Charities Aid Foundation's Giving Thought podcast explored the big issues, themes and news stories relating to philanthropy and the work of civil society.
In this episode we talk to Nell Edgington, President of
non-profit consultancy Social Velocity, about her new book
“Reinventing Social Change: Embrace Abundance to Create a Healthier
and More Equitable World”. We discuss:
What is the book about, who should read it and what should they
do as a result?
Why does a scarcity mind-set affect so many donors and funders?
Is this particular to philanthropy?
Why is the “overhead myth” so prevalent, and why is it so
problematic?
Are there signs that funders are changing their behaviour
during the current crisis? (Moving to unrestricted funding,
trust-based grantmaking etc.) Is this likely to lead to longer-term
changes?
What misconceptions are there about what makes for a
sustainable non-profit, and why do these misunderstandings
persist?
How many donors are willing to give away power as well as
money? (And will the current crisis put even more focus on
approaches such as participatory grantmaking?)
Do we need to redefine what counts as success and failure in
philanthropy?
How should we rate philanthropy’s response to the current
crisis?
What is the core role of philanthropy within society which
differentiates it from either state or market provision?
Why has the idea that non-profits need to be “more
business-like” become so widespread? What is wrong with it?
Should we seek to measure impact better? What challenges might
this bring in terms of distorting activity or creating power
imbalances?
How can donors and funders use philanthropy to challenge or
transform the very systems in which wealth has been created?
Charities Aid Foundation's Giving Thought explored the big issues, themes and news stories relating to philanthropy and the work of civil society.
This podcast is no longer produced.