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The Foundation: A Great American Secret; How Private Wealth is Changing the World
Foundations are a peculiarly American institution. They have been the dynamo of social change since their invention at the beginning of the last century. Yet they are cloaked in secrecy— their decision-making and operations are inscrutable to the point of obscurity-leaving them substantially unaccountable to anyone. Joel Fleishman has been in and around foundations for almost half a century...running them, sitting on their boards, and seeking grants from them. And in this groundbreaking book he explains the history of foundations, tells the stories of the most successful foundation initiatives—and of those that have failed—and explains why it matters. The baby boomer generation is going to participate in the largest transfer of wealth in history when it passes on its assets to its successor generation. The third sector is about to become more powerful than ever. This book shows how foundations can provide a vital spur to the engine of the American, and the world's, economy—if they are properly established and run.
384 pages, Hardcover
First published January 9, 2007
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Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews
March 25, 2022
Informative and thorough. Didn't focus too much on the things I was particularly interested in, but still provided some food for thought.
Notes:
- Foundations have been responsible for some serious stuff! 911 lines, the Green Revolution, public broadcasting, Pell grants, and the CDC are some major examples given.
- The civic sector is over 10% of US GDP, and seems to rely largely on good intentions! It is possible to operate something at scale without some sort of greed-proofing - no alignment problem!
- Building a greed-proofed system does not make greed ok. A foundation head pursuing personal gain instead of the goals of the foundation is outright villainy. Power hungriness and selling out in politics is not encouraged, but largely expected. Selfishness in business is accepted, encouraged, glamorized, legally required (Ford v Dodge).
- Argues foundation leaders are better equipped than charity leaders to determine which implementation strategies are most effective, I buy it. It makes sense to invest in highly effective decision makers and have them determine strategy, rather than leaving it to the less qualified charity leaders.
- Tradeoff between strategy and opportunism, AKA rationalism and empiricism, is largely analogous to explore/exploit. Empirical opportunity exploration first, then rationally assess and strategically exploit.
- Impact assessment largely relies on "common sense", since RCTs are often impossible.
- Only as strong as weakest link. One failure can doom a whole initiative.
- All failure modes are ultimately a result of insufficient preparation and analysis. More prep won't always prevent failure, but will rarely if ever cause it.
- Leaders need to have domain knowledge but be unbiased
- Goal should be to "work out of a job", like how the Green Revolution set countries up to be self sustaining
- Global initiatives need to align carefully with local cultures
- Grameen Bank in Bangladesh was the original micro-finance success story
○ Gives out loans in peer groups of 5 whose credit depends on each other, using peer pressure to encourage repayment. Resulting rates are higher even than the US!
○ Also requires conditions like gender equality, not paying dowries, etc.
○ 95% of clients are women
Notes:
- Foundations have been responsible for some serious stuff! 911 lines, the Green Revolution, public broadcasting, Pell grants, and the CDC are some major examples given.
- The civic sector is over 10% of US GDP, and seems to rely largely on good intentions! It is possible to operate something at scale without some sort of greed-proofing - no alignment problem!
- Building a greed-proofed system does not make greed ok. A foundation head pursuing personal gain instead of the goals of the foundation is outright villainy. Power hungriness and selling out in politics is not encouraged, but largely expected. Selfishness in business is accepted, encouraged, glamorized, legally required (Ford v Dodge).
- Argues foundation leaders are better equipped than charity leaders to determine which implementation strategies are most effective, I buy it. It makes sense to invest in highly effective decision makers and have them determine strategy, rather than leaving it to the less qualified charity leaders.
- Tradeoff between strategy and opportunism, AKA rationalism and empiricism, is largely analogous to explore/exploit. Empirical opportunity exploration first, then rationally assess and strategically exploit.
- Impact assessment largely relies on "common sense", since RCTs are often impossible.
- Only as strong as weakest link. One failure can doom a whole initiative.
- All failure modes are ultimately a result of insufficient preparation and analysis. More prep won't always prevent failure, but will rarely if ever cause it.
- Leaders need to have domain knowledge but be unbiased
- Goal should be to "work out of a job", like how the Green Revolution set countries up to be self sustaining
- Global initiatives need to align carefully with local cultures
- Grameen Bank in Bangladesh was the original micro-finance success story
○ Gives out loans in peer groups of 5 whose credit depends on each other, using peer pressure to encourage repayment. Resulting rates are higher even than the US!
○ Also requires conditions like gender equality, not paying dowries, etc.
○ 95% of clients are women
September 21, 2007
I mark this as 4-stars because I think Fleishman has some really great points - mostly about impact, transparency, and communications. I'd give it 5 stars if the case studies were better.
February 4, 2018
Interessante para quem quer saber mais sobre como funcionam fundações americanas.
Passa por discussões interessantes de efetividade, transparência e comunicação que são pontos relevantes também para o terceiro setor no Brasil.
Passa por discussões interessantes de efetividade, transparência e comunicação que são pontos relevantes também para o terceiro setor no Brasil.
April 12, 2012
This was one of the books cited in Philanthrocapitalism and it's very similar, but rather than focusing on philanthropy in general, it focused specifically on charitable foundations. In tone, however, it was much more academic than Philanthrocapitalism and didn't feature nearly as many famous people, so it wasn't as easy a read. To tell the truth, I nearly gave up after the introduction, but I'm glad I didn't because the book definitely picked up, especially in the case studies chapter. The reason I didn't give up was from a completely "accidental" discovery.
On the day I nearly put this book aside, something put it into my head to search for a video of the author. He's a law professor who wrote a book; he was bound to have done a taped interview or lecture somewhere. But what I totally didn't expect was . . . A JEWISH CONNECTION!
Now, of course, Joel Fleishman is a Jewish name, but I didn't expect a law professor at Duke University to care much about his Jewish identity. Shows you what I know. Among the You Tube video links was a video from Artscroll about its Afikim Foundation. Apparently, Professor Fleishman personally visited the Artscroll warehouse in Brooklyn to thank them for making the Talmud accessible to him with their English translation. They told him about their other intended projects that were frozen due to lack of funds, and he advised them to create a foundation to support the publication of Torah. It's academic research, after all!
Now, with a story like that, you know I had to push my way through this author's book, and as I said, it wasn't too hard to do because most of it was very interesting. The case studies chapter was definitely my favorite, and I've already added The Casebook for the Foundation to my to-read list. It contains the case studies that were part of his research for this book but didn't make it in. The book also taught me about Julius Rosenwald, the original founder of Sears, who, in addition to ample charity given to Jews in Eastern Europe (we're talking the 1930's - really desperate times), gave matching grants to build and run approximately 60 schools for African American children in the era of segregation. Yes, separate is inherently unequal, but these schools, run under the leadership of Booker T. Washington, were all about empowerment. For more reading on that subject, I've added You Need a Schoolhouse and will be keeping my eyes open for more on Julius Rosenwald. He's my new hero, and I would never have known about him if not for this book.
As to the rest of the book, mostly it was about how foundations should open themselves up to the public and be more transparent about their successes and failures. There was also quite a bit about philanthropic strategies. And of course I loved the very ending in the author's acknowledgments. Acharon acharon chaviv, his last "thank you" went to G-d Himself. Isn't that awesome? May Hashem help that the information in this book have practical impact on my life, ie that I should be in a position to give generous amounts of charity. And may He do the same for all the world. After all, isn't charity and its impact ultimately the antidote to poverty, strife, and war? Why don't schools teach more about the good done in history than all the battles, doom, and gloom? Well, if you're interested in that subject, ie the history of philanthropy, this book is a good place to start.
On the day I nearly put this book aside, something put it into my head to search for a video of the author. He's a law professor who wrote a book; he was bound to have done a taped interview or lecture somewhere. But what I totally didn't expect was . . . A JEWISH CONNECTION!
Now, of course, Joel Fleishman is a Jewish name, but I didn't expect a law professor at Duke University to care much about his Jewish identity. Shows you what I know. Among the You Tube video links was a video from Artscroll about its Afikim Foundation. Apparently, Professor Fleishman personally visited the Artscroll warehouse in Brooklyn to thank them for making the Talmud accessible to him with their English translation. They told him about their other intended projects that were frozen due to lack of funds, and he advised them to create a foundation to support the publication of Torah. It's academic research, after all!
Now, with a story like that, you know I had to push my way through this author's book, and as I said, it wasn't too hard to do because most of it was very interesting. The case studies chapter was definitely my favorite, and I've already added The Casebook for the Foundation to my to-read list. It contains the case studies that were part of his research for this book but didn't make it in. The book also taught me about Julius Rosenwald, the original founder of Sears, who, in addition to ample charity given to Jews in Eastern Europe (we're talking the 1930's - really desperate times), gave matching grants to build and run approximately 60 schools for African American children in the era of segregation. Yes, separate is inherently unequal, but these schools, run under the leadership of Booker T. Washington, were all about empowerment. For more reading on that subject, I've added You Need a Schoolhouse and will be keeping my eyes open for more on Julius Rosenwald. He's my new hero, and I would never have known about him if not for this book.
As to the rest of the book, mostly it was about how foundations should open themselves up to the public and be more transparent about their successes and failures. There was also quite a bit about philanthropic strategies. And of course I loved the very ending in the author's acknowledgments. Acharon acharon chaviv, his last "thank you" went to G-d Himself. Isn't that awesome? May Hashem help that the information in this book have practical impact on my life, ie that I should be in a position to give generous amounts of charity. And may He do the same for all the world. After all, isn't charity and its impact ultimately the antidote to poverty, strife, and war? Why don't schools teach more about the good done in history than all the battles, doom, and gloom? Well, if you're interested in that subject, ie the history of philanthropy, this book is a good place to start.
April 26, 2024
What do filthy rich old men do before they die? Foundation is the answer.
Your friends came to you with sadness in their eyes, they wanted to help before our country dies. Although you couldn't feel the pain, you knew you have to try, Now you ask all of us to help you save us. Why so many people are dying fast, all looks like a mess. We have never been under such distress. Now won't you lend your hand, try to understand? Wake up those who couldn’t care less. Please don't turn away, we wanna hear your say. It all may seem so far from where we are. It's something we can't reject, something you can't neglect. Won't you give some bread? Let the starving be fed? Pray you understand and lend us your helping hand?
https://youtu.be/HH5VQ9OO2Js?si=3VdUK...
Your friends came to you with sadness in their eyes, they wanted to help before our country dies. Although you couldn't feel the pain, you knew you have to try, Now you ask all of us to help you save us. Why so many people are dying fast, all looks like a mess. We have never been under such distress. Now won't you lend your hand, try to understand? Wake up those who couldn’t care less. Please don't turn away, we wanna hear your say. It all may seem so far from where we are. It's something we can't reject, something you can't neglect. Won't you give some bread? Let the starving be fed? Pray you understand and lend us your helping hand?
https://youtu.be/HH5VQ9OO2Js?si=3VdUK...
March 13, 2019
Daha gerçekçi, Amerika'da kurulan vakıfları geniş açıdan değerlendiren, ufuk açıcı bir eser bekliyordum. Uzun yıllar büyük vakıflarda üst düzey yöneticilik yapmış bir insanın güzellemesi ile karşılaştım, biraz da hayal kırıklığına uğradım. O yüzden tavsiye edemiyorum...
January 17, 2021
Great read. Informative. A good read for someone that is passionate about philanthropy but doesn’t know where to start. Joel gives a pretty succinct description about the different types of foundations and philanthropy.
June 20, 2018
3.5. Comprehensive, interesting. Good for professionals not the most accessible book for philanthropists.
June 17, 2009
Read this for work. Not the most interesting subject, but informative and helpful for my job. Although the author was a bit repetitive at times, he made a good case for why we have and need foundations. While many are critical of them for their opaque practices and hesitancy to admit failure, they have changed the course of millions of lives from funding the people who made Sesame Street to drastically reducing famine in India.
Read
May 5, 2009A glowing account of foundations and their activities. Amazing how much foundations have accomplished. A lot of social progress, and in the physical and biological areas too. Very faint warnings of the new Conservative foundations, and nothing about how foundations direct their investment programs.
March 27, 2012
Good overview of foundations and their impact on philanthropy in America. Aside from providing some background the book makes a pretty strong plea for transparency, accountability, and ways to measure the impact of foundation giving. The ethical argument is strong and valuable and concludes with the idea that foundations should police themselves before the government starts to police them.
March 28, 2008
Good book for the subject matter. I'd recommend it if you are interested in philanthropy and foundations.
November 11, 2008
Good book information-wise, but as you might imagine, it's quite dry in parts.
January 2, 2010
Am in the middle of this very thorough study of american foundations. Fleischman knows the field very well.
January 4, 2011
A good overview of philanthropic giving
January 17, 2011
This is an in depth and emotional account that vindicates the importance of foundations, and the need for these institutions to be more accountable to society.
April 19, 2015
What are the chances .. My 1st book from digital library!!
Displaying 1 - 17 of 17 reviews