what is philanthropy 
philanthropy involves charitable giving to worthy causes on a large scale but it is much more than just a charitable donation philanthropy is an effort an individual or organization undertakes based on an altruistic desire to improve human welfare and wealthy individuals sometimes establish private foundations to facilitate their philanthropic efforts nonprofits are organizations set up to support a variety of social causes such as educational health scientific public safety and human rights in the united states organizations that qualify as nonprofits are exempt from federal tax liability under the internal revenue code irc 501 c 1understanding philanthropyphilanthropy refers to charitable acts or other good works like volunteering your time or efforts that help others or contribute to the well being of society overall for some people philanthropy means donations of money often large sums to support or create university buildings research centers or fund four year college scholarships for others acts of philanthropy mean an annual donation to a local theater food pantry or public school there are many ways to make charitable contributions on a local to a global scale including corporate philanthropy there are also individual philanthropists philanthropy may be done for tax breaks or altruism or a combination of the two things anyone can be a philanthropist if they give of their talent time money or skills the word philanthropy traces its origins to the latin word philanthropia and the greek word philanthr pia which mean love or kindness to mankind history of philanthropyphilanthropy dates back to greek society for instance plato instructed his nephew in his will to use the proceeds of the family farm to fund the academy that he founded in 347 b c the money helped students and faculty keep the academy running 2around 150 years later pliny the younger contributed one third of the funds for a roman school for young boys he instructed the fathers of the students to come up with the rest 3 the intention was to keep young romans educated in the city rather than abroad in 1630 john winthrop of the massachusetts bay colony preached to puritan settlers that the rich should care for the poor who could not help themselves 4 and in 1638 john harvard laid the foundations for harvard university after bequeathing half of his estate to found the school 5more modern and notable philanthropists include mother teresa and norman d rockefeller in the 21st century philanthropy continues to be practiced in many forms by individuals like warren buffett melinda gates and dolly parton as well as corporations technology including social media has also shaped how many individuals give to others benefits of philanthropythere are many benefits to being a philanthropist experts conclude that charitable giving can improve one s emotional and even physical well being and philanthropists have the satisfaction of knowing they have contributed to the greater good 6 in fact some studies show that philanthropists have less depression higher self esteem lower blood pressure and may even live longer than those who don t give 76the benefits of philanthropy are not limited to individuals corporations that support charitable giving receive a wealth of offerings from building a better public image creating more vital brand awareness and attracting new partners and talent who may be attracted to a company that contributes to charities in addition employees who work for companies that give back to society are happier and contribute more to their jobs and because corporations are created to make money a strong philanthropic streak often boosts sales and new customers the charitable contributions deduction allows american taxpayers who make substantial charitable gifts to take generous tax deductions for the year in which their donations were made instructions for this tax deduction can be found on schedule a on the irs website 8philanthropy and taxeswhile it is true that individuals benefit from charitable giving when tax time comes some benefit more than others the irs allows most individuals to deduct around 60 of their adjusted gross income agi 8there are very wealthy individuals who use charitable giving to shield themselves from large tax bills 9 but some say billionaires are dodging paying their fair share of taxes under the guise of charitable giving to the needy 10statistics on givingamericans and u s organizations gave about 484 85 billion to national charities in 2021 that number increased 4 from the previous year s estimated total of 466 23 billion according to giving usa as reported by lilly family school of philanthropy some of the wealthiest americans gave as much as 15 billion during the year which represented 5 of all giving by individuals 11some of the highlights from giving usa s annual report include religious organizations 135 78 billion education 70 79 and human services 65 33 received the most money donations to environmental and animal organizations 11 foundations 9 3 and health 7 7 grew the most these figures were not adjusted for inflation 11although the number rose from 2020 experts at giving usa say the total didn t keep up with inflation these were some of the challenges faced by individuals corporations and nonprofits alike during and immediately after the covid 19 pandemic 11examples of philanthropistsmany people in the united states give money to causes in which they believe the following are just some of the examples of people and corporations that engage in philanthropic activities perhaps the most famous example of philanthropy came from andrew carnegie simply because of the scale of his giving carnegie s wealth helped build more than 2 500 libraries all over the world he also endowed several universities and a charitable trust that still runs 100 years after carnegie s death in 1919 12estimates of his total charitable contributions exceed an estimated 350 million carnegie lived up to his credo that a man who dies rich dies disgraced and the rest of society learned to follow his example the ford foundation s legacy of giving is another example of how philanthropy works the corporation was established by edsel ford the son of ford motor company founder henry ford the foundation focuses on strengthening democracy improving economic opportunity and advancing education 13some of the areas the organization covers include billionaire and microsoft mogul bill gates and his ex wife melinda established the bill melinda gates foundation to support global development and global health programs the organization works globally and in the united states to research and combat disease and to fight poverty according to the foundation s website it has spent almost 54 billion on charitable giving since 2000 15you don t have to be a billionaire or give money away to be considered a philanthropist in fact there are notable individuals who aren t ultra rich and are known for their philanthropic efforts mother teresa is one of the most famous examples the catholic nun set up the order of the missionaries of charity now known simply as the missionaries of charity in kolkata india in 1950 the goal of the organization was to provide vulnerable communities with material and spiritual welfare 16