A rebel. A revolutionary. A firebrand. An instigator, agitator, a catalyst. An activist, an advocate and a critic. Words like these often describe figures such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King Jr., and Che Guevara. In the world of philanthropy, they may well refer to Pablo Eisenberg.

Challenges for Nonprofits and Philanthropy: The Courage to Change is a collection of columns, speeches and other writings spanning Pablo Eisenberg's 30-year career. Many of the essays originally appeared in the Chronicle of Philanthropy. The book speaks to those who are familiar with his works as well as those who have never heard his name before. Challenges for Nonprofits and Philanthropy is a stirring, informative and eye-opening read that touches on myriad "hot topics," such as campaign finance reform, globalization, and the spread of corporate power, and their effects on philanthropy. It is a retrospective of Mr. Eisenberg's voluminous work and should serve as a reminder of the challenges the field has faced, must face, and will face in the years to come.

In this work, Eisenberg, who founded the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy, defies the conventional wisdom and offers his strong views on the flaws and shortcomings that he sees in the field. For example, one of his main concerns with the "new philanthropy" of today is how it has adopted operating strategies similar to those used in the corporate world. Business executives, he points out, are increasingly being put in positions of leadership on boards of nonprofits and are leading foundations and other nonprofits by the very same principles by which they run their businesses. He asserts that there is also an alarming overlap of corporate philanthropy with politics, in financing grey-area political events or organizations or leveraging a corporation's philanthropic support in a way that borders on political lobbying.

A repeating theme of this work is his assertion of a lack of leadership and accountability among philanthropic and nonprofit leaders. He avers that many of philanthropy's leaders are suffering from a refusal to face the unpleasant fact that the third sector can no longer exist in a self-contained, idyllic world, and that leaders need to acknowledge their mistakes and be more concerned with the future of philanthropy as a whole. One thing leaders can do is to engage in more self-evaluation and apply the same scrutiny they aim at grant recipients back at themselves.

Mr. Eisenberg's writing is certainly geared most towards those who have extensive experience and work in the sector. In fact, his columns were often written to reach the very leaders he criticizes. A younger person in the field may not know about such controversies like the United Way of America scandal that occurred in 1992, but can certainly appreciate the issues at hand. That said, it would have helped had the volume included a "further reading" section. A second complaint is the lack of an index-this would have been extremely helpful as an aid for research or as a quick look-up for particular organizations or persons Eisenberg mentions. A very welcome section, however, is his collection of profiles of exemplary leaders. Those whom he considers to be role models include John Gardner and Paul Ylvisaker, among others.

Eisenberg refers to himself as a "cynical optimist": "Optimism is the trait that enables a person to pursue a mission and goals with determination and high spirits. Cynicism is that quality which leads one to question, and sometimes distrust, the actions and motivations of others in an effort to ascertain the truth." While this is an excellent self-evaluation, he does not lead himself or the reader to believe that things cannot change. For every negative regarding the lack of quality leadership and accountability in the sector, he posits a real and doable solution. As he states at the end of his preface, "In looking at the future of the nonprofit world after many years of observation, I share the view of British Admiral Horatio Nelson who, at the Battle of Trafalgar, looked at the enemy through his telescope with his blind eye and proclaimed, 'I see victory in sight.'"

For citations to additional materials on this topic refer to the Literature of the Nonprofit Sector Online, using the subject headings headings "Philanthropy —— analysis" or "Philanthropy —— attitudes."