When we think of 'philanthropy' we often focus only on the ‘philanthropists’, that is the people who are voluntarily giving away resources. But donors rarely, if ever, act alone. They exist and operate within a much broader set of individuals and institutions that includes all other charitable bodies, potential grantees and their beneficiaries, staff, trustees and volunteers, other philanthropic funders and relevant governmental agencies, and – if they are wealthy –financial and wealth managers and family offices.
We make sense of this complex philanthropic eco system and explore what kinds of support are available to all types of donor to make more effective, efficient and ethical decisions. Topics include both structural issues (tax, legal and wealth management) as well as strategic approaches (theory of change, goal-setting and distributional consequences). We explore current debates in advising and supporting donors, including the different approaches, outcome-orientations, methods of measurement and impact assessment.
By the end of this module you will develop a critical understanding of philanthropy advising and its role in society, and the ways in which private philanthropists and institutional donors are, and can be, supported.
Lecture - 16
Workshop- 8
Webinars-8
Independent Study -118
Assessment Preparation- 50
Total Hours: 200
Main assessment methods
Written- Extended Writing-Case study-1,500 words- Weighting (40%)
Written- Extended Writing-Essay-1,500 words- Weighting (40%)
Written- Short Writing piece- Collation of blog posts -1,000 words-Weighting (20%)
Reassessment methods
Like-for-like 1,000 word essay
None
See the library reading list for this module (Canterbury)
On successfully completing the module, you will be able to:
- Critically assess the evolution of philanthropic intermediaries and the role of advisors in the United Kingdom and beyond, including their inter-relations and impact on current debates and future directions in philanthropy.
- Demonstrate a critical awareness of the role of the environment in which philanthropy support exists and the role of different actors and how they interact to shape the legal, fiscal and cultural context of philanthropy.
- Critically evaluate the range of theories and key conceptual approaches used in working with private donors.
- Evaluate the different models and methods of supporting donors and be able to produce reasoned and justified opinions on a range of contemporary issues relating to advising individual philanthropists and institutional donors.
- Act autonomously in creating and presenting critical ideas for applying theoretical, empirical and practical knowledge in the tackling and solving of tasks related to advising donors.
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