What is philanthrocapitalism?

What is philanthrocapitalism? There are a couple of definitions. First, a micro-level definition: it is a new way of doing philanthropy, which mirrors the way that business is done in the for-profit capitalist world.

Entrepreneurs don’t just want to write cheques. They want to be hands on, bringing innovative ideas to scale by investing their time and energy – ‘venture philanthropy’.

New intermediaries are emerging offering advisory services to help the rich get the best out of their philanthropic dollars; the philanthropists themselves are doing more to learn from each other; Warren Buffett has taken the radical step of getting Bill and Melinda Gates to spend the bulk of his philanthropic assets.