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philanthropy

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philanthropy

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Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy tends to be used interchangeably with the term charity. Charity has been noted in Egypt, centuries before the Christian era, having religious origins. 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. Present day philanthropy has evolved into providin

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Philanthropy is when individuals or organizations voluntarily give money, time, or resources to help improve people's quality of life and benefit the public—essentially private efforts aimed at doing good for society. It differs from business (which focuses on private profit) and government programs (which are publicly funded), and it has deep historical roots going back centuries to ancient Egypt.

AI-generated from the Wikipedia summary — may contain errors.

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Encyclopedic overview

33 sections
Contents
  • Etymology
  • Europe
  • Great Britain
  • 19th century
  • Switzerland
  • France
  • Germany
  • War and postwar: Belgium and Eastern Europe
  • United States
  • Andrew Carnegie
  • John D. Rockefeller
  • Ford Foundation
  • Asia
  • Australia
  • Dame Elisabeth Murdoch
  • Africa
  • Egypt
  • Liberia
  • Differences between traditional and new philanthropy
  • Impact investment versus traditional philanthropy
  • Traditional philanthropy versus philanthrocapitalism
  • Promoting equity through science and health philanthropy
  • Types of philanthropy
  • Celebrity philanthropy
  • Implications on government and governance
  • Examples
  • Diaspora philanthropy
  • Trust-based philanthropy
  • Criticism
  • See also
  • References
  • Further reading
  • External links

Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy tends to be used interchangeably with the term charity. Charity has been noted in Egypt, centuries before the Christian era, having religious origins. 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. Present day philanthropy has evolved into providing long-term aid and change, rather than immediate relief. A person who practices philanthropy is a philanthropist.

==Etymology== thumb|right|upright|Herodes Atticus, a Greek philanthropist of [[Ancient Rome active during ]] The word philanthropy comes , from 'to love, be fond of' and 'humankind, mankind'. In , Plutarch used the Greek concept of to describe superior human beings.

Excerpted from Wikipedia’s “philanthropy” article, available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

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