Can philanthropy alleviate inequality? Do antipoverty programs work on the ground? In this eye-opening analysis, Erica Kohl-Arenas bores deeply into how these issues play out in California's Central Valley, which is one of the wealthiest agricultural production regions in the world and also home to the poorest people in the United States. Through the lens of a provocative set of case studies, The Self-Help Myth reveals how philanthropy maintains systems of inequality by attracting attention to the behavior of poor people while shifting the focus away from structural inequities and relationships of power that produce poverty. In Fresno County, for example, which has a $5.6 billion-plus agricultural industry, migrant farm workers depend heavily on food banks, religious organizations, and family networks to feed and clothe their families. Foundation professionals espouse well-intentioned, hopeful strategies to improve the lives of the poor. These strategies contain specific ideas-in philanthropy terminology, "theories of change"- that rely on traditional American ideals of individualism and hard work, such as self-help, civic participation, and mutual prosperity. But when used in partnership with well-defined limits around what foundations will and will not fund, these ideals become fuzzy concepts promoting professional and institutional behaviors that leave relationships of poverty and inequality untouched.

Available for the first time in paperback, Seven Faces of Philanthropy introduces to you the Seven Faces approach--a powerful tool that enables development professionals to maximize their effectiveness when approaching major donors for gifts. The authors identify and profile seven types of major donors and offer you detailed strategies on how to approach them. Both novice and expert fundraisers will find this framework a valuable supplement to existing strategies and techniques.

The last three decades have witnessed a proliferation of nongovernmental organizations engaging in new campaigns to end the practice of female genital cutting across Africa. These campaigns have in turn spurred new institutions, discourses, and political projects, bringing about unexpected social transformations, both intended and unintended. Consequently, cutting is waning across the continent. At the same time, these endings are misrecognized and disavowed by public and scholarly discourses across the political spectrum. What does it mean to say that while cutting is ending, the Western discourse surrounding it is on the rise? And what kind of a feminist anthropology is needed in such a moment? The Twilight of Cutting examines these and other questions from the vantage point of Ghanaian feminist and reproductive health NGOs that have organized campaigns against cutting for over thirty years. The book looks at these NGOs not as solutions but as sites of "problematization." The purpose of understanding these Ghanaian campaigns, their transnational and regional encounters, and the forms of governmentality they produce is not to charge them with providing answers to the question, how do we end cutting? Instead, it is to account for their work, their historicity, the life worlds and subjectivities they engender, and the modes of reflection, imminent critique, and opposition they set in motion.

Praise for "Women and Philanthropy"

""Women and Philanthropy" provides unique and meaningful stories of scores of women philanthropists and describes how these women are making a difference through giving, partnering, leveraging, role modeling, and asking, and will help all women on their philanthropic journey, as well as nonprofits who are working with women as donors."
--Jennifer Buffett, philanthropist and president, Novo Foundation, New York, New York

"Written for every development officer who wants to gain greater insight into charitable giving by women, this thorough, engaging book makes a compelling case for the importance of engaging women as volunteers and as donors."
--John Lippincott, president, Council for Advancement and Support of Education, Washington, D.C.

"With in-depth information about the importance of diversity to women's giving and how the philanthropy of women has and will shape the future of the nonprofit sector, this critically important book provides insightful information for donors and nonprofit leaders alike."
--Emmett D. Carson, CEO and president, Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Mountain View, California

"Sondra, Martha, Buffy and their colleagues have led the way in examining the role and impact of women in giving, volunteering, and social involvement. Their latest volume is a must-read not only for anyone working in the nonprofit sector, but also for any donor, regardless of gender."
--Paulette V. Maehara, president and CEO, Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP), Alexandria, Virginia

""Women and Philanthropy" provides a look at what has been, but more importantly, provides a road map for what is possible for women as donor leaders in changing the face of philanthropy."
--Christine Grumm, president and CEO, Women's Funding Network, San Francisco, California

"A wise and exceptional book that breaks essential ground in the world of philanthropy by delving into the issues specific to women."
--Charles W. Collier, senior philanthropic advisor, Harvard University, and author, Wealth in Families, Cambridge, Massachusetts

Imagine yourself in a schoolroom in one of the most remote regions of one of the most hard-to-reach countries on earth. Nepal. The Lower Mustang region to be exact. To reach it takes a 14-hour flight from New York to Doha, Qatar. Then four hours by air to Kathmandu. Transfer at one of the world's most dangerous airports to a 90-minute flight to Pokhara, followed by a jarring, eight-hour Jeep ride over a vertiginous dirt road - one side is a mountain wall, the other side a two-hundred foot cliff. Finally you arrive, but it's not just any schoolroom. It has been converted into an operating room so that doctors from New York Eye & Ear Infirmary can provide the gift of sight to 24 Nepalis who were blind due to advanced cataracts. Jeff Blumenfeld witnessed this first hand. He was there as a traveler, but also as a volunteer. A voluntourist. People often wonder how they can explore the world and help the less fortunate even if they don't possess specialized skills. These are people who make lousy vacationers. They're bored sitting on a beach or touring umpteen churches on a cruise ship excursion. They want a meaningful role when they travel. That's where voluntourism comes in - a mix of both travel and volunteering. Is it hard work building wells and schoolhouses or excavating dinosaur bones? Yes, it is. But voluntourism doesn't take a particular outdoor skill, just plenty of sweat and the desire to see the world and leave it a better place. Travel With Purpose deals not with celebrities, nor the rich and famous. Instead, it relays examples from Blumenfeld's travels and many others from Las Vegas to Nepal. From health care facilities to impoverished schools. These are stories of inspiration from everyday people, all of whom have definite opinions about the best way to approach that first volunteer vacation. You don't need to be wealthy to travel to foreign lands to volunteer; you may not even have to go to foreign lands, as opportunities may exist within your own state. Blumenfeld shows readers how to identify the right location and volunteer situation, how to go about planning trips and preparing for activities, how to reach out, how to help. Through vivid examples and first hand stories from both recipients of volunteer work and the volunteers themselves, Travel with Purpose may make you rethink your next vacation.

For many organizations, recruiting and maintaining a core group of dedicated volunteers spells the difference between success and failure. But very little research has been done to find out what motivates people to volunteer, how to recruit volunteers, and how to nurture their dedication.

"Enhancing the Volunteer Experience" reveals, from the perspective of the volunteer, how management can foster - or impede - the growth of high-quality, long-lived volunteer programs, and how to ensure that volunteering remains a dynamic force that generates social change. Drawing on a four-year study of volunteers in a variety of fields and extensive interviews with 180 people, Ilsey provides nonprofit managers with the insights, skills, and strategies they need to recruit and retain committed volunteers, and to make the volunteer experience rich, rewarding, and productive.

Many of us may have participated in grassroots groups, changing the world in small and big ways, from building playgrounds and feeding the homeless, to protesting wars and ending legal segregation. Beyond the obvious fruits of these activities, what are the broader consequences of volunteering for the participants, recipients of aid, and society as a whole?

In this engaging new book, Nina Eliasoph encourages readers to reflect on their own experiences in civic associations as an entry point into bigger sociological, political, and philosophical issues, such as class inequality, how organizations work, differences in political systems around the globe, and the sources of moral selfhood. Claims about volunteering tend to be astronomical: it will create democracy, make you a better person, eliminate poverty, protect local cultures, and even prevent illness. Eliasoph cuts through these assertions by drawing on empirical studies, key data, real-life case studies, and a range of theoretical analyses.

In doing so, the book provides students of sociology, political science, and communications studies with a framework for evaluating the role of civic associations in social and political life, as well as in their own lives as active citizens.

Here is the story of Faith in Action, the acclaimed nationwide grant program of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation that brings together Americans of all faiths to provide volunteer care and support to those in their communities who are confined to their homes because of a chronic health condition or disability.

But this book is far more than simply an account of the Faith in Action program. Through a series of revealing in-depth interviews conducted in three very different parts of the country, "Promise to Mary" provides a unique and often profoundly moving glimpse into the lives of some of our most isolated and forgotten neighbors--as well as the remarkable volunteers, from all faiths and from all walks of life, who have come to their aid.

In this study of voluntary charities in eighteenth-century London, Donna Andrew reconsiders the adequacy of humanitarianism as an explanation for the wave of charitable theorizing and experimentation that characterized this period. Focusing on London, the most visible area of both destitution and social experimentation, this book examines the political as well as benevolent motives behind the great expansion of public institutions--nondenominational organizations seeking not only to relieve hardship, but to benefit the nation directly--funded and run by voluntary associations of citizens. The needs of police, the maintaining of civil order and the refining of society, were thought by many ordinary citizens to be central to the expansion of England's role in the world and to the upholding of the country's peace at home.

Drawing on previously unexplored and unsynthesized materials, this work reveals the interaction between charitable theorizing and practical efforts to improve the condition of the poor. The author argues that it is impossible to comprehend eighteenth-century charity without taking into account its perceived social utility, which altered as circumstances mandated. For example, the charities of the 1740s and 1750s, founded to aid in the strengthening of England's international supremacy, lost their public support as current opinions of England's most urgent needs changed. Creating and responding to new visions of what well-directed charities might accomplish, late-century philanthropists tried using charitable institutions to reknit what they believed was a badly damaged social fabric.

Originally published in 1989.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These paperback editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

If there is an X PRIZE for collaborative thought leadership of the social ecosystem, this book would get it.
Dr. Peter H. Diamandis
Chairman and CEO, X PRIZE Foundation

"The World that Changes the World" is thought leadership at its best--envisioning the future through reflection and analysis of past trends and contemporary challenges.
Senator the Hon. Ursula Stephens
Australian Parliamentary Secretary for Social Inclusion and the Voluntary Sector

The multifaceted, multinational, multisectoral insights in this volume offer inspiration, ideas, and opportunity for action and impact.
Dr. Melissa A. Berman
President and CEO, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors, Inc.

This is a comprehensive primer representing the diversity of perspectives that comprises the evolving global social ecosystem.
Dr. Pamela Hartigan
Director, Skoll Centre for Social Entrepreneurship, Said Business School, Oxford University

"The World that Changes the World" puts together the pieces of this puzzle by explaining how these varied actors of the social ecosystem function and interact with each other.
Matthew Bishop
Co-Author, "Philanthrocapitalism: How giving can save the world"

A valuable one-stop resource for the many players in, and observers of, the social ecosystem.
Doug Miller
Honorary President, European Venture Philanthropy Association

"The World that Changes the World" should become the pocket guide for changemakers of the world in the same way that "The Lonely Planet" is for travelers of the world.
Gib Bulloch
Founder and Executive Director, Accenture Development Partnerships

An evocative, immersive memoir that charts the personal evolution of an American philanthropic thought leader and arts advocate. A Life of My Own follows the author's journey from girlhood to the woman she would become. Wilhelm reveals her unique upbringing, diverse work history, family challenges and journey of personal growth with unbridled honesty and narrative energy. When life on the outside seemed under control, her inner life was in turmoil. A search for self-realization explores lies and deception about her origins, and a quest for truth and understanding that ultimately shapes a woman with profound purpose and mission. Donna Wilhelm's memoir will inspire future generations to take ownership of their own life choices and stories as they travel with her on a journey as universal as it is empowering.

In Chocolate We Trust takes readers inside modern-day Hershey, Pennsylvania, headquarters of the iconic Hershey brand. A destination for chocolate enthusiasts since the early 1900s, Hershey has transformed from a model industrial town into a multifaceted suburbia powered by philanthropy. At its heart lies the Milton Hershey School Trust, a charitable trust with a mandate to serve "social orphans" and a $12 billion endowment amassed from Hershey Company profits. The trust is a longstanding source of pride for people who call Hershey home and revere its benevolent capitalist founder-but in recent years it has become a subject of controversy and intrigue. Using interviews, participant observation, and archival research, anthropologist Peter Kurie returns to his hometown to examine the legacy of the Hershey Trust among local residents, company employees, and alumni of the K-12 Milton Hershey School. He arrives just as a scandal erupts that raises questions about the outsized power of the private trust over public life. Kurie draws on diverse voices across the community to show how philanthropy stirs passions and interests well beyond intended beneficiaries. In Chocolate We Trust reveals the cultural significance of Hershey as a forerunner to socially conscious corporations and the cult of the entrepreneur-philanthropist. The Hershey story encapsulates the dreams and wishes of today's consumer-citizens: the dream of becoming personally successful, and the wish that the most affluent among us will serve the common good.

Enter the world of the social entrepreneur. A global community of doers, thinkers and leaders who mix business with grass-roots activism to make social change possible. Vinod Kapur created a new breed of chicken that feeds some of the world's poorest villagers. Betty Makoni empowers young women across Africa through her Girl Child Network. Stephen Burks connects developing world artisans with high fashion brands. They are but three. In this book, author and activist Asheem Singh explores how a movement of tiny ventures evolved into a global humanitarian and financial juggernaut, revealing new ways to fight privilege and inequality, rewire philanthropy, government and even capitalism itself. This is a guide to an exhilarating and inspiring world where, through our giving, campaigning and even through our choices as consumers, we can all play a crucial role in taking on the biggest social challenges of our time.

"Marilyn Bancel has written a highly accessible, readable guide to a very complex process, which is no mean feat. Even if you have been through a capital campaign before and think you're ready-and especially if you're new to the capital campaign process-read it! Preparing Your Capital Campaign provides valuable insights and practical planning tools that will bolster your capacity to take on a campaign's challenge."
--Clara Miller, president, Nonprofit Finance Fund

In this hands-on workbook, fund raising expert Marilyn Bancel shows you how to prepare your organization to embark on a successful capital campaign, detailing each step that must be taken before the launch.

Preparing Your Capital Campaign--part of the Excellence in Fund Raising Workbook Series--breaks down the preparation stage into practical, manageable parts, outlining in straightforward language such essentials as creating a campaign timetable, setting up the campaign committee, determining a campaign goal, and getting the whole organization ready for a fund raising drive. Packed with useful resources, this nuts-and-bolts workbook includes a campaign skills checklist, strategies for estimating fund raising costs, a sample campaign budget, and a list of Web sites tailored to the specific needs of fund raisers.

If you are brand-new to fund raising, the book offers a concise introductory chapter that lays out the basics and answers the key questions about capital campaigns. More experienced fund raisers will benefit from a wealth of reminders for avoiding common mistakes and a framework for staying focused on the factors that are most important for success. Preparing Your Capital Campaign will show you how to make the most of this critical fund raising strategy.

In this study of voluntary charities in eighteenth-century London, Donna Andrew reconsiders the adequacy of humanitarianism as an explanation for the wave of charitable theorizing and experimentation that characterized this period. Focusing on London, the most visible area of both destitution and social experimentation, this book examines the political as well as benevolent motives behind the great expansion of public institutions--nondenominational organizations seeking not only to relieve hardship, but to benefit the nation directly--funded and run by voluntary associations of citizens. The needs of police, the maintaining of civil order and the refining of society, were thought by many ordinary citizens to be central to the expansion of England's role in the world and to the upholding of the country's peace at home. Drawing on previously unexplored and unsynthesized materials, this work reveals the interaction between charitable theorizing and practical efforts to improve the condition of the poor. The author argues that it is impossible to comprehend eighteenth-century charity without taking into account its perceived social utility, which altered as circumstances mandated. For example, the charities of the 1740s and 1750s, founded to aid in the strengthening of England's international supremacy, lost their public support as current opinions of England's most urgent needs changed. Creating and responding to new visions of what well-directed charities might accomplish, late-century philanthropists tried using charitable institutions to reknit what they believed was a badly damaged social fabric. Originally published in 1989. The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.