Author Archive:
Barry Knight
Philanthropy needs all the help it can get
It is good to see that the Alliance Special Feature on ‘Philanthropy’s Developers’ pays homage to some of the pioneers of philanthropy infrastructure. To my mind, one of these – Barry Gaberman – merits special …
Are we dancing on the edge?
‘Come to the edge’ was the invitation, and 200 came. The premise of the Edge Funders Conference held in New Orleans from 17th to 20th April 2018 was that from the edge you can see …
What makes a strong ecosystem of support to philanthropy?
The stakes over the development of a sound and strong system to support and develop philanthropy have never been higher. In many regions the infrastructure is still emerging and needs to be strengthened and where …
Does philanthropy need a new story?
A quiet revolution is under way in philanthropy. There is growth in unexpected places, a proliferation of new organizational forms, increased scepticism about the Anglo-American model, and a fine balance between large opportunities and unprecedented threats. These trends point in …
Are you SDG ready? Arab philanthropy and the Sustainable Development Goals
One of the lessons of the Millennium Development Goals was that collaboration across sectors will be essential if their successors, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), are to be achieved. There are already positive signs that …
#ShiftThePower: the rise of community philanthropy
In this special feature on community philanthropy, we propose a new paradigm called ‘durable development’. This involves shifting power closer to the ground, giving agency to local people and their organizations on the principle that …
Foundations keen to collaborate on SDGs
We are at a pivotal moment in the history of the relationship between philanthropy and official development assistance. The key question is: will foundations take part in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)? To find out, …
Is access to art a human right?
Two years ago the Working Group on Philanthropy for Social Justice and Peace (PSJP) began to investigate the relationship between social justice and art, leading to the recent publication Framing the Discourse, Advancing the Work: …
Community philanthropy and a new model of development
What role can community philanthropy play in development post-2015? Comments on Jenny Hodgson and Barry Knight’s article come from Canada, Germany, Slovakia, Romania, the UK and the US. As discussion hots up around the United …
Strategic or emergent: why are we stuck in the swimming pool?
Gerry Salole, chief executive of the European Foundation Centre, once commented: ‘Philanthropy tends to get stuck in the swimming pool, when the real action is in the sea.’ The recent controversy about strategic philanthropy and …
