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Session Submission Summary

Philanthropists’ giving to education: why, what, how, and other questions to ask them

Wed, April 17, 1:30 to 3:00pm, Hyatt Regency, Floor: Bay (Level 1), Bayview A

Group Submission Type: Refereed Round-Table Session

Proposal

The role of philanthropy in education has become increasingly important and visible over the past many years. Looking at U.S. philanthropy, Charity Navigator reports that giving to Education Charities reached $58.9 billion in 2017, or 14% of all donations recorded. As long ago as 2006, Philanthropy News Digest reported that “private giving to developing countries vastly exceeds U.S. foreign aid,” with education’s representing a significant portion.

This phenomenon has naturally and rightfully attracted the scrutiny of the academic community, researchers, policy analysts, and practitioners alike, raising two major questions. One, what is the impact of this giving on access, quality, and relevance in education? In other words, are these resources truly yielding valuable results and change? The second line of inquiry is more critical: Are the impacts of philanthropy truly in line with the priorities of the governments, or are they predominantly self-serving, contributing to the socio-political and economic interests of the companies and individuals behind the giving? The second of these questions captures the line of analysis that has prevailed in many sessions on the same topic from the most recent CIES conferences.

The aim of the present panel is to bring a balanced and self-reflective perspective to the two questions by representatives of some of the prominent philanthropies giving in this arena. Among the philanthropies that have agreed to participate are Hewlett, MacArthur, Luminos, Echidna, Educate a Child, and PaperSeed.

The panel will not involve formal presentations by the participants but rather operate as a moderated dialogue, engaging each first to give a broad overview of his or her institution’s giving to education, explaining such aspects as:
• The amount of their giving;
• The aspects of education and training they support;
• The geography and beneficiaries their portfolios reach;
• The recipients, or implementers, that they fund; and
• The nature of their relationship to their implementers, programs, and beneficiaries.

The majority of the dialogue will focus on a few questions that are central to the current critique. These will address such issues as:

• The institutional motivation for giving. Why has the philanthropy chosen education as the sector to which it directs philanthropic dollars? How, if at all, does the focus of the philanthropic contribution, or investment, connect to the core mission or area of the business behind the funding provided?

• The effects of giving. What impacts or changes is the philanthropy trying to generate or support? Is it seeking mainly to improve the lives of specific groups of direct beneficiaries or does it aim to contribute to systems change? If the latter, which systems is it hoping to change, those of local communities and other actors, of government, of donors, of other philanthropic actors, or of others? Does sustainability matter?

• Measurement. What indicators does the philanthropy seek to demonstrate the degree to which it is achieving the desired impacts? How does it gather these, how does it use them, and how does it share them?

• Alignment with government and donor priorities (including the SDGs, more broadly). How important is it to the philanthropy to align strategically with the education goals, plans, programs, and other priorities of the host country government and the government’s different partners, including donors. What steps does the philanthropy take to establish and sustain such alignment? If alignment is not a priority, how does the philanthropy explain its work in the country?

• Program implementation. How does the philanthropy invest its resources to maximize its prospects of achieving the desired impacts? Which are the partners it favors, and why? What role does the philanthropy itself play in program implementation, if any?
• Advantages and challenges. What can philanthropic giving accomplish better than government-operated bilateral, multi-lateral, and other, traditional donors? What can philanthropies do less well, or not well at all?

The purpose of the dialogue will be to illuminate all to the range of opportunities and risks of philanthropic giving in the area of education (and of development more broadly) while pointing towards approaches and principles to harness this important resource for the greatest positive impacts.

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