May 2016

Effective philanthropy: another take (edited by Caroline Hartnell and Andrew Milner) is a collection of 11 stories describing a philanthropic intervention against some form of injustice (socioeconomic and/or political) at a local, national or global scale. These stories are told through the lens of a grantmaker illuminating the sorts of considerations, dilemmas, and uncertainties a grantmaker might wrestle with when making a grant to effect positive social change. They delve deep into the analysis of the problem, the solution, the strategy, and tactics used to address it, the risks and challenges involved, and the impact of the philanthropic support.

The purpose in telling these stories is to broaden the circle of philanthropy practitioners whose aim is to help produce lasting change in the lives of people and communities, by showing how such grantmaking is done and giving evidence of its impact.

The stories broadly fall into three categories:

Supporting marginalized groups and communities to achieve change in their own lives

Ford Foundation Peace and Social Justice Program, Global Civil Society Portfolio (GCS), New York City, USA
Written by Andrew Milner

‘We the invisible’
You work for an NGO that is trying to improve the access to health and education of the poor and vulnerable. By and large, you are doing well. But one day, the municipality bulldozes the homes of those you are working for and you realize that in the face of such summary and categoric action, your good work and your good intentions come to nothing. This was the stark truth that faced Sheela Patel, one of the founders of what came to be known as SPARC (the Society for the Promotion of Area Resource Centres) and Chair of Shack/Slum Dwellers International (SDI).