Philanthropy News Digest (PND),
a daily news service of the Foundation Center, is a compendium, in
digest form, of philanthropy-related articles and features culled from
print and electronic media outlets nationwide. In PND's Off the Shelf
feature, you'll find reviews of books on a variety of topics ranging from
international philanthropy to nonprofit management. Here are excerpts from five reviews published in the second half of 2012.
The Last Hunger Season: A Year in an African Farm Community on the Brink of Change
Roger Thurow
(New York, New York: PublicAffairs, 2012)
"As Thurow tells it, Andrew Youn, One Acre's co-founder and executive
director, believes East Africa's food insecurity problem is primarily
economic rather than agricultural, and he has come up with an innovative
business model to address the high rates of malnutrition, depleted
soils, lack of access to information, and crop price fluctuations that
are characteristic of the region." Read more...
Changing Business From the Inside Out: A Treehugger's Guide to Working in Corporations
Timothy J. Mohin
(San Francisco, California:
Berrett-Koehler, 2012)
"...corporate responsibility programs aren't making the world any worse,
and, at their best, they may be contributing to change within corporate
cultures and doing some good. But whether multinational corporations can
actually drive greater social change than the activists,
nongovernmental organizations, and governments that have been pushing
them to adopt a responsibility agenda for decades remains to be seen." Read more...
Charity Case: How the Nonprofit Community Can Stand Up for Itself and Change the World
Dan Pallotta
(San Francisco, California: Jossey-Bass, 2012)
"Pallotta argues that executive compensation and overhead expenses cannot
be considered in isolation when gauging an organization's effectiveness
or efficiency. On the contrary, embracing the tools of capitalism
(competitive salaries, advertising, lobbying, etc.) may be the best way
for charities to maximize their donations and ultimately deliver
superior services and programs." Read more...
A Memoir of the Ford Foundation: The Early Years
Evelyn C. Walsh, Verne S. Atwater
(New York, NY: Vantage Press, 2012)
"Less a comprehensive history of the Ford Foundation than an
impressionistic behind-the-scenes account of what it was like to work at
the foundation as it rose to international prominence, 'A Memoir of the Ford Foundation: The Early Years'
is a splendid addition to the growing literature about
twentieth-century philanthropy and ably demonstrates that philanthropy,
while an inherently personal endeavor, has the potential to exceed even
our grandest expectations." Read more...
The Art of Being Unreasonable: Lessons in Unconventional Thinking
Eli Broad
(Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons,
2012)
"Broad credits his parents, who owned a five-and-dime and were always
generous with their time and the resources they had, with teaching him
the importance of giving back. Following their example, he and [his wife] Edythe
have adopted a hands-on approach to their philanthropy, which Broad
believes is a 'more meaningful way to give back.' The Broads are
actively involved in the work of their foundations and are famous for
asking three questions before making a philanthropic investment: Will
the grant make a difference in twenty years? Will the project happen
without our support? And are the right people in place to make it
happen?" Read more...
You can read highlights of reviews from the first half of 2012 here. For all Off the Shelf reviews, click here.
--Rob Bruno
Catalog/Reference Librarian
The Foundation Center--NY