A recent speaking trip to Australia reminds us how unusual U.S. philanthropy is

Enemies of innovation have got the upper hand right now. Here’s a Throwback Thursday reminder of why that’s not good—and won’t last.

Voluntary givers created it, restored it, and are saving it for the future

Giving thanks for Boston’s charitable houses of worship.

…and a few quick answers. Part 3 of three podcasts.

Some common criticisms of philanthropy…and a few quick answers. Part 2 of three podcasts.

…and a few quick answers. Part 1 of three podcasts.

A new charter boarding school in DC educates kids facing stiff odds

Philanthropy gets good out of even not-so-good people

And fuels modern dance in the process

What can a shoeshiner teach us about philanthropy? Lots. Including that little gifts accumulate into big effects.

A great natural wonder and object of beauty is preserved by a generous couple.

In the world’s most destitute neighborhoods, it’s a real thing.

Wherever the health sciences are progressing fastest today, it’s often donated money that is pushing the frontier.

America’s world-leading expertise in code-making and code-breaking grows out of a charitable project, believe it or not.

Philanthropy can have a leading role in pulling state-run colleges away from bureaucracy and low standards.

Evangelical Christians and faithful Jews team up to help the neediest.

Meet a top doctor, turned political founder, turned charity pioneer

Is giving money to art elitist, even irresponsible, in a world with many pressing needs? (Part TWO of two podcasts)

Is giving money to art elitist, even irresponsible, in a world with many pressing needs? (Part ONE of two podcasts)

When Pierre DuPont created one of the great public gardens in America, he—and then, later, his philanthropic successors—installed the most magical fountains of the age.

The founder of Kodak was one of America’s greatest arts philanthropists.

Part Two from a recent Carnegie Corporation forum—answering questions about donations to foreign lands.

A recent forum of the Carnegie Corporation asked about philanthropy and politics. Here are some responses.

There are efforts afoot to end unnamed giving. That would crimp charity and damage personal freedom.

Using respect and cooperation instead of confrontation has made nonprofit conservancies the fastest growing part of the conservation movement.

Philanthropically sparked charter schools have become lifelines for drowning families.

Henry Segerstrom used a high mix of philanthropy and business to turn lima-bean fields into an urban village.

The Southern Poverty Law Center hasn’t contributed anything to law or poverty for a generation. Instead it’s become a political attack group and fundraising scam.

We're in the midst of a huge renaissance of urban parks--which is in turn feeding the return to city life. Thank philanthropic invention.

Even flawed donors can make brilliant gifts. Here’s a magnificent example.

Immigrants to this country acculturate best when they have help.

Sometimes a gift takes you to an unexpected place. Even into a cartoon world.

Without any public money, a group of donors took it upon themselves to revive a crucial site of American history—the cottage where Abraham Lincoln lived and labored for a quarter of his Presidency.

Mount Vernon, Montpelier, Monticello. Completely apart from the fact that they were homes of Presidents, these three historic properties have one crucial thing in common. Come find out what it is.

Why many givers choose to be anonymous.

It was a grocery-store fortune that brought dialysis and kidney transplants to the public. For the 700,000 Americans currently alive despite kidney failure, that was a very big gift.

A true-life Christmas story about how some very personal philanthropy gave America one of its most beloved books.

The iconoclastic paleontologist Jack Horner has a perfect partnership with the independent-minded donors who have made his freewheeling discoveries possible.

An industrialist’s fortune was used to invent a remarkably different kind of school.

If I told you that the art exhibition receiving the highest attendance in the world takes place every year in America's 123rd largest city, what would you say?

Guess where the greatest trove of stained glass and other masterpieces created by America’s superb craftsman Louis Comfort Tiffany is located? No, it’s not his hometown of New York. And there’s a reason for that.

One of the pioneers of our oil and gas industry loved the mountain wilderness so much he gave away a big chunk of it so young American Boy Scouts could test themselves at high altitudes.

The next generation of super-instruments is also being sparked today by private giving.

Sometimes donors create something bigger than a program or new institution. On the occasion you’re about to hear described, they helped create a new nation.

Listen to how private funders are making science more flexible and productive.

We all know you can do more harm than good by handing things to people. You may not realize, though, that one group seriously at risk in this area today is veterans.

Within hours of founding a national charity to battle American slavery, the major donors became targets of a huge riot. They refused to back down.

A large army of donors have made colleges and universities America’s second-favorite charitable cause. Alumni are only a minor part.

We all know charity helps recipients. Did you know it also helps the donor?

For most of history, the enormous repository of human knowledge represented by books was out of reach for the blind. But a pair of donors changed this forever.

Even on vacation, Americans are self-improvers. Here’s a reason why.

The temperance crusade against alcohol abuse is commonly viewed as a giant puritanical failure. The common view is wrong. Learn why.

Oseola McCarty’s life had a raw beginning, but this humble washerwoman knew how to work and how to save, and had a generous heart that taught all Americans that anyone can give.

By transporting eggs, breeding new generations, and teaching birds how to migrate, philanthropists are bringing America’s largest birds back from the brink of extinction.

Did the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge actually accomplish anything? A prominent researcher decided to set the record straight—on the same day he announced a major breakthrough in understanding the disease, and clinical trials for new treatments.

Robert Goddard was one of the geniuses of the twentieth century, and the man who more than anyone is responsible for the U.S. being today’s leader in aeronautics and space. But he almost got lost to history.

Edward “Ned” McIlhenny helped save an endangered species: the Negro spiritual.