Never mind the width; feel the quality...

Is it just me, or is it really a bit frustrating that there is such a research emphasis on the question of how much money people give away rather than about to what they choose to give it? The latest example is some recent work by the excellent Prof. Cathy Pharoah, who must know more about patterns of giving than just about anyone else. Her recent report, Family Foundation Philanthropy, gives a league table of the 100 largest family foundations in Europe. Has the time come when there should be an absolute - self-imposed - ban on any more research about how much money wealthy people give away? How does it help us to know this? Of what relevance is it to be able to compare what happens in the UK to what happens in, say, the US, or elsewhere in Europe? What I want to know is what they are spending their money on. The term 'philanthropy' can mean so many different things depending on the context. Those of us who think that it should be about changing the circumstances which give rise to the need for it in the first place need to know who their friends are.

Good, then that the new UK Research Centre on Charitable Giving and Philanthropy, in which CP is involved, is to focus on, as co-director Prof. Jenny Harrow puts it, "furthering the effectiveness of philanthropy" (my emphasis). But the danger is that the Centre will be 'captured' by the fundraisers, whose main concern is to find new ways to bring money in, rather than with how it is used. The next question for Professor Harrow is, of course, "Effectiveness at what, exactly?"