Philanthropy: From Aristotle to Zuckerberg, by Paul Vallely. Bloomsbury Publishing, London; 2020; 756 pp. ISBN HB 978-1-4729-2012-6 If you have been looking for a comprehensive history of the concept and practice of Western philanthropy, you have it now in the form of this lengthy but very readable book by Paul Vallely, a British writer and…
Building Unity: Leading a Nonprofit from Spark to Succession, by Michael Prosserman. ECW Press, Toronto, 2020; 288 pp.: ISBN 978-1-77041-563-8 This is a book about leading innovation in the non-profit sector, built on the unique experience and language of hip hop or breakin’ culture. Mike Prosserman is a gifted professional dancer, a b-boy who…
The Corporate Social Mind: How Companies Lead Social Change from the Inside Out, by Derrick Feldmann and Michael Alberg-Seberich, Fast Company Press, Austin, Texas, 2020; 232 pp: ISBN: 978-1734324808 Are the most successful corporations those that focus primarily on the financial value they create for shareholders? Or can they be even more successful if they…
The Intrepid Nonprofit: Strategies for Success in Turbulent Times, by Tim Plumptre. Friesen Press, Victoria, B.C., 2019; 330 pp; ISBN 9781525505423 It’s become a truism that we are living and working in a time of extraordinary turbulence. The corollary is that leaders of organizations in such times face stiffer challenges. It’s never been easy…
J’ai travaillé pendant près de 20 ans au Canada dans le domaine de la philanthropie organisée. En l’espace de deux décennies, nous avons mis sur pied Fondations philanthropiques Canada (FPC), une plateforme qui dessert maintenant plus de 130 membres. Notre objectif est d’inciter les bailleurs de fonds à travailler de façon efficace, notamment en générant un…
I have worked in the field of organized philanthropy in Canada for close to 20 years. Over two decades we have built Philanthropic Foundations Canada (PFC) as a platform which now serves more than 130 members. Our goal is to challenge funders to do their best work, including making social change. PFC serves the broader…
Giving Done Right: Effective Philanthropy and Making Every Dollar Count, by Phil Buchanan. Public Affairs. New York, 2019; 256 pp: ISBN 9781541742253 The act of giving is defined in deceptively simple terms by any dictionary: “to grant or bestow by formal action; to accord or yield to another; to put into the possession of another…
Just Giving: Why Philanthropy Is Failing Democracy and How It Can Do Better, by Rob Reich. Princeton University Press, Princeton, New Jersey, USA, 2018, ISBN 9780691184395 Just Giving, by Stanford University professor Rob Reich, is a fascinating book for students of political philosophy and for thoughtful foundation leaders. It takes on fundamentally important questions: what…
New Power: How Power Works in our Hyperconnected World – and How to Make It Work for You, by Jeremy Heimans and Henry Timms. Toronto, Ontario, 2018, ISBN 978-0345816443 New Power, by co-authors Australian Jeremy Heimans and British/American Henry Timms, is a timely and optimistic book about the possibilities for social and economic transformation…
The Givers: Wealth, Power and Philanthropy in a New Gilded Age, by David Callahan, New York, Knopf, 2017, ISBN 978-1-101-94705-0 All eyes are on Washington, DC, these days as we watch the latest confrontations and debates among the political power brokers in the Trump Administration and Congress. The Trump election and presidency has provoked closer…