Lester M. Salamon Tribute Series: The New Frontiers of Philanthropy: Mobilizing More (and More Effective) Capital for Public Purposes

Session Submission Type: Roundtable Discussion

Abstract

The New Frontiers of Philanthropy Project was a major initiative of the Johns Hopkins Center for Civil Society Studies to broaden the base of knowledge and boost awareness about an array of new actors, tools, and issues in the leveraged philanthropy and social investing arenas. The project cast a wide net in defining philanthropy as the mobilization of private resources towards social and environmental objectives. The overall goal of this project was to “pop the hood” on developments underway at the edges of philanthropy and social investing, and provide a new level of insight into the engine powering this new era of social-purpose finance—particularly for the mainstream investors and philanthropists who had heard the terminology of impact investing but still harbored considerable skepticism about what it really adds up to and whether it is right for them.

The primary output for the project was the New Frontiers of Philanthropy: A Guide to the New Tools and New Actors that Are Reshaping Global Philanthropy and Social Investing (Oxford University Press, 2014). The book makes sense of the chaotic new world of social-purpose finance and systematically examines each of the types of new actors that have surfaced (including capital aggregators, secondary markets, enterprise brokers, capacity builders, and foundations operating as philanthropy banks). It also details how the many well-known tools of standard investing (such as loans and credit enhancements, fixed-income securities, private equity investments, and insurance) now fit the special requirements of social-purpose activity.

A second initiative, dubbed the Philanthropication thru Privatization (PtP) project, emerged focusing on the over 640 foundations around the world established using public or quasi-public funds, further broadening the potential sources of indigenous philanthropic resources for the public good, as documented in Philanthropication thru Privatization: Building Permanent Endowments for the Common Good (il Mulino Press, 2014). PtP is now managed by the East-West Management Institute, which continues to pursue this option for creating sustainable charitable endowments out of the proceeds of a broad array of transactions involving the transfer of public assets into private hands.

This roundtable will consider the state of the industry since the publication of New Frontiers of Philanthropy and the ensuing field-broadening initiative undertaken by the Project’s partners, and the research and activities pursued under the PtP Project. Presenters will reflect on the results of these Project from their perspectives as impact investors, funders, social entrepreneurs, and philanthropic scholars, and will discuss how the innovations detailed by these projects have evolved and the extent to which they are (or are not) driving new and more effective capital to solving the world's more challenging problems.

Sub Unit

• Special Sessions

Moderator

• William Burckart, The Investment Integration Project

Presenters

• Rodney Foxworth, Common Future

• Boris Strecansky, Comenius University in Bratislava

• Chelsea L Newhouse, East-West Management Institute