Favorite Philanthropy Books

By way of contribution to a collection of blog essays on favorite philanthropy books, here are the ones I most often recommend to friends and clients.

• Tracy Gary, Inspired Philanthropy
• Charles Collier, Wealth in Families
• Jay Jughes, Family Wealth
• Amy Kass, The Perfect Gift
• Peter Frumkin, Strategic Philanthropy

My top secret all time favorite, though, is by Jean Starobinski, a philosopher from Geneva noted for his work on Rousseau. Largesse is the title.

Tracy Gary shows step by step how to create a giving plan. Charles Collier puts planning for wealth in the context of family vision, family dynamics, values and human capital. In so doing he draws on Jay Hughes, whose book is the touchstone for anyone concerned with multi-generational family dynasties which stand for something more than just money. Amy Kass is a professor of the humanities at University of Chicago. She has put together a fine book of readings on giving drawn from religious, philosophical and literary traditions. The pieces are short and readable even by busy people. Frumkin is a visionary academic with a comprehensive model for making foundation grants, or large gifts, satisfying for the donor and effective in the world. Now, as for Starobinki, all I will say is that Eve is on the cover proffering an apple to Adam, or maybe to the viewer.

Comments

[Gerry]

It may not be a philanthropy book, but I think Lewis Hyde's "The Gift: Imagination and the Erotic Life of Property" is a must read for anyone interested in philanthropy.

[Phil]

I agree.

[Sean Stannard-Stockton]

Thanks for your list, Phil. I've enjoyed a number of the books on your list. I'll admit to not having read Largesse, but I loved this line from the description on Amazon:

"Largesse is an exemplar of the rich intellectual work that can result from crossing disciplinary boundaries and considering history as a dense network of themes and allusions."

I'll check it out.

[Phil]

It is a commentary upon a collection of paintings on giving assembled in the Louvre for the book by Starobinski. Don't think the Dallas Museum of Art would ever stage such a show under the banner, "Partis Pris."