I recently went to San Juan, city number forty on the Kennedy Center's "Arts in Crisis" tour. I knew that I would have to alter my message a bit since Puerto Rico's arts organizations do not enjoy the same level of private philanthropy as do those in the fifty states.
There is a European flavor to the funding of the arts in Puerto Rico; government is a key sponsor of a few select organizations, corporations are the most prominent source of private funding and there is but one major foundation that supports the arts. Individual donors are few and far between. Even board members act more like overseers; they are not routinely expected to make financial contributions or to play a central role in fundraising. Arts organizations that do not receive government funding have to rely on earned income and on any bit of support they can develop from the small group of private funders.
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March 1, 2010
January 30, 2010
December 25, 2009
God Bless America
The end of a year always provides an opportunity to think about the true joys of living in this wonderful country we call America.
One quality integral to the American sense of community is giving. It has traditionally been a key characteristic of our society -- "the spirit of mutual helpfulness" that so impressed the young French visitor Alexis de Tocqueville early in the 19th century. Private philanthropy in the United States has long been far greater in proportion to either our population or our total economic output than philanthropy anywhere else in the world. Last year, the gifts of Americans across the whole range of income groups added up to approximately $308 billion or 2.2% of our annual gross domestic product.
Twenty-one individuals or couples have made philanthropic pledges in excess of $100 million, and we have observed the largest single pledge ever made -- the $30 billion ($30,000,000,000!) to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from Warren Buffett. The Sage of Omaha might have left his fortune to his family, but he pithily explained why he didn't: He wanted to give his children "enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much they could do nothing." Amen to that.
The urge to give and to be seen giving is almost as universal as our urge to acquire, something else de Tocqueville noted. Sometimes this urge goes overboard--witness the excesses of Wall Street. At the heart of American capitalism there seems to be an unwritten contract that those who acquire the most wealth will share it with those who have the least. We give to causes ranging from medical research to scholarships for disadvantaged minority students, from supporting opera houses to preserving our historic landmarks. And we do this not only for our citizens but also for those of other countries-witness the extraordinary work of Bill and Melinda Gates to wipe out malaria in Asia and Africa, and the millions of dollars raised here to halt the rampant AIDS epidemic in Africa.
We are blessed by our history. The early immigrants came mostly from countries with a strong, central government, a dominant church, and an energetic aristocracy. Central government assumed the responsibility for the public good, with its costs underwritten by taxes. America, by contrast, was a young, frontier society with no tradition of strong, central government, with no state religion and no established aristocracy. When American pioneers wanted to raise a church or a school or a hospital in their new communities, they had to build it themselves. One farmer couldn't put up a barn by himself, so individual farmers called on friends and neighbors, and when they needed help, the favor was promptly returned. The party the farmer threw for his neighbors after the barn was completed lives on in the wonderfully American phrase "raising the roof."
Other rich countries have a far higher proportion of hospitals, libraries, and universities-all funded by the state. This reduces the sense of community. The commonplace cry is "Why don't they do something about it?" instead of "Why don't we do something about it?" Many Europeans believe that simply paying taxes absolves them of any further responsibility to their fellow citizens. It is an attitude that is beginning to change somewhat, given the American successes-the "thousand points of light" that the elder President Bush commended. But European governments vary from the stingy to the downright mean in their attitude to philanthropy.
Of course, government has hardly been rendered redundant in the United States, but its role in relation to philanthropy is a positive one. Our government, irrespective of political control, encourages giving, with indirect subsidies and tax exemptions for cultural institutions and tax relief for individuals. This jibes with the American instinct for individualism. We don't want government to make all moral or aesthetic judgments. But studies have shown that the tax relief Americans enjoy from giving doesn't explain the impulse to give. Happily, that is something deeply ingrained in our national psyche.
It has to be admitted that this system works well for middle -- and upper-income Americans who can take advantage of tax deductions and arts subsidies but functions less well for lower-income groups. That's why our universities, hospitals, and art museums are among the world's finest, while healthcare and preschool education for poor Americans are below European standards. Here, still, is a challenge to the American spirit we celebrate as we give thanks for our blessings.
Thomas Wolfe put what America is all about well: "So then, to every man his chance... his shining golden opportunity... to live, to work, to be himself, and to become whatever thing his manhood and his vision can combine to make him -- this, seeker, is the promise of America."
This is the very promise that binds into one society so many races, languages and national cultures. The vision of what we might become enables us to endure the injustices and inequalities of American society today. We do not feel embedded in the past or trapped by the present. We feel we have a future, not for the purpose of glorifying the state, but rather to realize our private ends in peace and freedom.
At this time of celebration of family and community, we can all sing " America! America! God shed his grace on thee."
One quality integral to the American sense of community is giving. It has traditionally been a key characteristic of our society -- "the spirit of mutual helpfulness" that so impressed the young French visitor Alexis de Tocqueville early in the 19th century. Private philanthropy in the United States has long been far greater in proportion to either our population or our total economic output than philanthropy anywhere else in the world. Last year, the gifts of Americans across the whole range of income groups added up to approximately $308 billion or 2.2% of our annual gross domestic product.
Twenty-one individuals or couples have made philanthropic pledges in excess of $100 million, and we have observed the largest single pledge ever made -- the $30 billion ($30,000,000,000!) to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation from Warren Buffett. The Sage of Omaha might have left his fortune to his family, but he pithily explained why he didn't: He wanted to give his children "enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much they could do nothing." Amen to that.
The urge to give and to be seen giving is almost as universal as our urge to acquire, something else de Tocqueville noted. Sometimes this urge goes overboard--witness the excesses of Wall Street. At the heart of American capitalism there seems to be an unwritten contract that those who acquire the most wealth will share it with those who have the least. We give to causes ranging from medical research to scholarships for disadvantaged minority students, from supporting opera houses to preserving our historic landmarks. And we do this not only for our citizens but also for those of other countries-witness the extraordinary work of Bill and Melinda Gates to wipe out malaria in Asia and Africa, and the millions of dollars raised here to halt the rampant AIDS epidemic in Africa.
We are blessed by our history. The early immigrants came mostly from countries with a strong, central government, a dominant church, and an energetic aristocracy. Central government assumed the responsibility for the public good, with its costs underwritten by taxes. America, by contrast, was a young, frontier society with no tradition of strong, central government, with no state religion and no established aristocracy. When American pioneers wanted to raise a church or a school or a hospital in their new communities, they had to build it themselves. One farmer couldn't put up a barn by himself, so individual farmers called on friends and neighbors, and when they needed help, the favor was promptly returned. The party the farmer threw for his neighbors after the barn was completed lives on in the wonderfully American phrase "raising the roof."
Other rich countries have a far higher proportion of hospitals, libraries, and universities-all funded by the state. This reduces the sense of community. The commonplace cry is "Why don't they do something about it?" instead of "Why don't we do something about it?" Many Europeans believe that simply paying taxes absolves them of any further responsibility to their fellow citizens. It is an attitude that is beginning to change somewhat, given the American successes-the "thousand points of light" that the elder President Bush commended. But European governments vary from the stingy to the downright mean in their attitude to philanthropy.
Of course, government has hardly been rendered redundant in the United States, but its role in relation to philanthropy is a positive one. Our government, irrespective of political control, encourages giving, with indirect subsidies and tax exemptions for cultural institutions and tax relief for individuals. This jibes with the American instinct for individualism. We don't want government to make all moral or aesthetic judgments. But studies have shown that the tax relief Americans enjoy from giving doesn't explain the impulse to give. Happily, that is something deeply ingrained in our national psyche.
It has to be admitted that this system works well for middle -- and upper-income Americans who can take advantage of tax deductions and arts subsidies but functions less well for lower-income groups. That's why our universities, hospitals, and art museums are among the world's finest, while healthcare and preschool education for poor Americans are below European standards. Here, still, is a challenge to the American spirit we celebrate as we give thanks for our blessings.
Thomas Wolfe put what America is all about well: "So then, to every man his chance... his shining golden opportunity... to live, to work, to be himself, and to become whatever thing his manhood and his vision can combine to make him -- this, seeker, is the promise of America."
This is the very promise that binds into one society so many races, languages and national cultures. The vision of what we might become enables us to endure the injustices and inequalities of American society today. We do not feel embedded in the past or trapped by the present. We feel we have a future, not for the purpose of glorifying the state, but rather to realize our private ends in peace and freedom.
At this time of celebration of family and community, we can all sing " America! America! God shed his grace on thee."
November 26, 2009
Sharing the Privilege of Abundance
Thanksgiving always evokes memories of the days when, as mothers of young children, we would bundle them up to deliver turkey baskets -- family to family -- to those in Washington, DC who couldn't afford a holiday dinner of their own.
That simple act connected our children to the original spirit of Thanksgiving -- where families stop not only to give thanks for plenty, but to share with strangers in need. Thanksgiving is one of the few days where soup kitchens and food pantries around the country burst at the seams -- not just with turkey and stuffing, but with volunteers eager to serve.
Americans, in fact, are the most generous people in the world when it comes to private philanthropy: 85 percent of American families give their time or money, with private giving averaging $300 billion a year.
This year Thanksgiving strikes at a critical hour for families everywhere who have been hit hard by the global financial meltdown.
In the United States, one in nine people rely each month on food stamps. Demand at food pantries and homeless shelters is at record levels. And 17 million American households have had difficulty putting food on the table during the last year -- a 14-year high.
Yet while we concentrate our efforts on addressing hunger at home, we must remember another face of hunger in our world -- one that's largely invisible until we glimpse it on our TVs from some distant country, when a typhoon, earthquake, flood, drought or conflict makes the evening news.
It's easy to forget the silent tsunami of hunger that rips an ever-greater swath through the places where there are no streets, where mothers wonder if their malnourished babies will survive and fathers despair that they cannot provide even a single meal for their desperate families. The compounding impact of the food, fuel and financial crises has pushed the numbers of those suffering chronic hunger past one billion -- one in six people on earth -- for the first time in history.
Those in the "Bottom Billion" subsist on a dollar a day or less. Each day, hunger and related ailments claim 25,000 lives, mostly children -- making hunger the world's No. 1 public health threat. Even when chronic hunger does not kill, it maims -- shattering health, longevity, and hope.
Malnutrition in children under age two causes irreversible damage to their minds and bodies. In countries like Ethiopia, Pakistan and Guatemala, one in two children is stunted. Not only is this an incalculable human loss, but it is a quantifiable financial loss to these nations. Studies show malnutrition causes tens of billions of dollars in losses to poor countries -- or as much as 11 percent of GDP.
As we've traveled the world, the two of us have shared stories and tears with other mothers -- far from Washington -- who have watched, helplessly, as their children slipped from their grasp into the maws of hunger. For them, Thanksgiving never comes.
Although the mind reels with the huge needs of the world, the solutions are surprisingly achievable. Many nations -- Ireland, China, Brazil, and a growing number of African countries -- have beat back the worst of hunger. Inexpensive nutritional interventions can dramatically improve the health -- and lives -- of women and children. For just 25 cents a day, we can feed a child at school, giving them a real shot at forging a better future.
And with $3.2 billion a year -- or $1.5 billion less than Americans spend on Halloween annually and a fraction of America's private giving -- we can feed the 66 million children worldwide who go to school hungry. This alone won't end hunger, but it would be a huge step forward.
If we are to solve hunger, it will take the political will and resources of governments. It's encouraging that the Obama administration and Congressional leadership recognize that a sustainable, comprehensive food security strategy is vital to ensure our planet's future peace and prosperity.
Yet every one of us, at all levels, can make a difference -- especially if we work together. The World Food Programme's first Internet citizens' campaign, www.wfp.org/1billion, is mobilizing the online community: if a billion Internet users donate a dollar a week, we could transform the lives of a billion hungry people across the world.
As we enter the season of colossal Wall Street bonuses and a frenzy of holiday spending, it is time for us to once more share the privilege of plenty. It is time to declare, once and for all, that not a single child should die from -- or be irrevocably stunted by -- hunger.
Not on our watch.
Read more HuffPost Thanksgiving coverage and commentary
That simple act connected our children to the original spirit of Thanksgiving -- where families stop not only to give thanks for plenty, but to share with strangers in need. Thanksgiving is one of the few days where soup kitchens and food pantries around the country burst at the seams -- not just with turkey and stuffing, but with volunteers eager to serve.
Americans, in fact, are the most generous people in the world when it comes to private philanthropy: 85 percent of American families give their time or money, with private giving averaging $300 billion a year.
This year Thanksgiving strikes at a critical hour for families everywhere who have been hit hard by the global financial meltdown.
In the United States, one in nine people rely each month on food stamps. Demand at food pantries and homeless shelters is at record levels. And 17 million American households have had difficulty putting food on the table during the last year -- a 14-year high.
Yet while we concentrate our efforts on addressing hunger at home, we must remember another face of hunger in our world -- one that's largely invisible until we glimpse it on our TVs from some distant country, when a typhoon, earthquake, flood, drought or conflict makes the evening news.
It's easy to forget the silent tsunami of hunger that rips an ever-greater swath through the places where there are no streets, where mothers wonder if their malnourished babies will survive and fathers despair that they cannot provide even a single meal for their desperate families. The compounding impact of the food, fuel and financial crises has pushed the numbers of those suffering chronic hunger past one billion -- one in six people on earth -- for the first time in history.
Those in the "Bottom Billion" subsist on a dollar a day or less. Each day, hunger and related ailments claim 25,000 lives, mostly children -- making hunger the world's No. 1 public health threat. Even when chronic hunger does not kill, it maims -- shattering health, longevity, and hope.
Malnutrition in children under age two causes irreversible damage to their minds and bodies. In countries like Ethiopia, Pakistan and Guatemala, one in two children is stunted. Not only is this an incalculable human loss, but it is a quantifiable financial loss to these nations. Studies show malnutrition causes tens of billions of dollars in losses to poor countries -- or as much as 11 percent of GDP.
As we've traveled the world, the two of us have shared stories and tears with other mothers -- far from Washington -- who have watched, helplessly, as their children slipped from their grasp into the maws of hunger. For them, Thanksgiving never comes.
Although the mind reels with the huge needs of the world, the solutions are surprisingly achievable. Many nations -- Ireland, China, Brazil, and a growing number of African countries -- have beat back the worst of hunger. Inexpensive nutritional interventions can dramatically improve the health -- and lives -- of women and children. For just 25 cents a day, we can feed a child at school, giving them a real shot at forging a better future.
And with $3.2 billion a year -- or $1.5 billion less than Americans spend on Halloween annually and a fraction of America's private giving -- we can feed the 66 million children worldwide who go to school hungry. This alone won't end hunger, but it would be a huge step forward.
If we are to solve hunger, it will take the political will and resources of governments. It's encouraging that the Obama administration and Congressional leadership recognize that a sustainable, comprehensive food security strategy is vital to ensure our planet's future peace and prosperity.
Yet every one of us, at all levels, can make a difference -- especially if we work together. The World Food Programme's first Internet citizens' campaign, www.wfp.org/1billion, is mobilizing the online community: if a billion Internet users donate a dollar a week, we could transform the lives of a billion hungry people across the world.
As we enter the season of colossal Wall Street bonuses and a frenzy of holiday spending, it is time for us to once more share the privilege of plenty. It is time to declare, once and for all, that not a single child should die from -- or be irrevocably stunted by -- hunger.
Not on our watch.
Read more HuffPost Thanksgiving coverage and commentary