Book reviews
Philanthropy News Digest offers reviews of recently published books exploring topics of debate inside and outside the philanthropic sector. For more information, contact Kyoko Uchida, managing editor, at kyoko.uchida@candid.org.
Giving Done Right: Effective Philanthropy and Making Every Dollar Count
April 11, 2019Daniel Matz, manager and content developer for Candid's Glasspockets.org portal, reviews Phil Buchanan's new book, which lays out a framework that can help anyone engaged in philanthropy to be more thoughtful, open-minded, and willing to learn, adapt, and keep trying....
Decolonizing Wealth: Indigenous Wisdom to Heal Divides and Restore Balance
January 25, 2019Villanueva argues that the "decolonizing" of wealth and facilitating healing from trauma requires acknowledging our history, deep grief over how the colonizer mindset has affected us all; taking steps to align foundations' investment strategies more intentionally as a means of generating greater social impact; and addressing the issue of reparations....
You Can't Be What You Can't See: The Power of Opportunity to Change Young Lives
September 27, 2018You Can't Be What You Can't See is an in-depth look at the root causes of poverty in one urban community and an inspiring guide for anyone interested in starting or working for an out-of-school time program that really makes a difference....
Modern Media Relations for Nonprofits: Creating an Effective PR Strategy for Today's World
August 31, 2018PND's Matt Sinclair reviews a guide by two former journalists that provides advice and a comprehensive set of media tools with which every nonprofit should be familiar....
Unicorns Unite: How Nonprofits & Foundations Can Build EPIC Partnerships
July 24, 2018Written by Jessamyn Shams-Lau, executive director of the Peery Foundation, Jane Leu, founder and CEO of Smarter Good, and Vu Le, executive director of Rainier Valley Corps, Unicorns Unite is, according to reviewer Aleda Gagarin, "a highly creative attempt to deconstruct the classic dichotomy between grantmaker and grantseeker"....
How Change Happens: Why Some Social Movements Succeed While Others Don't
July 24, 2018While there is no simple recipe for social movement success, Leslie Crutchfield, executive director of the Global Social Enterprise Initiative at Georgetown University's McDonough School of Business, and her team have identified a number of patterns that distinguish successful social movements from those that failed....
Justice on Both Sides: Transforming Education Through Restorative Justice
June 5, 2018Maisha T. Winn, a professor of education at the University of California, Davis, makes a compelling case for the use of restorative justice (RJ) practices in schools as a way to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline that has destroyed the lives of too many young people of color....
Fair Shot: Rethinking Inequality and How We Earn
May 8, 2018According to our reviewer, Nick Opinsky, what makes Fair Shot so inspiring isn't its bold and straightforward approach to the problem of poverty in America but Hughes' open, honest, and refreshingly human exploration of how his own background, upbringing, and experience led him to advocate for a guaranteed income for low-income and working people, paid for by people like himself....
Social Startup Success: How the Best Nonprofits Launch, Scale Up, and Make a Difference
April 12, 2018What can nonprofits do to get over the "revenue hump" and achieve long-term, sustainable success? According to our reviewer, Mirielle Clifford, Kathleen Kelly Janus's new book offers strategies, tools, and a trove of insights guaranteed to help any nonprofit, large or small, new or established, thrive and create lasting impact....
Pragmatic Philanthropy: Asian Charity Explained
March 22, 2018According to our reviewer, Supriya Kumar, Shapiro, Mirchandani, and Jang's book is a much-needed look at how Asian philanthropy works, how it differs from philanthropy in the West, and what we are likely to see in the way of trends and developments in the coming years....
The Gender Effect: Capitalism, Feminism, and the Corporate Politics of Development
March 14, 2018Kathryn Moeller argues that the real effect of corporate investment in girls and women has been to mask the historical and structural conditions that perpetuate poverty in the Global South and to de-politicize the demands for fair-labor practices and a more equitable economic order by the very women and girls such investment purports to empower....
Putting Wealth to Work: Philanthropy for Today or Investing for Tomorrow?
January 24, 2018Foundation Center's Nick Opinsky reviews social sector veteran Joel L. Fleishman's examination of an age-old question: Do I commit all (or most of) my resources to charitable causes in my lifetime, or should I create a giving vehicle that exists in perpetuity?....
What Matters: Investing in Results to Build Strong, Vibrant Communities
January 20, 2018PND's Matt Sinclair reviews a collection of essays in which a range of experts make the case that social progress will only be achieved by shifting the collective mindset of community leaders from a short-term focus on outputs to longer-term investments in outcomes....
The Unfinished Social Entrepreneur
December 11, 2017Intended as a guide for current and would-be social entrepreneurs, the book outlines twenty-one themes that anyone involved in social change work would do well to reflect on....
Engine of Impact: Essentials of Strategic Leadership in the Nonprofit Sector
December 4, 2017Meehan and Jonker argue that nonprofits looking to succeed an an "era of impact" need to adopt seven essential components of strategic leadership....
