In The Future of Philanthropy, Dr. Susan U. Raymond gives us a collection of very short essays on current issues in the field: the relationship between the public sector and philanthropy, the blurring boundaries between nonprofit and for-profit enterprises, the need for accountability; ethics, best practices, evaluation, risk, and data collection. There are also separate sections dedicated to healthcare, education, international giving, and September 11.

Raymond is currently managing director of research, evaluation, and strategic planning for Changing Our World. She has also worked for the New York Academy of Sciences and the World Bank, and was a consultant for the State Department and the Carnegie Corporation. Her specialties are health and medical economics, and international public health.

Probably the most interesting chapter (or in any event the one most at odds with other pieces I have read) is the one entitled “America's International Giving: Search Elsewhere for Scrooge,” in the section on international giving. It is here that Raymond deconstructs several “facts” about the United States as an international giver, chiefly by stating that the figures presented by the Development Assistance Committee (which are found in most writings on the subject) are wrong because they only take into account transfers of funds from the public sector. Since so much of U.S. giving to developing nations comes from foundations, corporations, educational institutions, and individuals, the “Official Development Assistance” figures fall way short of the actual mark.

The biggest drawback to the book is the age of some of the data it references. In this era of instant information, a book published in 2004 should not contain charts from 1997. Some of this book's sources are recent (for example, the Foundation Center's Foundation Yearbook 2002 and a search done via our Foundation Directory Online in 2003) while others are not (our Foundation Giving Trends 2000). This unevenness leads one to think that perhaps the book is composed of essays written at disparate times, which would not be a problem if they had datelines, but they do not.

The most appropriate audience for The Future of Philanthropy would be those who are interested in the field and are relatively new to it, those who want an overview of the issues and don't want to read too much about any one subject. I don't think this book would be of much interest to anyone looking to explore philanthropic issues in depth, although the international section that I mentioned earlier puts a different "spin" on some oft-repeated truisms.

The book ends with a thought-provoking question. Raymond asks if the generosity sparked by September 11 will be simply a blip on the radar screen or the beginning of a new trend. Only time will tell...maybe she will take up this thread in a future publication.

For citations to additional materials on this topic refer to the Literature of the Nonprofit Sector Online, using the subject heading "Philanthropy-analysis."