Conventional Philanthropy

By the conventional definition of philanthropy, donations are dedicated to a narrowly defined cause and the donation is targeted to effectuate a recognizable change in social conditions. This often necessitates large donations and financial support sustained over time.

 

The need for a large financial commitment creates a distinction between philanthropy and charitable giving, which typically plays a supporting role in a charitable organization initiated by someone else. Thus, the conventional usage of philanthropy applies mainly to wealthy persons, and sometimes to a trust created by a wealthy person with a particular cause or objective targeted.

 

Many non-wealthy persons have dedicated – thus, donated – substantial portions of their time, effort and wealth to charitable causes. These people are not typically described as philanthropists because individual effort alone is seldom recognized as instigating significant change. These people are thought of as charitable workers but some people wish to recognize these people as philanthropists in honor of their efforts.

 

A growing trend in philanthropy is the development of giving circles, whereby individual donors — often a group of friends — pool their charitable donations and decide together how to use the money to benefit the causes they care about most. The re-emergence of philanthropy in recent years, led by Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, which involves applying the techniques of business to philanthropy, has been termed philanthrocapitalism.