Rhodri Davies on trends in philanthropy and civil society: Why Philanthropy Matters, approaches to giving, assessing charity impact and exploring tech trends. Episode 10 of the Charity Impact podcast.
In this episode of the Charity Impact podcast, I speak to Rhodri Davies, a widely-respected expert and commentator on philanthropy and civil society issues. We discuss philanthropy – why it matters, how its approached, various current issues, technology trends and the challenge of measuring impact and effectiveness.
Scroll down for episode notes with links to resources.
Rhodri Davies, Director of Why Philanthropy Matters
Rhodri Davies is the founder and Director of Why Philanthropy Matters – a space for exploring philanthropy: what it is, how it works and why it affects all our lives. Rhodri draws on a deep knowledge and passion for the history of philanthropy as well as current issues and trends, to put philanthropy in its proper context and help us all understand where it has come from, what it looks like today and where it might be going in the future.
Rhodri’s new book is titled What is Philanthropy for? (scroll to the bottom for more information on this).
Rhodri is a Pears Research Fellow in the Centre for Philanthropy at the University of Kent, and also the Philanthropy Expert in Residence at the Pears Foundation. He also hosts Philanthropisms, the podcast that puts philanthropy in context.
Rhodri was formerly Head of Policy at Charities Aid Foundation (CAF), where he created and led the in-house think tank Giving Thought.
In 2016 he published Public Good by Private Means: How philanthropy shapes Britain, a book tracing the history of philanthropy in Britain and what it tells us about the modern context. Since then he has been a self-confessed history of philanthropy nerd, and tweets about this at @Philliteracy.
He is involved with a number of external projects and steering groups, including the World Economic Forum Technology and Social Justice Initiative, The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation’s Better Giving Studio and the Wellcome Trust-funded Border Crossings project (which is exploring the relationship between voluntary action and the NHS since 1948).
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In episode 10, with @Rhodri_H_Davies, we learn about #philanthropy - why it matters, how its approached, various current issues, technology trends and the challenge of measuring impact and effectiveness. #CharityImpactPodcast https://t.co/GUO7L6MgHJ
— Alex Blake (@AlexBlake_KEDA) February 1, 2023
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The main place to find Rhodri’s work is at www.whyphilanthropymatters.com, which includes the Philanthropisms podcast. You can also find him on Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube.
Rhodri’s new book, ‘What is Philanthropy for?’ is available here and some further information is below:
The book description is:
“Does charitable giving still matter but need to change?
Philanthropy, the use of private assets for public good, has been much criticised in recent years. Do elite philanthropists wield too much power? Is big-money philanthropy unaccountable and therefore anti-democratic? And what about so-called “tainted donations” and “dark money” funding pseudo-philanthropic political projects? The COVID-19 pandemic has amplified many of these criticisms, leading some to conclude that philanthropy needs to be fundamentally reshaped if it is to play a positive role in our future.
Rhodri Davies, drawing on his deep knowledge of the past and present landscape of philanthropy and civil society, explains why it’s important to ask what philanthropy is for because it has for centuries played a major role in shaping our world. Considering the alternatives, including charity, justice, taxation, the state, democracy and the market, he examines the pressing questions that philanthropy must tackle if it is to be equal to the challenges of the 21st century.”
Reviews include:
“There could not be a more important time to be considering the role of philanthropy in society. This book brilliantly and intelligently places contemporary debates in a historic context. In doing so, Rhodri Davies avoids the extremes of being simply a cheerleader on the one hand, or undertaking a hatchet job on the other. Essential reading for anyone interested in the charity sector.” —Paul Ramsbottom OBE, Chief Executive, Wolfson Foundation
“An unbiased analysis of the various approaches our sector engages in – equal parts historic treatise and futurism think-piece, which tries to answer the salient question: how can we improve philanthropy?” —Edgar Villanueva, activist, author and founder/principal of Decolonizing Wealth Project and Liberated Capital
“Philanthropy has never been as controversial as it is now. Davies, one of the sector’s most nuanced and intelligent thinkers, explores the complex history of philanthropy, deftly weaving together stories and insights to provide an engaging account of this transformational moment. Whether you’re a seasoned philanthropist or interested in the history and impact of charitable giving, this book is a must-read.” —Asha Curran, Giving Tuesday
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Click on the episode title below to find the play buttons and all associated notes and links to resources:
If you are not securing the amount of grant income you think you should be, it is probably not due to a lack of capacity. It might be for a number of more complex reasons, such as organisational issues which require better collaboration with colleagues in other teams such as services, finance, policy and so on; or performance issues, such as ineffective practices within the trust fundraising programme. Or you may have a temporary reduction in capacity due to a trust fundraiser leaving or being on maternity or sick leave.
We have found that charities with small fundraising teams are often failing to maximise grant funding opportunities for one of three reasons:
We find that small charities usually have a history of raising most of their income from either grant funding or community fundraising.
If you lead a small, grant funded charity, you will probably be skilled in bid writing by necessity. You might be a great bid writer. However, we know that this is only one aspect of your role, alongside overseeing your services, managing the team and often everything else from accounting to fixing the printer! If you are stretched thinly, you will be missing out on funding opportunities that could help to grow your charity.
If you lead a small charity that relies on other forms of fundraising, you and your team may have very little experience of identifying and securing grant funding. You might not know where to start in terms of identifying the right funders to apply to, writing a compelling case for support or how to even make time for this amongst everything else.