A couple interesting stories about philanthropy in the New York Times in the last couple days:
- “Charity’s Share From Shopping Raises Concerns”
This article flags the high potential for fraud that occurs when stores promise that a certain percentage of profits will go to a particular nonprofit. These promises are unregulated and sometimes, nonprofits don’t even realize they’re supposed to be on the receiving end of a donation. - “How Long Should Gifts Just Grow?”
A major piece that explores the increasing trend away from endowments that grow over time and a stronger imperative to spend down endowments on some sort of scheduled timeline. The incredible size of modern wealth contained within foundations (notably the Gates Foundation) has forced the conversation about just how much power private philanthropic foundations should be able to wield.
Charlie is a student of international development; a co-founder of Runa, a social enterprise producing sustainablly harvested high-energy teas and beverages from the Ecuadorian Amazon; a meditater; and a musician. You can reach him at caharding (at) gmail (dot) com
