ALBERT RUESGA OFFERS SOME THOUGHTFUL COMMENTS ON THE PHILANTHROPY AT ITS BEST KERFLUFFLE
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I understand, however, that behind each of these exhortations lies a beating heart. Behind the plea to give more to the poor is the uncomfortably reality of deep poverty in our own country. And set against this poverty, the tens of billions of dollars in philanthropic assets dedicated to eliminating it but somehow failing to do so after all these years.
Where some critics see the NCRP report as a kind of ideological manifesto, I see in it a plea for greater effectiveness in grantmaking. If that’s the case, then perhaps we can fault the report not for its excesses, but for not having gone far enough.
I challenge those of us in the field of organized philanthropy to try the following experiment: Let’s choose 100 foundations at random with assets of $250 million or more, dedicated to eradicating some social ill or other. For these 100 foundations, let’s determine how many…..: