Project on Policy and the Social Economy

Change the Rules of the Game

lucy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 23:45:11 +0000

Great post from Dan Crisafulli of Skoll Foundation on why policy matters to social entrepreneur

http://www.skollonline.com/blog/?p=241

Legal ramifications of Supreme Court Case`

lucy — Tue, 15 Sep 2009 17:50:37 +0000

Good post on the implications of The Citizens United case (the Hillary movie) on nonprofits. Legal strategies to policy change, intended and unintended.

http://lawprofessors.typepad.com/nonprofit/2009/09/what-the-citizens-united-case-may-mean-for-nonprofits.html

Systems Change paper from USC

lucy — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:50:52 +0000

New report from USC Center on Philanthropy and Public Policy (I am on board of advisors, or once was) – Foundation Strategy for Social Impact: A system change perspective. Systems include policy.

http://www.usc.edu/schools/sppd/philanthropy/private/docs/RP30-FerrisWilliams.pdf

Kauffman Foundation Campaign for Entrepreneurs

lucy — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:48:56 +0000

An example of policy identification and promotion – if it includes social entrepreneurs it would fit into our sphere.

http://www.growthology.org/growthology/2009/09/the-campaign-for-entrepreneurs.html

Government and Philanthropy – leaders and followers

lucy — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 16:02:04 +0000

This opinion piece by Vince Stehle of Surdna Foundation raises some important points about the many ways philanthropy and government intersect.. (Article is a premium from Chronicle of Philanthropy, account required)

Why a Policy Discussion is Important

Rob Reich — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 05:07:30 +0000

I am a co-conspirator with Lucy on the Philanthropy Policy Project, and I’m excited to be a part of this. I am very hopeful that this conversation will lead to something, for I’m convinced that policy questions are of the utmost importance.

Why? To start with the obvious: I am a political theorist by training and therefore my interest as a scholar is on the political institutions in which philanthropy takes place rather than on the actions and motives of individual philanthropists. I am inclined to think that the actions and motives of individuals cannot be properly understood or evaluated outside the political institutions that currently structure philanthropy. (Can the motive of the philanthropist be understood apart from the tax incentives that reward philanthropic behavior?) But such a claim is not strictly necessary. I want simply to recognize that, though philanthropy may be as old as humanity itself, its setting in modern society embeds it firmly with the political institutions of the state. Laws govern the creation of foundations and nonprofit organizations, and they spell out the rules under which these organizations may operate. Laws set up special tax treatment for philanthropic and nonprofit organizations, and they permit tax concessions for individual and corporate donations to qualifying nonprofits. In this sense, philanthropy is not exactly an invention of the state but can be viewed as an artifact of the state; we can be certain that philanthropy would not have the form it currently does in the absence of the various laws that structure it and tax incentives that encourage it. The goods and harms of philanthropy can be products of, or at least can be promoted or diminished by, the policies of the state that are designed to encourage or reward philanthropic behavior.

That’s my brief for why the philanthropy policy project is important. Your thoughts?

New Resource on Licensing Use by Private Foundations

lucy — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:16:07 +0000

LINK: http://ow.ly/lCEZ
Berkman report on foundations and open licensing

Some responses to #philpo

lucy — Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:02:42 +0000

This blog post from folks at NCRP calls some key questions for this project. Of specific note to me, was this paragraph:

“What policy changes would transform our sector into something more than an emergent effect of forces beyond its control? What kind of tax policy, economic policy, industrial policy, environmental policy, or health-care policy would support the stability and growth of philanthropic capital?”
Those are great questions.

And in the words of the NCRP writer, here’s the risk of not stepping up to the plate:

“Are we moving toward a more prosperous, more equitable, more sustainable state of affairs, or is our greatest genius in creating “new” philanthropic instruments? A Policy Project that confined itself to narrow sector issues and the endless contemplation and reproduction of the giving tools already in use would be a recipe for irrelevance.”

Why rules matter

lucy — Tue, 25 Aug 2009 19:18:48 +0000

“In the end, we get the charity sector we deserve.” – That’s Matt Bishop, author of Philanthrocapitalism, on why the policies that shape philanthropy matter. In his comments regarding the UK’s review of two charities’ work he emphasizes the roles that donors, tough questions, and the ways we act can shape how the nonprofit sector work. He also notes that the structure itself is a result of 400 years of law – the point of leverage this blog is about.

Nonprofits and Policy

lucy — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 20:15:02 +0000

Here’s an interesting post in The Nonprofit Quarterly about the role nonprofits need to play in shaping major policy debates, such as health care.

The question for the Philanthropy Policy Project is what about nonprofits, philanthropists, and the public taking a role in philanthropy policy itself?