Philanthropic Studies (Distance Learning) - PCert, PDip, MA

This module provides an up to date overview of current academic knowledge about philanthropy. Students will gain an understanding of historical and contemporary issues relating to philanthropy, the various theories and ideologies regarding the existence of philanthropic behaviours and the role of government and policy-makers in shaping the legal, fiscal and cultural context for philanthropy.

This module will give an advanced level overview of the nature and practice of contemporary philanthropy across the world. It will examine how local contexts and processes of globalisation are affecting different forms of philanthropy found around the world, including the growth of global foundations and transnational giving. It will cover the comparative analysis of monetary donations, donor motivations, fundraising practices, tax incentives and welfare/market provision across a range of countries, and encourage students to critically assess how and why philanthropic behaviour varies across different political, cultural and socio-economic contexts. Drawing on current academic theory, knowledge and empirical research, students will gain a broader understanding of philanthropy beyond their own culture, and the growing role of philanthropic institutions in eliciting global change.

To enable this advanced level knowledge to be used in practice, current debates in global philanthropy, cross-cutting thematic issues, such as the role of regulation, fiscal reliefs and the impact of religion, as well as relevant ethical issues will be explored. Students will gain from this a systematic understanding of the role of global philanthropy in society.

This module will give an advanced level overview of the current state of philanthropy advising in the UK. Aimed at those working in or seeking to work in the voluntary sector, especially in roles that involve working directly with individual philanthropists and institutional donors, it will cover a range of topics that will facilitate a detailed and critical analysis of the role of philanthropy advising. It will allow students to explore this knowledge through its application in real life contexts that are encountered in professional practice. Academic approaches to advising donors from a range of perspectives including structural issues (tax, legal and wealth management) and strategic approaches (theory of change, goal-setting and distributional consequences) will be covered in order to fully understand and reflect on the role of philanthropy advisers.

To enable this advanced level knowledge to be used in practice, we will explore the current debates in advising donors, including the different approaches, outcome-orientations, methods of measurement and impact assessment. Students will gain from all of this 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.

This course introduces students to the logic and methods of social research. It aims to familiarize students with central topics in research design and the ethics of social research so that they can apply this knowledge to their understanding of fields of social and public policy. The module introduces students to both positivist and critical/interpretive approaches and the debates behind their selection for conducting research. It will invite them to consider how research questions are generated and answered. It will introduce them to the common mistakes in policy relevant social research and how they can be avoided. Topics will also include: ethics and informed consent; sampling for qualitative and quantitative research; methods of primary and secondary data collection, methods of qualitative and quantitative analysis. It will give them an opportunity to learn and practise introductory skills in the collection and analysis of qualitative and quantitative data.

This module will give an advanced level overview of the current state of volunteering in the UK. Aimed at those working in or seeking to work in the voluntary sector, it will cover a range of topics which will facilitate a detailed and critical analysis of the role of volunteering in society. It will allow students to explore this knowledge through its application in real life contexts that they encounter in their professional practice. The module will cover academic approaches to volunteering from a range of disciplinary viewpoints and how these seek to explore who volunteers (and who does not) and what volunteers do.

To enable this advanced level knowledge to be used in practice, the module will explore the current debates in volunteer management, debates on policy regarding volunteering and its management, legal studies on volunteering and on ways in which the impact that volunteers have can be managed. Students will gain from all of this a critical understanding of volunteering and its role in society, and the ways in which volunteers can be supported.

This module will give an advanced level overview of the current state of fundraising in the UK, including the evidence-based techniques and strategies endorsed by the professional bodies (the 'science' of fundraising), and the latest research on the personal attributes of fundraisers that are understood to lead to successful outcomes (the ‘art’ of fundraising). Aimed at those working in - or seeking to work in - careers that involve generating voluntary income, it will cover a range of topics that will facilitate a detailed and critical analysis of the role of fundraising in practice, and in its wider societal context. It will allow students to explore this knowledge through its application in situations that are encountered in professional practice. We will cover academic approaches to fundraising from a range of disciplinary viewpoints and how these help us understand topics such as donor motivation, propensity to give, charitable decision-making in terms of amounts, methods and destinations of donations, as well as why some people/institutions do not give, and the implications for recipient organisations.

To enable this advanced level knowledge to be used in practice, we will explore the current debates in fundraising management, debates on policy relating to fundraising and philanthropy, legal and regulatory requirements and relevant ethical issues. Students will gain from all of this a critical understanding of fundraising and its role in society.

The aims of this module are twofold:

First, to provide students with the opportunity to independently carry out an in-depth inquiry to investigate a research question(s) of their choice, producing a coherent review of the relevant literature, a logical discussion and a clearly communicated set of conclusions in the form of a dissertation.

Second, to prepare students to become ‘research-minded’ practitioners in order that they have the capacity to undertake research in practice settings and/or take a lead role in supervising others in such work.

The following represents the likely format for curriculum delivery:

In mid-November, there will be a two-hour workshop, which will outline the aims, the structure, the process of the dissertation. During the spring term, the students will finalise their proposal with their chosen supervisor. If the dissertation requires ethical research approval, an application will be submitted to the school research ethics committee by the beginning of the summer term. During the summer term and vacation, students will meet their supervisor every fortnight to discuss the progress of their dissertation. The supervisors will provide feedback on written work and will set monthly work plans and targets for the students. The dissertation topic will relate to a key question, issue and problem within social science.