Why Philanthropy Matters is recommended as one of 3 “publications that offer a long view on philanthropy” by Inside Philanthropy.
Here is the recommendation in full:
Need a witty British roundup of key readings and terrible news?
Why Philanthropy Matters by the academic Rhodri Davies is the kind of thing people often call a “platform” these days — he calls it “a space.” Its prolific founder and director produces a regular podcast, occasional publications on philanthropic practice and monthly “long reads” that can stretch to nearly 6,000 words. It’s a one-man show (as far as I know) that feels like a full-cast act.
Subscribing will get you a monthly email that takes the form of an old-school blog: a useful rundown of all the key news and all the commentary he recommends reading (of course I like this one given he frequently links to Inside Philanthropy!), as well as reviewing Davies’ varied monthly output. It is typically so long that my email provider, Google, clips off the end of it — and that I end up scrolling past sections that are less relevant (to me) to save time.
Davies’ chattiness is part of the reason for his posts’ length. As he noted in a recent issue’s opening note, which also mused on the possible merits of living on a train: “Even by my usual standards, this is an absurdly long edition of the newsletter, so we really had better get on with things.” But the playful style and jolly tone does feel like a tonic for these times.
Davies’ newsletter, like HistPhil, is concerned with philanthropy’s history. But unlike much of this sector’s commentary, Why Philanthropy Matters does not come from a primarily American perspective. Davies is based in Liverpool and also serves as a philanthropy expert in residence at the London-based Pears Foundation. You might say that it is written from the perspective of yesterday’s crumbling empire instead of today’s. Perhaps that makes him a fitting guide to what’s ahead for American philanthropy.
