Philanthropy as ‘a laboratory’
One month and 117 years ago today, Andrew Carnegie was elected Rector of the University of St Andrews. Announcing the results of the election, the then Principal, Sir James Donaldson,…
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Trusts as ‘toothpaste tubes’
Barry Haimo of Haimo Law tries to bring a breath of fresh air to the discourse on trusts by explaining the similarities of trusts and toothpaste tubes: ‘Trusts are in…
Foundations as ‘Santa Claus’
With a number of European countries celebrating Saint Nicholas Day on the 6th of December, today’s image of philanthropy picks up that theme: foundations as the institutional equivalent of ’Santa…
Philanthropy as ‘the refuge of people who wish to annoy their fellow creatures’
Oscar Wilde, the Irish poet and playwright, set the stage for today’s image of philanthropy: ‘the refuge of people who wish to annoy their fellow creatures’. In his comedic stage…
Community foundations as ‘philanthropic cruise directors’
Today’s image of philanthropy focuses on community foundations. Given their diverse roles, they have been compared to being the institutional equivalent of ‘philanthropic cruise directors’: ‘Julie [the cruise director]…
Philanthropy is like ‘acupuncture’
Our third image of philanthropy is the idea that ‘philanthropy is like acupuncture’. This has been put forward by a couple of authors to convey the importance of appropriate skills…
Trusts as ‘extraordinary drugs’
For our second image of philanthropy, we look at the organisational form of the trust; we go back to the early 20th century and an entry by Pierre Lepaulle in…
Philanthropy theory is like ‘a theory of ice cream’
Starting off our series on ‘Images of Philanthropy’ is an analogy put forward by John Bare, Vice President for Programs at The Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation. Commenting on the…
Images of Philanthropy
Imagery, metaphor and analogy have always played a central role in the casting, practice and understanding of philanthropy. This goes back as far as the literal origins of Western philanthropy. From…
Scottish Philanthropy Snippet – Catherine Sinclair
Catherine Sinclair (1800-1864) Background: Catherine Sinclair, Scottish novelist and writer, was born in Edinburgh on 17th April 1800. She was the fourth daughter and sixth of thirteen children of Rt…