Philanthropy as Love of Humanity

At the risk of sounding like the father in My Big Fat Greek Wedding, the roots of the word “Philanthropy” come from the ancient Greek.

“Philanthropy etymologically means ‘the love of humanity’ – love in the sense of caring for, nourishing, developing, or enhancing; humanity in the sense of ‘what it is to be human,’ or ‘human potential.’ ” (Wikipedia)

Of course that is not what “philanthropy” means in common usage today:

“In modern practical terms, it is “private initiatives for public good, focusing on quality of life.” This formulation distinguishes it from business (private initiatives for private good, focusing on material prosperity) and government (public initiatives for public good, focusing on law and order).” (Wikipedia)

Definitions are about assumptions, and our assumptions are what create our actions. If we assume that philanthropy is “all of us nourishing our human potential,” our work as social change agents will be inclusive, engaged, connected with everyone equally because everyone can be a lover of humanity.

On the other hand, if we assume that “philanthropist = donor,” our work will reflect the assumption that only those of means can “love humanity.”

Rethinking Philanthropy
Creating the Future’s Resource Development Team started with similar assumptions as any other such team – that its mission was to determine how to fund this start-up in the short term, and especially how to fund the build-out of all our programs over the coming 2 years.

Our first step was to determine our highest potential end goal. “What will the work of this team make possible? And for whom? If we were 100% successful, what would that look like in the world?”

The answer has resonated with all of us. The immediate result of our work is that frameworks and tools for creating and sustaining vibrant communities will be as common as fundraising and organization-focused tools are today. And if that happens, the ultimate result will be healthy, vibrant communities.

Which is when it struck us. The highest potential of this team’s efforts is that ancient Greek definition of philanthropy – love of humanity – that we all support and nurture and care for each other with compassion and wisdom.

If we all nourished each other (Oh I do love the thought of “nourishing” each other!), we would not need to be urged that “everyone can be a philanthropist” (Translation: “Even $5 helps”). Each of us would already be philanthropists, giving our all, simply as part of being actively engaged with our fellow humans.

If we all lived in full engagement with each other, that sense of openness and mutual responsibility and empathy would feel as natural as “not knowing our neighbors” feels today. It is simply what we would expect from each other.

And in truth, kindness and connection are already all around us. Think of how often during the day you experience a smile as the cashier makes small talk, or someone letting you into the lane in traffic, or a phone call from a faraway friend.

What Will We Do Differently?
Creating the Future is at the very beginning of this journey. So far, here is what the “Rethinking Resource Development Team” is discovering (and yes, the name is changing as our thinking changes!):

1. If kindness and connection are already all around us, Creating the Future will do our best to amplify and model that, to show what that looks like in action in social change work.
2. Instead of working to build an “organization,” we will approach our work as a “project” that will be completed when our mission is accomplished. In that way, we hope to avoid the trap of thinking this entity must be sustained for the long haul, which leads to “individual survival” thinking vs. “all of us together” thinking.
3. The only way to accomplish our mission is to engage our community (the whole world!) to collectively make that happen, all of us together in all kinds of ways, with all our combined talents and gifts. If the effort belongs to Creating the Future, it will fail. It must be owned by all of us.
4. Therefore, instead of asking people to “fund Creating the Future’s project,” we will seek Stone Soup sorts of partnerships, where everyone brings what they have, to nourish and nurture an effort that belongs to all of us together.

If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together.
African proverb

We are not sure where this approach will lead. However, we do know where the old “Philanthropist = Donor” approach will lead. It will perpetuate the assumption – and therefore the reality – that those with money (i.e. individuals, governments, businesses) are the only ones with the power to decide the future for the rest of us.

And there is one other thing we know. If we want a future where we all nourish the potential in each other, we don’t have to wait. We can be that future right now. And we can model to others both what that looks like and how it works.

Or at least that’s the plan. 🙂