Ethics of philanthropy

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Philanthropy poses a number of ethical issues:

Giving effectively

Choosing suitable recipients of philanthropy, and ensuring that the aid is effective, is a difficult ethical problem, first addressed by Aristotle. [1] [2]

Contents

Marketing practices

Ethical questions include: [2] : 6–7 

Donor intent

Many gifts are accompanied by a statement of intent, which may be a formal, legal agreement, or a less formal understanding. To what extent the recipient must respect that intent is an ethical and legal issue, especially as circumstances and social norms change.[ citation needed ]

Incompatible missions

When a person's activities are incompatible with an institution's mission, associating with them or accepting donations from them may be considered inappropriate or dishonest marketing (cf. greenwashing), a form of conflict of interest.

For example, children's museums generally refuse sponsorship from manufacturers of junk food. [3]

Protests against David Koch's support for climate change denial led to his resignation from the board of the American Museum of Natural History. [3]

Tainted donors

Funds derived from, and donors engaged in, unethical, immoral, or criminal activities pose a problem for the recipient, as accepting a donation or continuing to benefit from it may be interpreted as benefiting from or ignoring the disreputable activity. [4] Such donations have been characterized as "toxic philanthropy". [3]

This is an issue for the donor's behavior both before and after the donation. Institutions may react by returning the money, removing the acknowledgement, or by keeping the money. [5]

The Sackler family has been a major donor to many cultural and educational institutions, and has had many buildings and programs named for it. Their association with the opioid epidemic has caused many activists to urge the recipients to remove the Sackler name from their buildings and programs, [6] and some institutions have announced that they will remove the name or accept no further donations from the family. [7] [8] Harvard has said that it will not remove the name from the Arthur M. Sackler Museum because "Dr. Arthur Sackler died before Oxycontin was developed. His family sold their interest in the company before the drug was developed.... he had absolutely no relationship to it". [9]

Similarly, the sex offender Jeffrey Epstein was a major donor to many university programs, even after his conviction for sex crimes. After it emerged that the director of the MIT Media Lab, Joi Ito, was aware of Epstein's misdeeds and took steps to solicit donations while hiding their source, Ito resigned. [10] [11] MIT and Harvard have both initiated reviews of donations by Epstein. [12] [13] The MIT review concluded that:

Since MIT had no policy or processes for handling controversial donors in place at the time, the decision to accept Epstein's post-conviction donations cannot be judged to be a policy violation. But it is clear that the decision was the result of collective and significant errors in judgment that resulted in serious damage to the MIT community. [14]

Quid pro quo

Donors are generally acknowledged publicly for their donations, which benefits their reputation. It has been argued that this should be treated as a business transaction. [15] Many philosophers have argued that donations should be anonymous for this reason. [16] Receiving something of value in return for a donation is also considered both legally and ethically a quid pro quo . [17]

Further reading

See also

Related Research Articles

Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with business initiatives, which are private initiatives for private good, focusing on material gain; and with government endeavors that are public initiatives for public good, such as those that focus on the provision of public services. A person who practices philanthropy is a philanthropist.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MIT Media Lab</span> Research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology

The MIT Media Lab is a research laboratory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, growing out of MIT's Architecture Machine Group in the School of Architecture. Its research does not restrict to fixed academic disciplines, but draws from technology, media, science, art, and design. As of 2014, Media lab's research groups include neurobiology, biologically inspired fabrication, socially engaging robots, emotive computing, bionics, and hyperinstruments.

Prior to the introduction of brain death into law in the mid to late 1970s, all organ transplants from cadaveric donors came from non-heart-beating donors (NHBDs).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Joi Ito</span> Japanese-American entrepreneur

Joichi "Joi" Ito is a Japanese entrepreneur and venture capitalist. He is the President of Chiba Institute of Technology. He is a former director of the MIT Media Lab, former professor of the practice of media arts and sciences at MIT, and a former visiting professor of practice at Harvard Law School. Ito has received recognition for his role as an entrepreneur focused on Internet and technology companies and has founded, among other companies, PSINet Japan, Digital Garage, and Infoseek Japan. Ito is general partner of Neoteny Labs, and former board member of Creative Commons, The Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC), The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, The New York Times Company, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, The Mozilla Foundation, The Open Source Initiative, and Sony Corporation. Ito wrote a monthly column in the Ideas section of Wired.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fundraising</span> Process of gathering donations

Fundraising or fund-raising is the process of seeking and gathering voluntary financial contributions by engaging individuals, businesses, charitable foundations, or governmental agencies. Although fundraising typically refers to efforts to gather money for non-profit organizations, it is sometimes used to refer to the identification and solicitation of investors or other sources of capital for for-profit enterprises.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Financial endowment</span> Legal structure for managing investments

A financial endowment is a legal structure for managing, and in many cases indefinitely perpetuating, a pool of financial, real estate, or other investments for a specific purpose according to the will of its founders and donors. Endowments are often structured so that the inflation-adjusted principal or "corpus" value is kept intact, while a portion of the fund can be spent each year, utilizing a prudent spending policy.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Seth Lloyd</span> American mechanical engineer and physicist

Seth Lloyd is a professor of mechanical engineering and physics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Arthur M. Sackler</span> American physician and executive

Arthur Mitchell Sackler was an American psychiatrist and marketer of pharmaceuticals whose fortune originated in medical advertising and trade publications. He was also an art collector. He was one of the three patriarchs of the controversial Sackler family pharmaceutical dynasty.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Clinton Foundation</span> American non-profit organization

The Clinton Foundation is a nonprofit organization under section 501(c)(3) of the U.S. tax code. It was established by former president of the United States Bill Clinton with the stated mission to "strengthen the capacity of people in the United States and throughout the world to meet the challenges of global interdependence." Its offices are located in New York City and Little Rock, Arkansas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charity (practice)</span> Voluntary giving of help to those in need

Charity is the voluntary provision of assistance to those in need. It serves as a humanitarian act, and is unmotivated by self-interest. Various philosophies about charity exist, with frequent associations with religion.

Many different major religious groups and denominations have varying views on organ donation of a deceased and live bodies, depending on their ideologies. Differing opinions can arise depending on if the death is categorized as brain death or cease of the heartbeat. It is important for doctors and health care providers to be knowledgeable about differentiating theological and cultural views on death and organ donations as nations are becoming more multicultural.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Philanthropy in the United States</span> Overview article

Philanthropy in the United States is the practice of voluntary, charitable giving by individuals, corporations and foundations to benefit important social needs. Its long history dates back to the early colonial period, when Puritans founded Harvard College and other institutions. Philanthropy has been a major source of funding for various sectors, such as religion, higher education, health care, and the arts. Philanthropy has also been influenced by different social movements, such as abolitionism, women’s rights, civil rights, and environmentalism. Some of the most prominent philanthropists in American history include George Peabody, Andrew Carnegie, John D. Rockefeller, Henry Ford, Herbert Hoover, and Bill Gates.

In philanthropy, donor intent is the purpose, sometimes publicly expressed, for which a philanthropist intends a charitable gift or bequest. Donor intent is most often expressed in gift restrictions, terms, or agreements between a donor and donee, but it may also be expressed separately in the words, actions, beliefs, and giving practices of a philanthropist. Donor intent is protected in American law regarding charitable trusts, and trustees' primary fiduciary obligation is to carry out a donor's wishes.

Effective altruism (EA) is a 21st-century philosophical and social movement that advocates impartially calculating benefits and prioritizing causes to provide the greatest good. It is motivated by "using evidence and reason to figure out how to benefit others as much as possible, and taking action on that basis". People who pursue the goals of effective altruism, who are sometimes called effective altruists, follow a variety of approaches proposed by the movement, such as donating to selected charities and choosing careers with the aim of maximizing positive impact. The movement has achieved significant popularity outside the academy, spurring the creation of university-based institutes, research centers, advisory organizations and charities, which, collectively, have donated several hundreds of millions of dollars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">80,000 Hours</span> Non-profit organisation that conducts research on which jobs have most positive social impact

80,000 Hours is a London-based nonprofit organisation that conducts research on which careers have the largest positive social impact and provides career advice based on that research. It provides this advice on their website, youtube channel and podcast, and through one-on-one advice sessions. The organisation is part of the Centre for Effective Altruism, affiliated with the Oxford Uehiro Centre for Practical Ethics. The organisation's name refers to the typical amount of time someone spends working over a lifetime.

Reputation laundering occurs when a person or an organization conceals unethical, corrupt, or criminal behavior or other forms of controversy by performing highly visible positive actions with the intent to improve their reputation and obscure their history.

Charity assessment is the process of analysis of the goodness of a non-profit organization in financial terms. Historically, charity evaluators have focused on the question of how much of contributed funds are used for the purpose(s) claimed by the charity, while more recently some evaluators have placed an emphasis on the cost effectiveness of charities.

The Sackler family is an American family who owned the pharmaceutical company Purdue Pharma and later founded Mundipharma. Purdue Pharma, and some members of the family, have faced lawsuits regarding overprescription of addictive pharmaceutical drugs, including OxyContin. Purdue Pharma has been criticized for its role in the opioid epidemic in the United States. They have been described as the "most evil family in America", and "the worst drug dealers in history".

P.A.I.N. is an American advocacy organization founded by artist Nan Goldin to respond to the opioid crisis, specifically targeting the Sackler Family for manufacturing, promoting, and distributing the drug Oxycontin through their corporation Purdue Pharma LP.

References

  1. ↑ Georgina White, "The Ethics of Philanthropy", The European Legacy23:1-2:111-126 doi : 10.1080/10848770.2017.1400258
  2. 1 2 Patricia Illingworth, Thomas Pogge, eds., Giving Well: The Ethics of Philanthropy, ISBN   0199958580
  3. 1 2 3 Elizabeth Merritt, "Toxic Philanthropy", Center for the Future of Museums, December 11, 2019, American Alliance of Museums
  4. ↑ Michelle Celarier, "The 10 Most Toxic Philanthropists", Worth , September 24, 2019
  5. ↑ Paul Dunn, "Strategic Responses by a Nonprofit when a Donor Becomes Tainted", Nonprofit and Voluntary Sector Quarterly39:1:102-123 (February 2010) doi : 10.1177/0899764008326770
  6. ↑ Walters, Joanna (2018-01-22). "'I don't know how they live with themselves' – artist Nan Goldin takes on the billionaire family behind OxyContin". The Guardian. Retrieved 2018-01-22.
  7. ↑ Walters, Joanna (22 March 2019). "Tate art galleries will no longer accept donations from the Sackler family". The Guardian. ISSN   0261-3077 . Retrieved 2019-03-24– via www.theguardian.com.
  8. ↑ Marshall, Alex (July 17, 2019). "Louvre Removes Sackler Family Name From Its Walls". The New York Times . ISSN   0362-4331 . Retrieved July 17, 2019.
  9. ↑ Aidan F. Ryan, Cindy H. Zhang, "The Ethics of Harvard Fundraising", Harvard Crimson May 28, 2019
  10. ↑ Ronan Farrow, "How an élite university research center concealed its relationship with Jeffrey Epstein", New Yorker, September 6, 2019
  11. ↑ Millward, David (August 22, 2019). "Scientists apologise for accepting money from Jeffrey Epstein as academia engulfed by scandal". The Telegraph. Retrieved August 23, 2019.
  12. ↑ "MIT and Jeffrey Epstein"
  13. ↑ Lawrence S. Bacow, "A Message to the Community Regarding Jeffrey Epstein", Harvard Office of the President September 12, 2019 Archived January 12, 2020, at the Wayback Machine
  14. ↑ Report Concerning Jeffrey Epstein's Interactions with the Massachusetts Institute Of Technology (PDF), p. 6
  15. ↑ Monika Greco, "In The Wake Of Sackler, All Should Admit That Naming Rights Are A Business Deal", WGBH News Commentary, December 18, 2019
  16. ↑ "Maimonides' Eight Levels of Charity" Chabad
  17. ↑ "Substantiating Charitable Contributions", United States Internal Revenue Service,
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