentioned that she has a team of advisers</a> to help her with screening, although she hasn’t shared what that process looks like. But after that, she is not asking anything else of the organizations she funds. Instead, she has chosen to step back and let them exercise responsibility, giving them space and flexibility. </p>
<p>I hope the public hears her answers to what I like to ask: Who counts as a philanthropist and what counts as philanthropy? I agree with Scott that it’s about more than money and that philanthropy is not only the domain of the wealthy.</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173496/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Tyrone McKinley Freeman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>The approximately $12 billion she’s given away in the past two years has shattered conventions, explains a philanthropy historian.Tyrone McKinley Freeman, Associate Professor of Philanthropic Studies, IUPUILicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1757782022-02-08T17:14:23Z2022-02-08T17:14:23ZThe 50 biggest US donors gave or pledged nearly $28 billion in 2021 – Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates account for $15 billion of that total<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/444888/original/file-20220207-15-1lrn0ho.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=432%2C288%2C5227%2C3284&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, gave their foundation $15 billion right before their divorce became final. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/bill-gates-and-his-wife-melinda-gates-introduce-the-news-photo/1040713592">Ludovic Marin/AFP via Getty ImagesLudovic Marin/AFP via Getty Images</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><em>The 50 Americans who gave or pledged the most to charity in 2021 committed to giving a total of US$27.7 billion to hospitals, universities, museums and more – up 12% from 2020 levels, according to the <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/package/philanthropy-50-2021s-top-donors">Chronicle of Philanthropy</a>’s latest annual tally of these donations.</em></p>
<p><em>More than half of this money came from just two particularly big donors: <a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-business-endowments-bill-gates-melinda-french-gates-cb45fe0a97b8f41c51f44f3226c47218">Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates</a>. Shortly before their <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2021/08/02/tech/bill-melinda-gates-divorce-finalized/index.html">divorce became final, in August 2021</a>, they announced plans to add <a href="https://apnews.com/article/science-business-endowments-bill-gates-melinda-french-gates-cb45fe0a97b8f41c51f44f3226c47218">$15 billion to their foundation’s coffers</a>.</em></p>
<p><em><a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=VYsdAEIAAAAJ&hl=en">David Campbell</a>, <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=tu70lmIAAAAJ">Elizabeth Dale</a> and <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=uqv9NgwAAAAJ">Jasmine McGinnis Johnson</a>, three scholars of philanthropy, assess what these gifts mean, the possible motivations behind them and what they hope to see in the future in terms of charitable giving in the United States.</em></p>
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<h2>What trends stand out overall?</h2>
<p><strong>Elizabeth Dale</strong>: First, let’s acknowledge who is missing: <a href="https://theconversation.com/us/topics/mackenzie-scott-93924">MacKenzie Scott</a>. The novelist and billionaire publicly shared that she had <a href="https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/?p=ea6de642bf">given over $2.7 billion in the first half of 2021</a>. She then changed course, <a href="https://mackenzie-scott.medium.com/no-dollar-signs-this-time-ec7ab2a87261">choosing not to disclose</a> how much money she gave away in the second half of the year, or the organizations she supported, as an effort to deflect media attention. The Chronicle said it left her out because neither she nor her consultants provided the details it requested.</p>
<p>Had the publication included her, even if only the gifts she made in half the year, she would have occupied the No. 2 spot again. Scott was only behind her ex-husband, Jeff Bezos, on the Chronicle’s <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-25-billion-the-biggest-us-donors-gave-in-2020-says-about-high-dollar-charity-today-154466">2020 list</a>. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/package/bezoses-and-bloomberg-top-chronicle-list-of-the-50-donors-who-gave-the-most-to-charity">In 2018</a>, prior to their divorce, Bill Gates and Melinda French Gates topped the list together, but they didn’t make the <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/the-philanthropy-50/#id=browse_2019">2019 list at all</a>. </p>
<p>Tracking where giving goes, even for the largest donations, is an imperfect science. Scholars, journalists and other experts must rely on publicly available information and details the donors themselves provide to compile this data, and the full details aren’t always available. For example, even in this list, we don’t know everything about these gifts, how much was already given and the ways organizations will put this money to use. </p>
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<p><strong>Jasmine McGinnis Johnson</strong>: Following the police killings of <a href="https://www.marketwatch.com/story/racial-equity-donations-soared-then-fell-in-the-months-after-george-floyds-murder-by-a-police-officer-11619037824">George Floyd and Breonna Taylor</a>, many foundations and philanthropists were thinking more critically about what was the appropriate way to fund racial equity and social justice nonprofits. </p>
<p>In 2020, those gifts totaled <a href="https://theconversation.com/what-the-25-billion-the-biggest-us-donors-gave-in-2020-says-about-high-dollar-charity-today-154466">$66 billion</a>, making them the 14th-highest priority of the nation’s top 50 donors. In 2021, donations aimed at reducing racism and supporting Black-led organizations didn’t make it to a list of these donors’ highest 20 funding priorities. </p>
<p>With <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/investigations/police-shootings-database/">police brutality</a> continuing unabated and the growth of <a href="https://www.realsimple.com/work-life/money/mutual-aid-crowd-funding-explainer">mutual aid organizations</a> focused on race and social justice, I find this ebbing of interest surprising.</p>
<p>However, I also see some reasons to be hopeful in other research completed in 2021.</p>
<p>Many Americans, <a href="https://theconversation.com/black-hispanic-and-asian-american-donors-give-more-to-social-and-racial-justice-causes-as-well-as-strangers-in-need-new-survey-166720">especially people of color</a>, are <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/diverse-donors-led-the-shift-to-social-and-racial-justice-giving-in-2020-new-report-says">donating to racial justice causes</a>. In 2020, for example, 16% of all households gave to these causes, up from 13% in 2019.</p>
<p><strong>David Campbell</strong>: The biggest donors responded to challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, sharply increasing their giving to social service organizations, including food banks and housing groups. In 2021, that giving receded so much that food banks and housing didn’t make it into a list of the top 20 causes for the biggest donors. One explanation for this may be that when seismic events influence giving, those effects diminish over time.</p>
<p>In keeping with past years, these wealthy donors <a href="https://dx.doi.org/10.1007%2Fs12115-021-00580-0">emphasized higher education and health-related</a> giving, through donations to colleges, universities, hospitals and medical research.</p>
<h2>What should the public know about 2021’s top two donors?</h2>
<p><strong>Dale</strong>: With an endowment valued at over $50 billion, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has, by far, <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/how-the-10-biggest-foundations-changed-in-a-year-of-covid-and-whats-next">more assets than any other U.S. institution of its kind</a>. </p>
<p>The foundation, <a href="https://www.britannica.com/topic/Gates-Foundation">established in 2000</a>, is <a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/why-we-need-to-keep-an-eye-on-the-gates-foundations-board-expansion">getting more scrutiny</a> than it used to, especially with respect to its bureaucratic and data-driven approach. It also has <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/articles/2022-gates-foundation-annual-letter-trustees">four new board members</a> who joined after billionaire investor <a href="https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210623005262/en/">Warren Buffett stepped down</a> in 2021.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/melinda-french-gates-no-longer-pledges-bulk-of-her-wealth-to-gates-foundation-11643808602">Melinda French Gates’ future role</a> in the foundation <a href="https://www.devex.com/news/gates-foundation-ceo-insists-that-french-gates-remains-engaged-102563">is uncertain</a>. She <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/media-center/press-releases/2021/07/bill-melinda-gates-foundation-mark-suzman-plans-evolve-governance">could step down as a trustee</a> in 2023 if she and Bill Gates determine they can no longer work together.</p>
<p><strong>Campbell</strong>: Since its founding, the <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/">Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation</a> has distributed <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/about/foundation-fact-sheet">over $60 billion</a> to causes tied to eradicating <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/">diseases and reducing poverty and inequity around the world</a>. </p>
<p>In 2021, it announced plans to spend $2.1 billion within five years on women’s economic empowerment and leadership, and boosting <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/media-center/press-releases/2021/06/gates-foundation-commits-2-1-billion-to-advance-gender-equality-globally">women and girls’ health and family planning</a>.</p>
<p>The foundation has <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-big-bets-on-educational-reform-havent-fixed-the-us-school-system-92327">delved heavily into K-12 education</a> in the U.S. – with mixed results, as the <a href="https://www.gatesnotes.com/2018-Annual-Letter">Gateses themselves acknowledged in 2018</a>. The foundation <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2022/01/26/business/gates-foundation-new-trustees.html">disbursed $6.7 billion in 2021</a>, the highest amount to date for a single year.</p>
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<h2>What concerns do you have?</h2>
<p><strong>Campbell</strong>: The top 50 donors in 2021 include only 14 of the many billionaires who have signed the <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-window-into-the-hearts-and-minds-of-billionaire-donors-139161">Giving Pledge</a>, a commitment by some of the world’s richest people to “<a href="https://givingpledge.org/">dedicate the majority of their wealth to charitable causes</a>.” To date, more than 230 individuals and couples have taken this step. </p>
<p>Similarly, only 21 of the <a href="https://www.forbes.com/forbes-400/">Forbes 400</a> list of wealthiest Americans made the Philanthropy 50. I would like to know why more of the richest Americans, including some who have committed to giving away their fortunes, weren’t among 2021’s top 50 donors. For the billionaires who have signed the Giving Pledge, it’s worth asking why they are waiting. What benefit do they see in giving later rather than sooner?</p>
<p><strong>Dale</strong>: The $2.65 billion in giving by these wealthy Americans to <a href="https://www.nptrust.org/what-is-a-donor-advised-fund/">donor-advised funds</a> is double 2020 levels and almost 10 times higher than in 2019. Both donor-advised funds – financial accounts that people use to give money to the charities of their choice when they are ready to do so – and <a href="https://learning.candid.org/resources/blog/nonprofit-foundation-ngo-what-do-they-mean/">foundations</a> are intermediaries for giving that offer <a href="https://ips-dc.org/more-evidence-of-warehousing-of-wealth-in-donor-advised-funds/">little transparency and can warehouse funds</a> designated for nonprofits’ use.</p>
<p>Most wealthy donors <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-elon-musk-can-save-big-on-taxes-by-giving-away-a-ton-of-his-tesla-stock-172036">receive tax deductions</a> and other benefits, such as public recognition, when they initially make big gifts. But it can often take years for their money to reach charities.</p>
<p>It’s hard, however, to separately track money being given directly to charities from funds that are reserved for a future charitable use.</p>
<p>As more and more donors, including some of the richest Americans, give to charity through donor-advised funds instead of traditional foundations, <a href="https://www.thenonprofittimes.com/regulation/donor-advised-funds-added-to-new-federal-legislation/">calls for regulating them more tightly</a> are growing louder. </p>
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<h2>What do you expect to see in 2022 and beyond?</h2>
<p><strong>Dale</strong>: Scott has certainly caused some <a href="https://apnews.com/article/death-of-george-floyd-health-education-coronavirus-pandemic-race-and-ethnicity-42ca645d713108d5c852ee3d024b6361">philanthropy shock waves</a> in the <a href="https://www.cnn.com/2020/07/28/tech/mackenzie-scott-bezos-donation/index.html">past two years</a>, and it’s still too early to know what effect she is having.</p>
<p>I hope that these donors and the wealthy people not on this list start responding to broader public concerns. The effects of the <a href="https://www.cbsnews.com/news/long-covid-labor-market-missing-workers/">COVID-19 pandemic</a>, issues around <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-first-battle-in-the-culture-wars-the-quality-of-diversity-164016">race, ethnicity</a> and <a href="https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2022/01/14/some-gender-disparities-widened-in-the-u-s-workforce-during-the-pandemic/">gender</a> and <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/articles/investing/110215/brief-history-income-inequality-united-states.asp">inequality</a>, <a href="https://theconversation.com/new-flood-maps-show-us-damage-rising-26-in-next-30-years-due-to-climate-change-alone-and-the-inequity-is-stark-175958">climate change</a> and <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-sore-loser-effect-rejecting-election-results-can-destabilize-democracy-and-drive-terrorism-171571">protecting our democracy</a> are not going away. </p>
<p><strong>Johnson</strong>: The fact that social and racial justice were not among the top priorities of the biggest donors in 2021 makes me wonder to what extent the concerns about systemic inequality, driven by events in 2020, will remain a priority for big donors in the future.</p>
<p>Conversations among wealthy givers and major foundations about race, income inequality and the vulnerability the COVID-19 pandemic exposed <a href="https://www.ft.com/content/cf7e59ab-0a50-47a2-9086-d5efa021bc64">have certainly persisted</a>. And Scott is still supporting justice-oriented causes, as a gift announced by its recipient in February 2022 makes clear. Scott gave $133.5 million to Communities in Schools, a nonprofit that meets the <a href="https://www.the74million.org/get-to-know-communities-in-schools-inside-mackenzie-scotts-133-million-donation-to-americas-top-organization-focused-on-preventing-student-dropouts/">academic, economic and other needs of K-12 students</a>. </p>
<p>It remains to be seen to what extent America’s other big donors will follow her lead.</p>
<p><em>The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has provided funding for The Conversation U.S. and provides funding for The Conversation internationally.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/175778/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>David Campbell is vice chair of the Conrad and Virginia Klee Foundation, in Binghamton, New York, which has provided support for the student philanthropy course he teaches. He is also a member of the board for the Association for Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action (ARNOVA). </span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Elizabeth J. Dale has received funding from the Ford Foundation and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation via Indiana University and The Giving USA Foundation for her research on philanthropy. The views expressed in this essay are strictly her own and do not reflect policy stances of Seattle University.</span></em></p><p class="fine-print"><em><span>Jasmine McGinnis Johnson is a visiting fellow with the Urban Institute, Center on Nonprofits and Philanthropy. Also, Jasmine is a board member of the Association of Research on Nonprofit Organizations and Voluntary Action.</span></em></p>Three scholars weigh in regarding the priorities of these wealthy American donors, who gave less to social service and racial justice groups than in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic.David Campbell, Associate Professor of Public Administration, Binghamton University, State University of New YorkElizabeth J. Dale, Associate Professor of Nonprofit Leadership, Seattle UniversityJasmine McGinnis Johnson, Associate Professor of Public Policy and Public Administration, George Washington UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1747632022-02-04T13:08:06Z2022-02-04T13:08:06ZCryptocurrency-funded groups called DAOs are becoming charities – here are some issues to watch<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/443913/original/file-20220201-13-1rhm2ib.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=426%2C74%2C5756%2C3290&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Kimbal Musk, Elon's brother, has launched one of these new kinds of nonprofits.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/kimbal-musk-attends-the-los-angeles-premiere-of-the-game-news-photo/1172393340">Michael Kovac/Getty Images for 'The Game Changers'</a></span></figcaption></figure><p><a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2022/01/31/crypto-wyoming-arizona-tax-payments-00003910">Cryptocurrency</a> is becoming a <a href="https://techcrunch.com/2022/01/07/regulating-crypto-could-create-american-super-apps/">more familiar way to pay for things</a>.</p>
<p>One option is as part of a crowd, through a <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/tech/what-dao/">decentralized autonomous organization</a>. In this relatively new kind of group, also called a DAO, decisions and choices are governed by holders of one kind of cryptocurrency token, such as ethereum or bitcoin. DAOs also use “<a href="https://www.coindesk.com/learn/what-is-a-dao/">smart contracts</a>” that make decisions through online votes by all participants who wish to weigh in and other forms of automation.</p>
<p>DAOs are essentially clubs that harness both crowdfunding and cryptocurrency to operate in arenas from <a href="https://decrypt.co/88894/11-most-interesting-daos-of-2021">art to sports</a>. They are also cropping up in <a href="https://medium.com/@chriswjnr/a-charity-dao-structure-226e7dc9aaf6">philanthropy</a>.</p>
<p>One good example is the <a href="https://dao.biggreen.org/">Big Green DAO</a>. Launched in late 2021, it’s tied to a <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/nonprofits/organizations/275083595">decade-old</a> food justice charity that had revenue in excess of US$9 million in 2019.</p>
<p>Big Green’s founder is <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2021/11/30/kimbal-musks-big-green-dao-is-a-big-step-for-web-3/">Kimbal Musk</a>, who is Elon Musk’s brother and a member of Tesla’s board. The DAO version of his nonprofit promises to “<a href="https://dao.biggreen.org/">disrupt philanthropic hierarchies</a>” by reducing <a href="https://theconversation.com/nonprofits-that-scrimp-on-overhead-arent-necessarily-better-than-those-spending-more-111700">overhead spending</a> and shaving other expenses.</p>
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<h2>New terrain</h2>
<p>Based on my <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?hl=en&user=UsFwZekAAAAJ">research regarding crypto-assets</a>, I believe that there are <a href="https://medium.com/@chriswjnr/a-charity-dao-structure-226e7dc9aaf6">several considerations</a> that donors and charities should keep in mind as these arrangements emerge.</p>
<p>First, DAOs have little if any formal infrastructure. Some states simply require one individual to be designated as the agent of record. <a href="https://www.wyoleg.gov/2021/Introduced/SF0038.pdf">Wyoming passed a law in 2021</a> – the first of its kind in the United States – that legally recognizes DAOs as legal entities. It still requires the DAO to be organized as a Wyoming-based <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/l/llc.asp">limited liability company</a>, with an individual identified as the registered agent. </p>
<p><a href="https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2021/11/30/kimbal-musks-big-green-dao-is-a-big-step-for-web-3/">In theory</a>, at least, when combined with the quick nature of how DAO decisions are made, this means that nonprofits can achieve more and respond more quickly to changing circumstances, while spending less on administrative staff and other kinds of overhead.</p>
<h2>Legal questions</h2>
<p>Until now, most <a href="https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=6540">cryptocurrency donations to charities</a> simply <a href="https://www.cnbc.com/2021/12/24/what-to-know-about-making-cryptocurrency-donations-to-charity.html">provided capital to eligible organizations</a> that operate like any other standard nonprofit.</p>
<p>For tax purposes, <a href="https://thegivingblock.com/resources/faq/?">donating cryptocurrency</a> is like giving away stocks, bonds or other property, rather than donating money. This means, typically, that cryptocurrency donations actually provide donors with a <a href="https://theconversation.com/how-elon-musk-can-save-big-on-taxes-by-giving-away-a-ton-of-his-tesla-stock-172036">larger tax benefit</a> versus cash donations. If a donor were to instead liquidate their cryptocurrency prior to making a gift, they would first have to pay <a href="https://taxbit.com/blog/understanding-the-cryptocurrency-tax-rate">capital gains taxes</a>, and they would have less money to give away. </p>
<p>However, <a href="https://www.zenledger.io/blog/what-is-a-dao">it’s unclear</a> <a href="https://nonprofitlawblog.com/dao-what-is-it-what-does-it-mean-for-nonprofits/">whether funds can legally</a> flow to, through and out of a charitable decentralized autonomous organization.</p>
<p>Nonprofits are subject to regulatory enforcement and need to be chartered in a particular state. So far, it’s unclear how regulators, such as the <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-and-nonprofits">Internal Revenue Service</a> or <a href="https://www.irs.gov/charities-non-profits/state-links">state charity offices</a>, will be able to monitor or audit these groups.</p>
<p>It’s also unclear whether the very nature of DAOs is compatible with charitable donations.</p>
<p>In most, if not all, instances of for-profit DAOs – or even DAOs organized for a specific one-time purpose, such as <a href="https://www.constitutiondao.com/">attempting to purchase an original copy of the U.S. Constitution</a> – cash or appreciated property that is contributed to the organization is exchanged for <a href="https://www.coindesk.com/learn/what-is-a-governance-token/">governance tokens</a>. The tokens essentially represent a fractional form of collective ownership.</p>
<p>This could be problematic. When donors make charitable contributions, they relinquish the money or asset they just gave to the charity. A <a href="https://www.pgdc.com/pgdc/story/rev-rul-86-63">basic condition</a> for having a donation be eligible for favorable tax treatment by the authorities is that the <a href="https://www.charitynavigator.org/index.cfm?bay=content.view&cpid=31">donor gets nothing of value in return</a>. </p>
<p>The authorities may eventually determine that the distribution of virtual tokens to donors, even if those tokens aren’t used for anything outside the scope of the nonprofit, violates this precondition.</p>
<h2>Wild rides</h2>
<p>The clearest risk with those gifts is probably their volatility. </p>
<p>Overall, the cryptocurrency’s total market value sank to <a href="https://www.tradingview.com/markets/cryptocurrencies/global-charts/">$1.6 trillion on Feb. 3, 2022</a>, down from $2.85 trillion three months earlier.</p>
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<p>Charities either need to convert these donations into U.S. dollars right away, <a href="https://www.cfoselections.com/perspective/accounting-and-reporting-for-stock-gift-donations-to-nonprofits">as they do with donated stocks</a>, or gamble regarding their future value.</p>
<p>Despite all the operational, financial and legal obstacles nonprofit DAOs face, I’m excited about the opportunities with these crowd-managed charities funded by cryptocurrency donations because of their potential for a high degree of transparency paired with low overhead.</p>
<p>[<em>Get the best of The Conversation, every weekend.</em> <a href="https://memberservices.theconversation.com/newsletters/?nl=weekly&source=inline-weeklybest">Sign up for our weekly newsletter</a>.]</p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/174763/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>I own positions in several cryptocurrencies, and am on the Advisory Board of Gilded, a crypto-accounting and crypto-payment organization </span></em></p>As decentralized autonomous organizations with philanthropic aims begin to form, it’s unclear whether they can operate without breaking IRS rules.Sean Stein Smith, Assistant Professor of Economics and Business, Lehman College, CUNYLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1728452022-01-04T13:05:27Z2022-01-04T13:05:27Z‘Dataraising’ – when you’re asked to chip in with data instead of money<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/436804/original/file-20211209-21-1lxu50f.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=20%2C29%2C2750%2C1636&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Volunteers across the U.S. tag and count monarchs during the insects' annual migrations. </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Endangered%20Species%20Wing%20and%20a%20Prayer/11d81fc28b374a048a694510384e2792?Query=butterfly%20counts&mediaType=photo,video,graphic,audio&sortBy=arrivaldatetime:desc&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=18&currentItemNo=3">AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Fundraising appeals are part of everyday life, both online and off.</p>
<p>Requests for financial donations arrive by snail mail, email, <a href="https://www.goodbox.com/2021/10/the-best-social-media-fundraising-campaigns/">social media</a> and <a href="https://www.qgiv.com/blog/text-message-fundraising/">text messages</a>. <a href="https://theconversation.com/asking-customers-to-donate-when-they-buy-stuff-may-be-good-for-business-102298">Cashiers at chain stores</a> and supermarkets ask if you want to chip in for charitable causes. If you’re in the U.S., you might also be getting nearly constant texts asking you to <a href="https://www.tatango.com/blog/what-worked-in-2020-political-campaign-sms-fundraising/">contribute to political campaigns</a>.</p>
<p>In my book “<a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/how-we-give-now">How We Give Now</a>,” I explore how acts of giving extend beyond donating money to nonprofits, including an interesting trend on the rise that I call “<a href="https://www.philanthropy.com/article/philanthropy-buzzwords-2022-for-good-or-bad-technology-will-rule">dataraising</a>.” It’s a term I coined while writing the book to describe <a href="https://theconversation.com/making-a-difference-without-millions-how-americans-give-172960">nonprofits or researchers soliciting donations of data</a>.</p>
<p>Perhaps surprisingly, dataraising is not entirely new. Medical research, for example, has long relied on volunteers to participate in <a href="https://www.nia.nih.gov/health/what-are-clinical-trials-and-studies">clinical trials</a> to gather enough data to study a disease.</p>
<p>The steps to participating in clinical trials – signing up, learning the protocols, agreeing to contribute your data – were developed to limit the harms that can follow when researchers just take people’s data. These protocols, imperfect as they are, distinguish informed data donations from the usual online data experience, in which companies’ <a href="https://www.eff.org/issues/terms-of-abuse">terms of service</a> afford them extensive claims to data while leaving individual users few choices and even less recourse. </p>
<h2>There are apps for this</h2>
<p>One reason for the growth in dataraising is that it is becoming easier to do for technological reasons.</p>
<p>For example, Apple launched <a href="https://www.apple.com/lae/researchkit/">Research Kit</a> in 2015. It’s a set of software protocols that lets medical researchers design studies that use data directly from a person’s iPhone.</p>
<p>To participate in phone-based research, people download an app for a study. The best studies use consent processes that aren’t the usual legal forms with one of those “I agree” buttons at the end. Instead, these consent processes ask people to use their phone in ways that will generate only only the specific data researchers are collecting.</p>
<p>For example, the consent process for a study on Parkinson’s disease might ask you to swipe your fingers across the screen and then put the phone in your pocket and walk across the room. These actions generate data that shows signs of tremors in the hands and movement.</p>
<p>A <a href="https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/digital-health-apps-balloon-more-350000-available-market-according-iqvia-report">2021 industry study of mobile health apps</a> counted more than 1,500 research projects based on digital health data with ResearchKit up to that point. </p>
<p>Android users can also participate in similar studies using <a href="https://www.mobihealthnews.com/news/googles-new-research-app-shows-participants-how-their-data-driving-health-insights">Google’s Health Studies App</a>, which launched in 2020.</p>
<h2>Some apps are for the birds</h2>
<p>But data donations facilitated by technology power more than just medical research.</p>
<p>Apps such as <a href="https://ebird.org/home">eBird</a>, run by Cornell University’s Ornithology Lab, and <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/">iNaturalist</a>, a collaboration between National Geographic and the California Academy of Sciences, rely on donations of cellphone photographs to power their biodiversity databases.</p>
<p>Civic science initiatives, also known as <a href="https://theconversation.com/cities-can-help-migrating-birds-on-their-way-by-planting-more-trees-and-turning-lights-off-at-night-152573">citizen science initiatives</a>, assist with everything from <a href="https://terra.nasa.gov/citizen-science/water-quality">water quality</a> monitors to <a href="https://butterfly-conservation.org/butterflies/recording-and-monitoring">butterfly counts</a>. These initiatives rely on contributed data, as do many <a href="https://www.jewishgen.org/databases/%24description.html">genealogical websites</a>.</p>
<p>Dataraising is also making it easier to document the history of specific communities.</p>
<p>For example, the <a href="https://densho.org/">Densho Archive</a>, an online repository of historical artifacts related to the U.S. internment of Japanese Americans during World War II, contains donated photographs, letters and newspaper articles.</p>
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<h2>Other forces driving this trend</h2>
<p>Legal changes, organizational innovation, social movements and increased attention to the harms of concentrated data are also playing a role in the spread of this practice.</p>
<p>In the United Kingdom, ride-share drivers can contribute their data to the <a href="https://www.workerinfoexchange.org/">Workers’ Info Exchange</a>. Known as WIX, it uses the aggregated, analyzed information to protect workers’ rights and fight back against “<a href="https://www.workerinfoexchange.org/post/dutch-uk-courts-order-uber-to-reinstate-robo-fired-drivers">robo-firing</a>” – when companies design algorithms that automatically fire workers without any human involvement.</p>
<p>Organizations like WIX depend on people’s having access to their data, a right guaranteed by the <a href="https://gdpr.eu/what-is-gdpr/">European Union</a> and in <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa">California</a> through the <a href="https://oag.ca.gov/privacy/ccpa">California Consumer Privacy Act</a>.</p>
<h2>Helping solve vexing problems</h2>
<p>As digital systems become more critical to everyday life, donated data can help answer more kinds of questions.</p>
<p>The consumer advocacy organization <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/cro/index.htm">Consumer Reports</a> is dataraising by collecting <a href="https://www.consumerreports.org/upload/broadband">assorted cable TV bills</a>. This data will help the group’s sleuths evaluate corporate claims about broadband speed, access and prices.</p>
<p><a href="https://www.mozilla.org/en-US/about/governance/organizations/.">Mozilla</a>, the nonprofit maker of the Firefox browser, has launched a browser plug-in called <a href="https://rally.mozilla.org/">Rally</a>. It makes it easy to share data over the internet with academic researchers.</p>
<p>And <a href="https://khn.org/">Kaiser Health News</a> and <a href="https://www.npr.org/series/651784144/bill-of-the-month">National Public Radio</a> have teamed up to conduct “<a href="https://khn.org/news/tag/bill-of-the-month/">Bill of the Month</a>” investigations. Through this collaboration, the news outlets’ journalists are analyzing and reporting on the hidden fees and mysterious charges that are <a href="https://www.medpagetoday.com/special-reports/exclusives/93225">rife in the U.S. medical system</a>.</p>
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<h2>When dataraising falters</h2>
<p>The easier it gets to collect data from anyone, the more important it becomes to plan for troublemakers, provide people with tools to control their information, and make sure that participants treat one another with respect.</p>
<p>The iNaturalist app, for example, is used in a lot of classrooms, and students love to pull pranks, tagging their fellow classmates as bugs or snakes. Because it’s used globally, cultural and linguistic competence is key. What may seem lighthearted in one context can be deeply insulting elsewhere.</p>
<p>Digital data shared through online networks – especially those dedicated to <a href="https://www.investopedia.com/terms/p/public-good.asp">public goods</a> – require careful attention to protect participant safety. For example, people may want to donate data regarding how far they walked but not where they went. Although phone default settings may make it easiest to transmit location data and leave it up to researchers to calculate the distance traveled on foot, to make user safety a high priority, apps could calculate distance on the phone without transmitting someone’s location.</p>
<p>It’s also important to aspire to equitable access to people who want to donate their data for these purposes, which is hard since not everyone owns a smartphone. And I believe that those involved in these studies should meaningfully give consent that can be retracted at any time.</p>
<p>Over the years, participants in the <a href="https://doi.org/10.1111/cobi.12689">civic science movement</a> have created resources and manuals to promote <a href="https://www.citizenscience.gov/toolkit/howto/step4/">good data governance</a> and <a href="https://natematias.com/media/JNM-Preventing-Harassment-PNAS-2019.pdf">limit harassment of the people taking part in these efforts</a>. Their goal is to enable equitable participation, make data security a priority and let individuals control their data. In some cases, protecting the identity of those who donate data is critical. </p>
<p>There are dedicated community managers and tiers of training for those who use iNaturalist, along with <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/pages/curator+guide">rules for the curators</a> who manage its website, for example.</p>
<p>Voluntary practices like those are valuable. But in my view, <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/the_looming_fight_over_how_we_give_our_data">the donation of data</a> should be regulated. There are plenty of experts with professional and lived experience in online harms, data rights, community building and philanthropy to inform such efforts.</p>
<p><em><a href="https://hrdag.org/people/megan-price-phd/">Megan Price</a> of Human Rights Data Analyst Group contributed to the ideas discussed in this article.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/172845/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Lucy Bernholz receives funding from The Siegel Family Endowment, The Charles Stewart Mott Foundation, Perptual, Ltd., and The Generosity Commission. </span></em></p>Informed data donations are different from the usual online data experience. They’re easier to manage because of technological advances.Lucy Bernholz, Senior Research Scholar of Philanthropy and Civil Society, Stanford UniversityLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1737112022-01-03T13:41:32Z2022-01-03T13:41:32ZPhilanthropists seeking to fix big problems must tread carefully – here’s how they can make their efforts more compatible with democracy<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438108/original/file-20211216-25-1qfsryr.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=34%2C20%2C2258%2C1240&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">Martin Luther King Jr. is among the many big thinkers to question the importance of philanthropy.</span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://newsroom.ap.org/detail/Books-MLKEstate/f4cbd556da9d47e7ae68d84e1eef27d4/photo?boardId=37be9465fcce45d283d5431cccb20a6a&st=boards&mediaType=audio,photo,video,graphic&sortBy=&dateRange=Anytime&totalCount=208&currentItemNo=0">AP Photo</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>How should wealthy people respond to daunting problems like racism, economic inequality and climate change? Leading thinkers have long questioned whether philanthropy offers appropriate or meaningful solutions to vexing challenges. </p>
<p>Eighteenth-century <a href="https://oll.libertyfund.org/title/wollstonecraft-an-historical-and-moral-view-of-the-origin-and-progress-of-the-french-revolution#preview">philosopher Mary Wollstonecraft</a> called private giving “the most specious system of slavery.” Wollstonecraft saw charitable and philanthropic efforts as softening the effects of unjust laws and political institutions – rather than dismantling them. </p>
<p>A century later, the poet and <a href="https://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/1017/pg1017-images.html">playwright Oscar Wilde argued</a> that private giving “creates a multitude of sins.” Wilde thought that charity “degrades and demoralizes” while preventing the horrors of systemic injustice from being recognized by those who suffer from it. </p>
<p>Civil rights leader <a href="https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/mlkatimetobreaksilence.htm">Martin Luther King Jr.</a> held that philanthropy is “<a href="https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/590207-philanthropy-is-commendable-but-it-must-not-cause-the-philanthropist">commendable</a>” but insufficient in the face of challenges like war, racism and poverty. “True compassion,” King wrote, is “to see that an edifice which produces beggars needs restructuring.”</p>
<p>As a <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=dR2idGYAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">political philosopher who studies the ethics of philanthropy</a>, I see these claims as part of a long tradition of criticism of private giving. In my <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-tyranny-of-generosity-9780197611418">new book</a>, “The Tyranny of Generosity: Why Philanthropy Corrupts Our Politics and How We Can Fix It,” I view these critics as questioning what I call “palliative philanthropy.” </p>
<p>Like <a href="https://getpalliativecare.org/whatis/">palliative care in medicine</a>, which eases pain without curing the disease that causes it, palliative giving strategies address the symptoms of injustices while leaving their causes to fester. Critics claim that donors often fall into this trap.</p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438099/original/file-20211216-15-eoyl2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A dying woman is comforted by someone holding her hand." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438099/original/file-20211216-15-eoyl2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438099/original/file-20211216-15-eoyl2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438099/original/file-20211216-15-eoyl2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438099/original/file-20211216-15-eoyl2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438099/original/file-20211216-15-eoyl2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438099/original/file-20211216-15-eoyl2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438099/original/file-20211216-15-eoyl2b.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">In palliative treatment, medical professionals and caregivers seek to relieve a patient’s pain.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/young-girl-holds-the-hand-of-her-ill-grandmother-royalty-free-image/1352063892">Justin Paget/DigitalVision via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
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<h2>Many donations have other goals</h2>
<p>This critique invites some immediate objections.</p>
<p>To be sure, much philanthropy responds to missions other than helping the poor and ending inequality. Thousands of nonprofits seek instead to supplement research funding, preserve cultural heritage or expand opportunities for artistic enrichment.</p>
<p>And it’s generally harder to see how philanthropy with scientific, cultural or artistic missions might serve as a Band-Aid or become counterproductive, versus, say, donations tied to ending hunger or <a href="https://www.effectivealtruism.org/articles/ea-global-2018-amf-rob-mather/">supplying mosquito nets</a> to reduce the incidence of malaria.</p>
<p>Another question is whether the notion that charitable giving is merely palliative applies equally when philanthropists try to tackle the root causes of society’s deepest problems.</p>
<p>That’s <a href="https://ssir.org/articles/entry/what_exactly_do_we_mean_by_systems">a common goal of U.S. philanthropy</a>. For years, its leaders have embraced the notion that donated funds can facilitate <a href="https://ssir.org/up_for_debate/article/strategic_philanthropy">systemic change</a> in everything from financial exclusion to human trafficking.</p>
<h2>Attacking the political sources of social problems</h2>
<p>But critics of palliative philanthropy often call for more direct methods of institutional reform.</p>
<p>Since laws and policies create and regulate institutions, transforming unjust institutions requires fundamental alterations to these laws and policies. As University of Chicago philosopher <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=jbznB3EAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Brian Leiter</a> <a href="https://leiterreports.typepad.com/blog/2015/06/effective-altruist-philosophers.html">puts it</a>, “[H]uman misery has systemic causes, which charity never addresses, but which political change can address; ergo, all money and effort should go towards systemic and political reform.”</p>
<p>For Queen’s University philosopher <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=AoKsdeAAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Will Kymlicka</a>, an individual’s primary obligation in the face of injustice is to <a href="https://www.mqup.ca/between-state-and-market-products-9780773520967.php">mobilize politically</a> to press for just institutions.</p>
<p>For Northeastern University political scientist <a href="https://cssh.northeastern.edu/faculty/emily-clough/">Emily Clough</a>, attacking the root causes of poverty and injustice is best achieved by private <a href="https://bostonreview.net/articles/emily-clough-effective-altruism-ngos/">funding efforts to hold governments accountable</a>.</p>
<p>Donors, in other words, should spend less on providing people in need with the goods and services they require. And they should spend far more on political campaigns, lobbying, legal action and policy advocacy, even when this might mean <a href="https://www.insidephilanthropy.com/explainers/what-can-and-cannot-philanthropy-do-in-terms-of-advocacy-policy-and-politics">forgoing the tax breaks</a> tied to conventional charitable gifts. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438107/original/file-20211216-27-1eyk2iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Tree roots clamber down an old brick wall coated in green moss." src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438107/original/file-20211216-27-1eyk2iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438107/original/file-20211216-27-1eyk2iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438107/original/file-20211216-27-1eyk2iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438107/original/file-20211216-27-1eyk2iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438107/original/file-20211216-27-1eyk2iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438107/original/file-20211216-27-1eyk2iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438107/original/file-20211216-27-1eyk2iw.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Sometimes root problems get in the way.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/close-up-of-tree-roots-royalty-free-image/963248810">Chn Ling Do Chen Liang Dao/EyeEm via Getty Images</a></span>
</figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>Educational reform as a cautionary tale</h2>
<p>As I argue in <a href="https://global.oup.com/academic/product/the-tyranny-of-generosity-9780197611418">my book</a>, Leiter and others critical of palliative giving should be careful what they wish for.</p>
<p>The difficulty is that the solution risks substituting one form of injustice for another. Under conditions of extreme economic inequality, encouraging donors to spend more on efforts to reform laws and policies risks exacerbating political inequality and undermining democracy.</p>
<p>Members of a political community inevitably disagree about why and how their institutions should be designed or reformed. A central demand of democracy is that subjects of these political decisions ought to enjoy equal opportunities for influencing them. Allowing advantages in economic or social status to be exchanged for greater political power conflicts with a commitment to treating one another as free and equal members of society. </p>
<p>The <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-big-bets-on-educational-reform-havent-fixed-the-us-school-system-92327">movement for K-12 education reform</a> in the United States, funded by <a href="https://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/got-dough-how-billionaires-rule-our-schools">billions of dollars annually</a> in charitable contributions, illustrates this point.</p>
<p>In the late 1990s, several foundations coalesced on an education agenda that emphasized market principles, such as choice, competition and performance-based evaluation.</p>
<p>This consortium <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S1049096516000688">went to work</a> on creating and coordinating advocacy groups, lobbying and electing sympathetic officials, creating parallel school systems, and even offering funds directly to cash-strapped public agencies to carry out the reform agenda.</p>
<p>The general public, however, <a href="https://doi.org/10.1017/S153759271200360X">wasn’t asking for any of this</a>. Most <a href="https://news.gallup.com/poll/354083/parents-remain-largely-satisfied-child-education.aspx">Americans are satisfied with the educational system</a>, polling indicates, with many <a href="https://www.the74million.org/america-divided-public-support-for-charter-schools-is-growing-but-so-is-opposition-new-poll-finds/">wary of charter schools and other market-oriented educational reforms</a>.</p>
<p>But since opponents of the reform agenda can’t compete with the resources of its supporters, including the <a href="https://www.gatesfoundation.org/ideas/media-center/press-releases/2010/04/12-foundations-commit-to-education-innovation-with-us-department-of-education">Bill & Melinda Gates, Walton Family</a> and <a href="https://broadfoundation.org/education/">Eli and Edythe Broad foundations</a>, reformers have largely dominated the policy agenda. As a Gates foundation official <a href="https://www.hepg.org/hep-home/books/policy-patrons#:%7E:text=Policy%20Patrons%20makes%20an%20original,future%20direction%20of%20education%20reform">explained</a> to policy scholar <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=sQq-KYcAAAAJ&hl=en&oi=ao">Megan Tompkins-Stange</a> in a 2016 book, “We have this enormous power to sway the public conversations about things like effective teaching or standards and mobilizing lots of resources in their favor without real robust debate.”</p>
<p>A common <a href="https://theconversation.com/why-big-bets-on-educational-reform-havent-fixed-the-us-school-system-92327">line of criticism</a> says that the problem with donor-led education reform efforts is the mixture of grand ambitions with limited knowledge of what really works in education. After decades of this philanthropic trend, the <a href="https://factsmaps.com/pisa-2018-worldwide-ranking-average-score-of-mathematics-science-reading/">U.S. still ranks well below most of its peer</a> countries in terms of global education benchmarks.</p>
<p>I believe that big donors should also learn from this experiment that the financial ability to address a major social problem doesn’t justify bypassing or overwhelming public debate. Even if such efforts achieve their intended effects, they damage democracy and mistreat fellow citizens. </p>
<p><div data-react-class="Tweet" data-react-props="{"tweetId":"72131682475581440"}"></div></p>
<h2>Being a democratically responsible donor</h2>
<p>How can big donors balance ambitions to correct injustice with the constraints on power that democracy requires?</p>
<p>One option is for donors to embrace the aim of political change but avoid dominating the agenda.</p>
<p>They can support nonpartisan <a href="https://www.researchgate.net/profile/James-Defilippis-2/publication/279250525_Community_organizing_in_the_United_States/links/563cbaab08aec6f17dd7c359/Community-organizing-in-the-United-States.pdf">community organizing</a>, which helps disconnected individuals identify and collaborate on shared challenges. Progress on systemic problems, including strides toward protecting civil rights, workers’ rights and the <a href="http://www.encyclopedia.chicagohistory.org/pages/1050.html">outlawing of redlining</a>, all began with community organizing.</p>
<p>A second option is to single out advocacy campaigns that counterbalance powerful special interests that have already skewed the debate.</p>
<p>For instance, donations supporting advocacy that leads to restrictions on tobacco marketing might be justified to counteract the <a href="https://tobaccocontrol.bmj.com/content/10/2/124">lobbying efforts of tobacco corporations</a>. Likewise, donations that support environmental activism could reduce the <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/stories-53640382">influence of oil, gas and coal companies</a> on climate change policies. </p>
<h2>Rosenwald’s example</h2>
<figure class="align-right zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438087/original/file-20211216-23-5k53k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="Early 20th-century businessman Julius Rosenwald" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438087/original/file-20211216-23-5k53k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=237&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438087/original/file-20211216-23-5k53k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438087/original/file-20211216-23-5k53k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438087/original/file-20211216-23-5k53k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=801&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438087/original/file-20211216-23-5k53k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438087/original/file-20211216-23-5k53k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438087/original/file-20211216-23-5k53k0.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=1007&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">Julius Rosenwald helped expand educational opportunities for Black children through his philanthropy.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/portrait-of-julius-rosenwald-signed-by-rosenwald-on-news-photo/529305993">Chicago History Museum/Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>A third option is to invest in <a href="https://www.ncfp.org/2021/01/15/philanthropy-as-democracy-enhancement-big-philanthropys-role-as-discovery-for-social-problem-solving/">temporary policy experiments</a> that can be authentically adopted and controlled by democratic governments.</p>
<p>It’s perhaps best exemplified by the partnership between U.S. businessman and philanthropist <a href="https://www.britannica.com/biography/Julius-Rosenwald">Julius Rosenwald</a> and prominent Black educator and leader <a href="https://www.history.com/topics/black-history/booker-t-washington">Booker T. Washington</a> to seed-fund the construction of <a href="https://www.nps.gov/articles/the-rosenwald-schools-progressive-era-philanthropy-in-the-segregated-south-teaching-with-historic-places.htm">5,000 schoolhouses in the 1910s and 1920s</a></p>
<p>“<a href="https://forum.savingplaces.org/HigherLogic/System/DownloadDocumentFile.ashx?DocumentFileKey=693200ab-b3c9-7ee9-f177-6ed15bcd491b">Rosenwald schools</a>” are credited with dramatic improvements in <a href="https://www.chicagofed.org/publications/working-papers/2009/wp-26">educational gains</a> for Black children in the segregated Jim Crow South.</p>
<p>Local communities had to contribute funds and pledge to incorporate the schools into their own public school district. This funding model helped to ease worries about excessive donor influence. </p>
<figure class="align-center zoomable">
<a href="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438091/original/file-20211216-27-tbz4es.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=1000&fit=clip"><img alt="A restored small school building" src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438091/original/file-20211216-27-tbz4es.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&fit=clip" srcset="https://images.theconversation.com/files/438091/original/file-20211216-27-tbz4es.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=1 600w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438091/original/file-20211216-27-tbz4es.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=2 1200w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438091/original/file-20211216-27-tbz4es.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=600&h=400&fit=crop&dpr=3 1800w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438091/original/file-20211216-27-tbz4es.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=45&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=1 754w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438091/original/file-20211216-27-tbz4es.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=30&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=2 1508w, https://images.theconversation.com/files/438091/original/file-20211216-27-tbz4es.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&q=15&auto=format&w=754&h=503&fit=crop&dpr=3 2262w" sizes="(min-width: 1466px) 754px, (max-width: 599px) 100vw, (min-width: 600px) 600px, 237px"></a>
<figcaption>
<span class="caption">The Ridgeley Rosenwald School, in Capitol Heights, Maryland, has operated as a museum since 2011.</span>
<span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/news-photo/an-exterview-of-the-ridgeley-rosenwald-school-is-seen-news-photo/486061688">Nikki Kahn/The Washington Post via Getty Images</a></span>
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</figure>
<p>It probably also helped that Rosenwald made his heirs <a href="http://amistadresearchcenter.tulane.edu/archon/?p=creators/creator&id=154">spend down the Julius Rosenwald Fund, his foundation</a>, after his death in 1932. Unlike the automotive entrepreneur and philanthropist <a href="https://www.henryford.com/about/culture/history/giving">Henry Ford</a> and other major donors, Rosenwald went out of his way to make sure his power wasn’t perpetual.</p>
<p>Surely, these examples aren’t the only possibilities. And each one comes with its own limitations. But in my view, further attention to the conflict between justice and democracy in philanthropic giving may uncover new and better ways of overcoming it.</p>
<p><em>The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation has provided funding for The Conversation U.S. and provides funding for The Conversation internationally.</em></p><img src="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/173711/count.gif" alt="The Conversation" width="1" height="1" />
<p class="fine-print"><em><span>Ted Lechterman does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.</span></em></p>Big donors need to balance their ambitions to address injustices with the constraints on power that democracy requires.Ted Lechterman, Research Fellow, University of OxfordLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.tag:theconversation.com,2011:article/1729602021-12-07T13:34:39Z2021-12-07T13:34:39ZMaking a difference without millions – how Americans give<figure><img src="https://images.theconversation.com/files/434936/original/file-20211201-16-1oovvbs.jpg?ixlib=rb-1.1.0&rect=0%2C12%2C4266%2C2816&q=45&auto=format&w=496&fit=clip" /><figcaption><span class="caption">How do regular people participate in philanthropy? </span> <span class="attribution"><a class="source" href="https://www.gettyimages.com/detail/photo/computer-pointer-hand-pointing-to-written-word-royalty-free-image/173236978?adppopup=true"> fotosipsak/iStock/Getty Images Plus</a></span></figcaption></figure><p>Can everyday people make a difference in their communities without millions of dollars? <a href="https://pacscenter.stanford.edu/person/lucy-bernholz/">Lucy Bernholz</a>, a senior research scholar at Stanford University’s Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society, believes that philanthropy is far more multifaceted than wealthy individuals writing checks to nonprofit organizations.</p>
<p>“Most books written about philanthropy [talk] about rich people,” said Bernholz, “and I wanted to know what was happening with everyone else.”</p>
<p>Bernholz shared her research and knowledge on how people participate in acts of charitable giving during a webinar hosted by The Associated Press, The Chronicle of Philanthropy and The Conversation U.S., called “Making a difference without millions – How Americans give.” </p>
<p>The panel also featured Tiffani Ashley Bell, executive director of The Human Utility; Maria Smith Dautruche, director of the Westchester Center for Racial Equity; and Sara Lomelin, executive director of Philanthropy Together. The panelists shared how they give and the power of community philanthropy. Watch the video below to hear the entire dicussion. </p>
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<figcaption><span class="caption">Panelists Tiffani Ashley Bell, Lucy Bernholz, Maria Smith Dautruche and Sara Lomelin joined Eden Stiffman, senior editor at the Chronicle of Philanthropy, to discuss how American are giving today.</span></figcaption>
</figure>
<h2>What is philanthropy?</h2>
<p>According to Bernholz, people are always encountering requests to give – whether you’re on your commute to work, running errands downtown, helping a neighbor, at the register of a drugstore or just checking social media. Bernholz calls these occurrences “the givingscape,” “which are all these opportunities to give time, money and data.”</p>
<p>Nonprofit organizations are just one part of what makes up philanthropy. “They have certain benefits. And certain drawbacks,” Bernholz said. She believes that in order to achieve true equity and justice, charitable giving to nonprofits should not be seen as the only way to give. </p>
<p>Her work, including her latest book, “<a href="https://mitpress.mit.edu/books/how-we-give-now">How We Give Now</a>”, re-imagines what philanthropy looks like and tries to understand how average people create, fund and distribute shared social goods in the digital age.</p>
<h2>Giving in the digital age</h2>
<p>The digital age hasn’t revolutionized philanthropy but instead has brought attention to old behaviors and moral ideals, Bernholz said. While things like mutual aid programs might seem new, Bernholz believes that it’s the same type of community participation people have always been drawn to doing.</p>
<p>“For my book, [my team and I] interviewed people who said, I contribute to the same effort to repair my neighbor’s house from the flood, but if they hit me with a GoFundMe [request], I’m actually going to walk over there and hand them the cash,” Bernholz said. “The sense of connection, community and identity is what drives folks to give.” </p>
<p>Bernholz argues that the <a href="https://theconversation.com/charities-take-digital-money-now-and-the-risks-that-go-with-it-103983">digitization of giving</a> has increased the need for accountability and transparency in philanthropy. She points to the fact that crowdsourcing apps like Venmo, PayPal and Cash App are not required to report their data. </p>
<p>“We rely on these companies to tell us how much [money] they’ve moved, because we can’t see the data. They don’t have to tell us. So we can see the [crowdsourcing], but we don’t actually have the details,” she said. </p>
<h2>Data as a charitable donation?</h2>
<p>While the lack of data from companies concerns Bernholz, she believes that deliberate acts of sharing data are a part of “the givingscape.” </p>
<p>“For example, [people who] take their digital photographs or digitize their family albums and contribute them as a conscious deliberate choice to an archive of [historical events],” Bernholz said. “We can build archives and actually uncover or reveal incredibly important parts of the complicated history of this country.”</p>
<p>Data sharing, according to Bernholz, has had an “enormous effect” on efforts to protect biodiversity. </p>
<p>“Because so many people now have phones with cameras, [they can take a photo of a bird or bug] while out on a walk or hike and can upload it to a particular app and add it to a biodiversity database,” she said. </p>
<p>Bernholz still believes that sharing data should be approached with caution. Efforts must be taken to ensure that “people from different backgrounds, different experiences with data [and] different experiences of structural harm set the parameters for whether and how we should do that.” </p>
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Stanford researcher Lucy Bernholz is re-imagining what philanthropy looks like and is trying to understand how average people create, fund and distribute shared social goods in the digital age.Thalia Plata, EditorLicensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.