PHiLaNTHRoPy

HuMaNiZiNG PHiLaNTHRoPy

Philanthropy: Donating or using private funds or charitable contributions from individuals or institutions to contribute to the public good

although modern forms of philanthropy include crowdfunding, which can help bring community members into collective action via online platforms and humanize the individual struggles of beneficiaries, most Western philanthropy actually does very little to promote communal compassionate relationality. The approach as practiced within the United States - a country suffering from immense wealth disparity - often becomes convoluted by the incentives of large tax breaks and positive public relations messaging for ultra wealthy individuals and corporations, inspiring skepticism about motivations and sincerity.

In order for philanthropy to be humanized, it must respond to historical and social injustice and help create relationships across social classes that produce compassion, empathy, and equity-focused generosity. One organization seeking to do just that is Resource Generation, “a multiracial membership community of young people (18-35) with wealth and/or class privilege committed to the equitable distribution of wealth, land, and power.” Resource Generation provides education, resources, and organization to those with large amounts of inherited wealth in order to help them engage in intentional philanthropy meant to address systemic inequity. Their guidelines include committing members to redistribute all or most of their inherited wealth to social justice movements that address root causes of social problems, divest from Wall Street, and commit to continual collective action towards societal wealth redistribution.

Resource Generation’s focus on helping those with extreme monetary privilege to orient themselves towards social justice philanthropy and redistribution of power via wealth and land ownership is a humanizing approach to philanthropy. It

requires compassionate relationality, as those redistributing their wealth choose to be in an actionable relationship with vulnerable communities that have suffered due to systems of oppression.

As we continue to reimagine philanthropy as a tool for ethical social impact and systems change, we can increase its impact through relational practices. Equitable wealth redistribution strategy rather than occasional (and often self-serving) charitable donations should be considered standard practice for truly humanized philanthropy.

pg. 32 Philanthropy