Philanthropy

Max Miller
Philanthropy

What is the meaning of the word philanthropy, and what types of activities are associated with it?

Business Dictionary defines philanthropy as something that is done for the benefit of all the human race this includes a level of personal sacrifice from an individual in order to help the larger cause. Activities associated with it are things like donating to charity of the research for a cure or it can even be something like volunteering. 

How is philanthropy different from “charity” or “charitable giving.”

Philanthropy and charity are often confused. They both involve giving money or volunteering ones time but charity is focused on helping to eliminate the suffering caused by social problems meaning that the majority of people can be charitable because it is often fairly easy to help. But Philanthropy involves trying to fix the social problem that causes the suffering all together meaning that philanthropists are looking for a long term solution to a wide spread problem and this usually requires a lot of money and time from many individuals.

Learning to Give.org

Find out about the philanthropic work of Andrew Carnegie, including the amount of money he spent and the types of projects on which he spent it. Why did he invest so much in philanthropy, and why he decided to spend his money in the ways he did?

According to Columbia University, Andrew Carnegie gave away over $350 million of his own money to many different projects but they centered around global education and world peace. He invested so much in philanthropy because be felt that people who had more than they needed had a moral obligation to give it away to help those who didn't which he stated publicly. At the time of his wealth there weren't a lot of education programs such as libraries so Carnegie spent a lot of money building many libraries around the world. 

During Carnegie’s lifetime, the press called attention to philanthropic giving of his business rival, John D. Rockefeller. How did the two men’s giving compare?

Carnegie and Rockefeller both gave away massive amounts of their own money. And many regard them as both pioneers in the philanthropy world. They both gave a lot of money to education but in different ways. Carnegie focused on building public libraries as Rockefeller focused on building schools and collages. New York Times 

What type of philanthropic work is the Carnegie Foundation involved with today? There are many different branches of Carnegie Foundation involved in philanthropic giving – be sure to note them all.

The Carnegie Foundation is still heavily involved in philanthropic work today and they are still involved in many aspects of giving but they still mainly focus on education. 

Who are currently considered major philanthropists? Find a current list and then choose one to focus on.  Summarize what you are able to learn about that individual’s philanthropic giving.

Major Philanthropists include people like Chuck Feeney, Gordon Moore and Bill and Melinda Gates. Bill and Melinda Gates have given away the overwhelming majority of their money and are known to encourage other billionaires to do the same and join them in their efforts. Their mission is to make sure that the younger generation of people survive and thrive as said on the Bill and Melinda Gated Foundation website.

Imagine yourself as a philanthropist. What types of work would you invest in, and why?

If I was a philanthropist I would focus in investing in saving the environment and specifically the animals that are going extinct because many species of animals are going extinct at an alarming rate and its kind of humanities fault.