Philanthropic futures. By A Thousand tomorrows (Pantopicon, Belgium)

15 Sep Philanthropic futures. By A Thousand tomorrows (Pantopicon, Belgium)

Via Pantopicon

Pantopicon is a member of Next-EU, the European Innovation Alliance, a network of bridging organisations created to coordinate and link between research results, business innovations and the restless minds across Europe.

While the U.S. has a long philanthropic tradition, many areas in the world do not or at least much less so, incl. Western Europe. That is about to change as Luxemburg aims to become the hotbed of European philanthropy. Last April, the Banque de Luxembourg organized a high-profile meeting incl. Prime Minister Jean-Claude Junker, Honorary Minister of State Jacques Santer and many others at the Luxemburg Philharmony, to «seize the philanthropic opportunity». After all, the ministate bundles money & EU decision making/lobby power.

Could a philanthropic culture help stimulate social entrepreneurship initiatives throughout Europe, pump more money into Europe’s R&D, build socio-cultural & economic bridges from Europe to and throughout the rest of the world, could it get philanthropy as a culture going? Philanthropy is a complex matter. It is about charity, about a big heart, but also about shaping society. Critical voices sometimes portray philanthropy as the rich man’s long term investment, trying to lift the poor into consumers of his products rather than out of poverty, but it is also about societal balance. Widening gaps between rich and poor (not only from a monetary perspective) lead to social, political and also economical instability. Hence it is in the rich and powerful’s best interest to keep a check on such developments and prevent the downward spiral from catalyzing disasters.

As a matter of the heart, it is also about the philanthropist’s interests, his her values, what he/she finds important and considers other powers do not to invest in as much as they should (from his/her personal perspective) or could. At a certain moment in time George Soros’ foundation, for example, yearly, pumped more money in Russian cultural institutions than the state did. As such behind every philanthropic action, there needs to be a strategy if one wants to attain a scalable effect, beneficial to both the context in which one invests as well as one’s own investment.

Celantrophist (celebrity philanthropist) Shakira, for example, tries to give wings to Latin America through her foundation ALAS, teaming up with Howard Buffett Sr & Jr, with Carlos Slim Helu, etc. She is backed by philanthropy strategist Trevor Neilson of the Global Philanthropy Group (also advising the likes of Angelina Jolie & Brad Pitt on where to put their money). Not only individuals, but also corporations are increasingly aware of the beneficial aspects of philanthropic investments, not only in terms of polishing up their image, but also in.

The opportunist might wonder: what if philanthropists would invest in radical innovations no companies, venture capitalists, or governments can or are willing to invest in? Others might say: who says that pouring money into what you think is good, is good for the cause at hand or a mere sign of cultural ignorance/imperialism of value-systems? Good and bad often come in the same package.