NorCalUrban

New York Times Article on the debate regarding the societal benefits of non profit donations. It's a somewhat rambling article, but my feeling is that this is a brewing debate. Eli Broad, a billionaire businessman, has given away more than $650 million over the last five years, to Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to establish a medical research institute, to the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and to programs to improve the administration of urban schools and public education."What smart entrepreneurial philanthropists and their foundations do is get greater value for how they invest their money than if the government were doing it." "I got a plaque in the mail and an invitation to an awards ceremony. I never gave them another nickel. What were they spending money on plaques for?" The rich are giving more to charity than ever, but people like Mr. Broad are not the only ones footing the bill for such generosity. For every three dollars the...

I heard this author on NPR last night. He wrote a book on the state of charitable giving in the US. I just ordered it - so this is more for information than endorsement. However, in the interview he confirmed what I already knew from experience. Some of the things he mentioned were: - Conservatives tend to give much more than liberals. The inference is that liberals tend to rely more on government programs to solve societal issues. - Government programs can sometimes have the opposite effect by impeding private donors from giving to causes. - The most stable form of income for a non profit is through private donors. - America gives a TON of money. Interesting... You can see the book here.