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Poor Economics, Ineffective Philanthropy

The very existence of a Center for Effective Philanthropy (CEP) is an acknowledgment both that there is also such a thing as ineffective philanthropy, and that it should be possible to tell the difference between good philanthropy and the other sort. Indeed, you might expect that this would be the main focus of the CEP’s […]

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Obama, Vartan and Brest

Barack Obama once ran the Chicago arm of the Annenberg Challenge, a $500m effort to improve schools in America funded by media tycoon Walter Annenberg. It was there that he came into contact with Bill Ayers, the Weatherman terrorist, a relationship that caused controversy during the recent election campaign. Less controversially, coming into contact with […]

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Bogged down in ‘civil society’

Paul Brest, who heads the Hewlett Foundation and has just published a book about smart philanthropy, discusses the challenge to philanthrocapitalism from civil society in an article in the Huffington Post. Some of the loudest critics of philanthrocapitalism, such as Michael Edwards, come from the nonprofit sector and argue that there is a conflict or contradiction between […]

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This Sunday and Other Matters

If you are in New York this Sunday evening, come to a discussion of philanthropy during the downturn at the 92nd Street Y. Matthew will be in conversation with two of the most thoughtful philanthropy leaders in America, Paul Brest, who runs the Hewlett Foundation, and Vartan Gregorian, who has long presided at the Carnegie […]

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Money Well Spent

“Money Well Spent: A Strategic Guide to Smart Philanthropy,” has just been published by Paul Brest, who runs the Hewlett Foundation, and Hal Harvey. Matthew has written a review of the book in The Economist, and praises how it “dispenses practical advice to aspiring philanthropists and provides examples of the ways they can influence the […]