Module 4 EXPLORING PHILANTHROPY AS A CULTURAL TRADITION

• Participants will further understand philanthropy as an institution and a practice.
• Participants will grapple with the connection between philanthropic tradition and the distribution of wealth, power, and privilege over time.

This module is designed to help participants to see their pursuit of philanthropy in context. Participants will be challenged to consider their philanthropic practice as more than an experience in self-discovery. They will be asked to consider it as a political or cultural statement with real consequences in the world.

• Payton, Robert L. & Moody, Michael P. “Understanding Philanthropy: Its Meaning and Mission.” Indiana University Press, 2008. (Excerpts from introduction)
• Hall, Peter Dobkin. “Chapter 1 “Historical Perspectives of Non Profit Organizations in the United States” in “The Jossey Bass Handbook of Nonprofit Leadership and Management.”

• This module explores the practice of philanthropy and prompts participants to connect what it means to be a philanthropist to their individual and collective social identities and privileges.
• We suggest anchoring this module in the recommended readings and then presenting the case study to the group for analysis and discussion.